Many families spend so much of their income on the necessities of life, they don’t have room in their budget to travel. Health insurance alone can cost as much as 10% of a family’s income. Between 2015 and 2016, family health care expenses rose 6.2%.
How to Afford Travel on a Budget
Travel is an enriching experience for parents and children alike. Children are able to learn from museums, nature outings, and cultural events. When they experience other cultures and other parts of the country, children are better able to appreciate the differences between various places, as well as the things we all have in common.
Parents often struggle to find enough money to take pleasure trips with their families. When they are looking for ways to lower their monthly expenses, they can look at various parts of their budget to find savings.
Ways to Save Money
One of the easiest ways to save money for travel is to curtail the money spent on eating outside the home. Any extra money that would have gone toward takeout and restaurant meals can be put in the travel budget. Other areas where a family can save money include toys, entertainment, and unnecessary clothes.
The whole family can participate in the cost savings. This will make saving for the trip less about depriving the children of fun extras and more about a shared sacrifice. Make a “travel bank” for your kids and have them put in the money saved from various expenses.
Reduce Health Care Expenses
Another important way to save money is by reducing health care expenses. Since health care takes up so much of a family’s budget, any small change can make a big difference. SingleCare can help families reduce their prescription, dental, vision, and urgent care visit costs.
Prescription Costs
Comparing prescription costs is a great way to reduce expenses. For example, if Mom needs a prescription for melasma, she can look for a better Triluma price through SingleCare.
Dental Costs
Many families do not have dental insurance. It is an expensive perk that is offered by large employers. Since everyone in the family needs to visit the dentist at least twice a year for exams and cleaning, this expense adds up quickly. Without dental insurance, there are few options to reduce these costs.
SingleCare offers a discount program that enables patients to compare costs between local dental practices. SingleCare member dentists are able to provide services at a more affordable rate than most practices.
Costs of Vision Care
Another area where families can save money for travel is through eye exams, frames, and lenses. With a family of four or more, vision care quickly adds up to a large expense for the family. Similar to dental insurance, many families do not have vision insurance plan coverage. The cost of eye exams could be reduced by as much as 75% via SingleCare. Frames, lenses, and contacts are also covered by SingleCare.
When children have proper vision care, they do better in school and have fewer behavior problems. Proper vision care also results in fewer headaches and less eye strain, which benefits everyone in the family.
Savings on Urgent Care Visits
Children make frequent visits to the urgent care center for minor ailments. This expense adds up quickly with all the minor illnesses, scrapes, and bruises that children experience. Rather than making an expensive visit to urgent care, SingleCare offers video doctor visits. A licensed physician can see patients remotely, diagnose minor problems, and prescribe medication. Conditions that can be covered in a video visit include colds, flu, sore throat, and allergies.
Having a video doctor visit also lessens the stress of having to take all of the healthy children to the doctor along with the sick one. It is much less strenuous to have the sick family member treated at home without long waits in the doctor’s office.
You can also use the remote doctor’s services while you are on your trip, without costly out of network fees.
Saving Money for Travel with SingleCare
SingleCare can help any family save money for travel. While it’s fun to involve children in budgeting for travel, parents know that health care budgets are demanding and difficult to reduce. When you use SingleCare, you can feel good about your health expenditures because you can be sure you have gotten a good deal on your health care.
Prescription discounts like triluma price help save money that can be used for travel and fun. Dental and vision savings plans by SingleCare are also helpful in budgeting money for travel. Seeing the doctor remotely through video visits also saves money and time.
Enjoy your special family vacation together with the knowledge that you saved money on your health care expenses.
