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This post is sponsored by OneMain Financial.
Austin was amazing and we loved visiting this self-proclaimed “weird” town! Thank you OneMain Financial for sponsoring our adventure and challenging us to stick with a $550 budget. We had such a great time!
Yep, it is true! We spent two days in Austin for a family of five for less than $550!
You guys know we are not budget travelers in the sense that we like nice hotels and good food, but that doesn’t mean we don’t budget for our travels. So when OneMain Financial reached out with a challenge for us to spend the weekend in Austin, on a pretty tight budget, I was a little worried if we could do it. However, we were definitely up for the challenge. This weekend getaway showed that you can travel and enjoy yourself, even on a budget!
We made this quick video of how we were able to experience Austin on less than $550, and I’m sharing a bit more below too!
Our adventure started with a rental car. Because we are a larger family of 5, the rental car was one of the largest expenses coming in at $129.05 for a minivan. It was money well spent because we were comfortable, it fit all of our luggage, and the van took us to some pretty awesome places! That left us with $420.95 for the rest of our time in Austin.
Next up was getting a hotel to stay at. Hotels close to downtown Austin were either already booked up, or outside our budget, so Pete and I brainstormed some ideas and we decided to look a little outside the tourist area to where business travelers stay. We found a great hotel that had a two-room suite available, and also offered a free full breakfast. This not only gave us enough room for all five of us to sleep in, but it also saved us a lot of money on food at a price that worked with our budget. We paid $231.60 for a night at the hotel for the five of us, leaving us with $189.35 left. This is the point where I started to get nervous if we would make it without breaking our budget.
One thing we never skip when visiting a new place is buying souvenirs, so that was high on our list to do! We explored the downtown area close to the Capital building and spent $71.39 on fun things to take home! We were now down to $117.96.
The food in Austin is out of this world amazing and very reasonably priced! We found a fun trailer park to eat at where we enjoyed acai bowls, cupcakes and a fresh tomato and mozzarella platter for a grand total of $31.92, and we only had $86.04 left to spend.
We needed to stretch our budget at this point so we set off to explore some of the free things to do in Austin! We visited when it was raining, but that didn’t put a damper on the fun or stop us from exploring a hidden duck pond! We just got a bit more creative and shifted our itinerary to eat and shop when the rain picked up. As soon as it cleared for a bit, we headed to the duck pond, and it worked out perfectly! Since the duck pond was free, we still had $86.04 of our budget left!
Another hidden gem in Austin was this Cat Cafe we found! Not only can you play with cats looking to be adopted into their forever families, you also get to enjoy really delicious, completely vegan meals! We spent $72.00 on our meal, and it was totally worth it! This was an amazing memory-making moment for our family! After we paid at the cat cafe we had exactly $14.04 left!
Our last expense in Austin was $13.09 for gas when we returned the rental car. Gas in Austin is a lot less expensive than it is in California thankfully! After we paid for gas, we only had $.95 left! Can you believe how close we made it with our $550 budget! Whoa!!!
We packed so much fun into our time in Austin, and didn’t even break our budget!
To celebrate their Customer Appreciation Days, our weekend adventure was sponsored by OneMain Financial, who understands that sometimes you need a little financial boost. With OneMain Financial, lending is made personal.
Their goal is to deliver the best customer experience and empower you to take control of your finances. I feel so empowered after having such an amazing getaway with my family and sticking with the $550 budget!
Do you think you could stay within a $550 budget too?
This post is sponsored by OneMain Financial. As always all opinions are our own.
I love setting budgets! No seriously, I do! My husband – not so much – he appeases me though when I do! I would love this challenge! So much fun!
A rental car is a must have when I travel with the kids. So hard to load kids up into public transportation, y ou guys did great staying on your budget.
This is awesome. I am a firm believer in a budget for everything so this is great. I would love to visit Austin and on a budget would be amazing!
You have a beautiful family! Great place to visit. I really like the restaurant. Sounds like you guys had a great time 🙂
I LOVE Austin. I’ve been once and it was beautiful. The weather and the scenery!
Wow, you did it! Thanks for sharing that it is possible to keep a budget while on vacation. Did you drive from CA to Austin, was that counted in your budget, or did it start at just the rental car in Austin?
Wow! You guys did a great job at staying under that budget! You guys look like you had such a wonderful time as a family.
It looks like you had a great time in Austin, even with a conservative budget. It’s nice to be reassured that you can have fun without spending a ton.
Wow, I’m glad you had a great time in Austin, this is my hometown, well I live in a suburb NW of Austin called Leander. It was great to see all the place your family got to visit, hopefully you’ll come back in the future, there is so much more you missed.
My husband goes to Austin all the time for work, and has been saying for months we all need to go down as a family. Your family trip looks unbelievable and for that price! Wow!
Looks like you guys had a great time! I can’t believe it only cost $550!
Austin is definitely one of my faves here. I sometimes wished we lived there instead of up in North Texas.
I have never been to Texas. I would like to spend a couple of weeks there. There are definitely some things I would like to see.
That’s a great price for that many of you! I’m jealous!
Wow! I don’t think I would be able to go one day for that much with our big family!
The family hasn’t been on a vacation in quite a while. You have me longing for one now.
I have been to Austin twice and Loved both times! I was impressed by the food, the hospitality and definitely the low costs!
You have the best trips! I have never been to Austin before, but I think it will be on the family trip list for sure.
I was getting nervous with you as I read though the post, glad you managed to stay within budget and still had fun.
Your photos looks lovely! nice to see those smiles! Mybe I should challenge my family too to spend less when travelling next time! such a fun idea!
Wow! It’s good to know that an amazing family trip like this can be affordable. Looks like you had a wonderful time.
That would be a challenge to stay on a $550 budget in a big city like Austin, I guess. 🙂 Thanks for the ideas though. I’ll remember your tips!
Wish I could do that! That’s awesome!
These are great tips! We can’t wait to travel more this coming year!
These days saving and budget has become my middle name and I am not ashamed to say it. You guys show that it can be done…Good job
This was an amazing post! Very cost efficient for a family and i would love to go to Austin myself and travel and explore!
It looks like you had a wonderful time! I love Austin! They have their own culture and the food is amazing!
Silvia
That’s amazing that you guys were able to stay on budget for your trip. I don’t think I’d be able to do it and we’re only a family of 2 now.