My daughter and I just returned from visiting my wonderful grandmother and her side of the family on the East Coast, and we tried out a new money-saving travel strategy: we packed our breakfasts so that we never had to eat out in the morning. It was an 8-day trip, and here’s what we packed for breakfast in our carry-on luggage:
- 16 packets of instant oatmeal (various flavors)
- 8 tea bags (for me)
- 1 Ziploc baggie of Ovaltine (for my daughter)
That’s it! Every morning, we prepared the oatmeal by mixing it with hot water, and I had a cup of tea and my daughter had a cup of Ovaltine. The only thing we bought was milk, for the Ovaltine. Well, I did borrow sugar from my fabulous cousin we were staying with, but next time I’ll remember to bring my own. And for full disclosure, we did end up trading breakfasts a couple times- my cousin’s kids ate the oatmeal we brought, and we had their cereal.
The breakfast food only took up a small amount of space in our luggage (about the size of one athletic shoe) and we were still able to fit all of our clothes and other items in our carry-ons so that we didn’t need to check any bags. You might be wondering if it was insanely boring to eat the same thing over and over again, but it really wasn’t- I loved the flavor of tea I brought, the oatmeal was tasty, and most importantly, we were enjoying our vacation so much that eating out for breakfast would just have gotten in the way of our fun. Sometimes I go on vacations that are very food-centric, and though I enjoy all of the food immensely, I finish the vacation feeling bloated and sluggish. This vacation was the opposite- food was almost an after-thought, as it was just for fueling up- the real fun was all of the great interaction we had with our extended family, and all of the time we spent at the beach.
Even if my daughter and I had avoided restaurants for breakfast and only stopped in cafes for coffee, hot chocolate, and muffins, we still would have rung up a tab of at least $10 per day, which would have been $80 for the trip. I was so glad to save that money and just focus on the quality time spent with our relatives.
I am absolutely going to make this a standard practice for our vacations, assuming my husband will put up with it. I have yet to try this out when staying at a hotel- in that case we would need to pack a bowl and spoon for each person, and replace the Ovaltine, which requires milk, with instant cocoa packets that can be made with hot water- so I’ll report back when I do and let you know how it went.
How do YOU save money on food on vacation?
A road trip packing checklist ensures that you’ll be well prepared for your next road trip. I’ve created a free, downloadable checklist in Microsoft Word that is customizable so that you can modify it to fit your needs. This checklist focuses exclusively on the items that are specific to a road trip- for packing checklists for clothes and other general travel items see the 
Vacations run much smoother when you haven’t forgotten to pack some of your kids’ gear. Here is a customizable, free packing checklist for kids and parents to use so that nothing is left behind when you go on vacation. It includes often forgotten items like a thermometer and Children’s Tylenol (which can potentially save you a trip to Urgent Care). I also added sections for summer items and winter items. The packing checklist is a Microsoft Words document, so you can edit it pretty easily, but I included instructions nonetheless in case you’re not familiar with that program. 
In 
Using “packing checklists” to prepare for travel is a great way to prevent unnecessary purchases while on vacation. I’ve had to buy everything from disposable razors to socks to tennis shoes because of packing amnesia. And it never feels good to spend your traveling “fun money” on things you already own at home. But travel checklists are a great way to make sure nothing is forgotten- each item is checked off as it is packed. Packing checklists are especially helpful for family travel- each family member gets their own checklist printed out for them to use. Parents can then see which items still need to be packed for each kid.
