How My Family of 5 Traveled to Omaha with $1000 Budget Part 1: Planning
I always thought we’d need thousands of dollars to take any sort of vacation as a family of five. We’d taken day trips before, but this was the first time we were traveling out of state together and with such a tight budget; I was determined to make it happen. Not only was it our first family out of state vacation, but it was also doubling as a family reunion since my sisters and their families were going to join us on the trip.
In this 3 Part Blog Series, I detail our adventures to Omaha, Nebraska back in August 2023 with only a thousand-dollar budget for lodging, dining, transportation and activities. Part 1 covers the planning, research and itinerary creation stage of this trip. Below are 5 Key Highlights of Planning a Trip we learned from this endeavor, and you can use to guide you in planning your own low-cost family get-away.
Key Highlights of Planning a Trip
1. Turn Wishful Thinking Into an Attainable Goal by Setting a Date
2. To Maximize Budget, Have Clear Goals & Expectations
3. Traveling with Kids Requires Frequent Adjustments, Plan Accordingly
4. Pick 1 or 2 Must Do Activities for the Trip, Build Itinerary Around Them
5. Control the Uncontrollable with a Contingency Plan (or Two)
For any group type of travel, the first thing to identify is a date (or possible dates) that fit everyone’s calendar. We cross referenced each other’s calendars to find a date for us in early August that lined up best. Having an initial goal for a travel date set back in January provided ample time to plan for all of us from a monetary perspective as well as requesting time off from everyone’s work. This date also meant all the kids would be done with any summer school activities, other summer commitments and before the new school year began. This is a key factor in making traveling happen:
Setting a concrete date turns it into an attainable goal instead of just wishful thoughts.
The next step was choosing our destination. To make things easier, we added each of our locations to a Google map to determine a middle point for all four siblings; we wanted the following:
- Close to equitable drive distance for everyone
- Within range for our brother to join if his schedule permitted
It was not long that we identified Omaha, Nebraska as the best location for meeting these initial requirements. We then discussed realistic expectations for the trip. With six kids ranging from 2 to 12, we decided our goals for the trip were
- a stay-cation style focused on
- hanging out, playing games, and letting the kids have time to play together
- with two days where we had at least one major exploring endeavor.
When traveling on a budget, being clear about the desired goal of the trip at a particular location will aid in itinerary creation.
By April my sister found a good deal with Tru by Hilton that met our desired amenities:
-an indoor pool
-playroom/lounge area
-rooms with queen beds
-free parking
-free breakfast.
What appealed to me as a major selling point was Tru by Hilton’s book now, pay later room option through Booking.com. We could reserve our rooms, and they didn’t have any fees to do the initial booking, with payment due when we arrived at check-in. Plus, it locked in our rates. It was a win-win.
I booked a Queen Room with Two Queen Beds for $422 with a 21.16% tax added of $89.30, making the final lodging costs $511.30 for 3 nights. Check -in was Friday August 4th between 3pm – 12:30am and check-out was Monday August 7th between 5am – 12pm. We had a cancellation policy of $0 from April through August 3rd, but a $169.62 cancellation fee starting August 4th.
With approximately half of my budget in lodging costs, that left the remaining half to cover gas, activities and dining out. Knowing this, I decided to plan my August food budget to incorporate the costs for snacks and some meals for the trip. This way my funds were reallocated appropriately keeping me with the $1000 for the trip but providing me with a little bit of flexibility by using some of the monthly budget for the trip. I did not count this money as a part of the $1000 since it was money towards food that would be used that month whether we took a trip or not. It just adjusted what sort of items I purchased with it.
For example, some great on the go snacks that I allocated from the August food budget were a box of Member’s Mark Variety Chips, summer sausage, cheese, crackers, a bag of apples, a bag of grapes, goldfish, string cheese, bananas, pickles, and peanut butter sandwiches. This way we had safe foods that the kids would eat.
When traveling with young kids, it is best to have an assortment of snacks to keep them fueled and prevent them from becoming “hangry” (which makes any trip more enjoyable for everyone).
Continuing my resourceful and frugal approach, I signed the kids up for Pizza Hut’s Book It Summer Reading Program **. For anyone not familiar with it or did not participate in one back in the late 90’s/early 2000s, Pizza Hut offers a coupon for a personal pizza to be earned when completing the reading incentive typically earned during the summer months. I had rediscovered it in 2022, so had it on my list to participate in again for 2023. This time I explained to the kids that we were going to save the coupons to use while we were on vacation. The Book-It Program provided a reading incentive for the kids that was a double reward for both a pizza and using it while on vacation. The coupons were available to be earned June – August for grades PreK – 6th and had to be redeemed by September 15th at the latest. I saved the coupons earned from June & July to be applied while we were on the trip for each of the kids since they didn’t have to be redeemed at a specific Pizza Hut. Doing this allowed us to get meals for the kids while adjusting to ordering and paying for pizza for the adults to help keep costs down.
(**The Pizza Hut Book It Summer Reading Program has since been updated from a few years ago and is now available through their app with updated reading requirements. I suggest signing up and participating every summer you have qualifying aged kids).
Using the Tru by Hilton hotel as the base for scouting around, I utilized Google maps to identify nearby restaurants, stores and general distance to places we were interested in going to form our basis of our weekend itinerary.
Friday – Travel Day
- Arrive between 3pm – 4pm
- Swim at 5pm
- Pizza Dinner/Hang Out 6:30pm
Saturday – Exploration
(Times are distance not duration of visit)
- Breakfast at Hotel
- Hotel to Omaha Visitor Center (15 minutes)
- Visitor Center to “Slides” (2 minutes)
- “Slides” to Bob Bridge (7-10 minutes)
- Bob Bridge to Splashpad (2 minutes)
- Mexican Dinner Dine Out & Return to Hotel
Sunday – Park & Picnic
- Breakfast at Hotel
- Park Playtime & Hang Out
- Hotel & Individual Lunch Plans
- Games Hang Out
- Individual Dinner Plans
- Swim one last time
Monday – Travel Day
- Breakfast at the Hotel
- Pack Up & Head Out
The “Slides” served as a focus point that we wanted to revisit together. Having been to Omaha in 1999 as kids (or very early 2000s, I’m a little rusty on the exact date) we wanted to first try to recreate our “Slides” photo of the siblings, then also share the experience with our kids for the next generation’s memories. This was a pivotal encounter for us as kids and one we spoke about the rest of our childhood and reminisced into adulthood over the next two decades. I wanted to provide a memory that my kids could share not just with each other, but also with their cousins. The “Slides” visit was the foundation for the planning on Saturday with a desire to explore downtown Omaha and hit up some other sights while not over committing ourselves and end up with cranky kiddos.
Identifying what activities are most important for a trip to build out the itinerary is necessary to ensure funds and allotted time are designated for the must-do items.
Finally, during the week of the trip, we monitored the weather since most of our plans were outside. Forecast indicated rain possible, so we decided to create a contingency plan by adding in a visit to the Children’s Museum during their last hour on Sunday, or paying full price if Saturday ended up getting rained out and we flipped Saturday/Sunday’s plans due to weather. This allowed all of us to be on board with expectations while limiting any wasted time while on our trip with questions of “what do you want to do now?” without getting caught off guard by weather.
If most travel activities are outdoors, keeping an eye on the weather the week of the trip ensures discussion for itinerary adjustments with a contingency plan. As travelers cannot control the weather, knowing what options are a back up or where there is flexibility built-in allows for the planning of the uncontrollable and mitigating a literal wash out.
Be sure to check out Part 2: The Trip Friday & Saturday in the How My Family of 5 Traveled to Omaha on $1000 series.