As college students, it can be difficult to find cheap ways to travel during spring break. With finding ways to afford transportation, accommodations, meals, and activities throughout the day, it can be incredibly stressful when planning your spring break.  

Here are five ways to help you plan a budget-friendly spring break:  

1. Avoid Eating at Restaurants   

Although eating at restaurants for every meal is probably the easiest, it is also likely the most expensive option. There are so many alternatives to eating out for every meal that can still be fun and allow you to enjoy your trip. Prepping meals before you travel and taking these meals on the road can be a simple fix to people who plan on taking a road trip to their desired location. For those who plan to fly, there are farmers markets and groceries wherever you go, and cooking your own meals with these ingredients can make you meals cheaper and healthier! Although eating at the restaurants in the town or city you are exploring can be part of the experience, it’s important to know how much to limit yourself to stay within budget.  

2. Travel with Friends 

Traveling with your friends can be fun and adventurous, while also lowering the costs for housing and transportation. Find people that you don’t mind spending a lot of time with and don’t mind sharing spaces for a week. Being able to share rooms and split gas money can lower the cost of your spring break trip, and you’ll leave with lots of memories! 

 3. Find Interesting Day Trips 

Depending on where you’re at, there are opportunities to travel a little outside the area of where you’re staying and see new things. Whether that be another city, a national park, the beach, or even just spending the day wandering around you’re travel destination, you’ll get to experience a new place and have fun while doing it! There are a lot of cheap ways to explore and taking advantage of the amazing and free fun things around you can take up a lot of your time. 

 4. Find Online Coupons or Apps That Offer Discounts  

There are a bunch of coupons that are offered online for museums, aquariums, zoos, theatre productions, boat rides, etc. Taking the time to look for these discounts is the hardest part and should be done ahead of time when planning your trip, so that if there aren’t any offered you can look to other places for discounted fun. There are also a lot of free apps that anyone can download to help find coupons or discounts, such as Groupon, LivingSocial, and TravelZoo.  

 5. Use Your Social Network 

Lastly, use your connections online and in person to reach out to people you know around the world. Of course, this requires you to be flexible about the destination of your trip. However, if you’re able to connect to people who will let you sleep on their couch or in their spare bedroom, you have a free place to stay and may even get a free meal or two!