There are several ways to reduce the costs of taking a vacation. Here are several tips that should help you to enjoy your family time without breaking the bank.

#1 Be flexible with your travel dates. Just because you have to be somewhere for your cousin's wedding on a certain day doesn't mean that you have to arrive only on the day before and leave immediately. It may save you literally hundreds of dollars in airfare to fly in on Thursday and leave the following Tuesday, for instance. And if you're traveling without a specific time and place to arrive you can easily book for the cheapest price rather than dates.

#2 - Book transportation and hotels yourself, rather than using a travel agent or booking a tour. You can try priceline.com or similar services to book a hotel by submitted what you are willing to pay and finding a hotel that meets your specifications and will accept that amount. This goes along with flexible travel dates a hotel is often willing to take a much lower rate to rent a room on a Wednesday night than on a Saturday.

#3 Check for local discount airlines that fly to a hub from which you can catch a much cheaper flight on a bigger airline. Look on Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, and others of the dozens of booking sites on-line. Compare several of them to find the best rate possible. Also look for specials on the sites for larger carriers like Northwest, United, and Delta. Failing that, take a look at trains they may not be much cheaper for long-distance journeys but the trade-off is a way to travel that requires no driving, gas money, or plane changing on your part, plus you can move around freely as the miles pass. If your children are small or just restless, that's worth a fair amount of money.

#4 Plan your driving for each day around places to camp. There may be wonderful state or national parks along the way or just resorts or campgrounds that offer a spot to put up a tent, cook out over a lovely fire, and watch the stars come out. Try sites like roadcamping.com to find spots along your route where you can book a night. If you've got a recreational vehicles, that offers a whole realm of added possibilities, but buying one just for the vacation in question will cost more than the vacation would have in the first place! Of course, you may just wish to stay camped for the whole vacation, rather than continuing on to that family reunion.

#5 Travel during off-peak times of the year, if possible. Again, many

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