We try to stay at hotels that have continental breakfasts and fridges in the rooms. Then when we get to where is we are visiting we will visit a local grocery store, preferably away from the tourist sections. We buy chips, lunch meat, bread, and some snacks. We will usually eat out at lunch since it tends to be less expensive and eat dinner late at night when we get back to the hotel room. We also usually share an entree because at tourist places the portions are almost always huge! We spent a week traveling in Arkansas and Missouri last summer and our entire food budget was about $100. I also pack bottle water, drinks, and snacks for the driving portion so we don't get tempted to splurge on gas station snacks.

Pack foods for the car. And, pack lunches we can eat at a pretty rest stop on the way.

Book hotel rooms with a microwave and refrigerator. Pack a suitcase of non-perishable foods and a small ice chest with perishables. We usually eat breakfast in the room and try to do the same for lunch. If not, lunch is something simple.

I pack snacks to take with us if we're out and about. (Baking goodies at home for the trip is a good idea). Dinner is usually "the meal out", and we go for middle-tier restaurants.

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Pack foods and put them in a cooler and I've seen one parent she ordered meal for her two kids and she have them split it. Normally though she said when it comes to things like that order something with lots of carbs (pasta, rice, bread) because they will last longer in the their stomach and they don't annoy you and ask for snacks.

Last year we took a two week vacation to GA and St. Louis. We had a cooler full of snacks, bread, PB&J, cheese, fruit, juice. On our way to GA, we stopped and made sandwiches for lunch. Since we were in St. Louis for 5 days, we stayed at an Extended Stay hotel, which was a little cheaper than a standard hotel room and the weekend rate was even cheaper than weekday since it's more for business people. It had a small kitchen so I went to the grocery store to buy easy cook stuff I could just do in the room for breakfast and lunches. We typically ate dinner out with family and friends but breakfast and lunch were in the room at our own pace.

We choose a hotel with complimentary breakfast. We pack drinks and snacks in the van to cut down on having to buy a water for a few dollars out. We are going to Chicago in May. Any suggestions on what to do frugally with small children?

Well I have yet to take the kids on a driving trip although we would like to plan one maybe next year when my youngest is a little older, however I fondly remember my own family vacations with my parents
My Stepfather is the most frugal person I have EVER met while my Mother is a frivolous spender they balance each other out. Anyhow we only drove on our vacations rented the smallest car avail *lol* for my parents, my younger brother and myself, they had and still have AAA (they renew my membership every Christmas) which offers discounts at restruants and hotels they also can plan a trip for you routed and marked with each place you would like to stop!! We only stayed at hotels with free breakfast and my Stepdad made sure we would eat before we would go in the morning, and we had a big cooler that sat in the middle of my brother and I filled with drinks and sandwiches. Before our trip my Mom stocked up on convienence snacks at walmart and biglots the same ones we would beg for at the high priced gas stations/truck stops she would already have for us in the trunk in a basket or small box (we packed light even for a 2week trip our hotels ALSO had coin washers) She would buy a loaf of break, lunch meat from the deli, cheeses, little packets of mustard and mayonaise that she saved prior from fast food places, and cans of chips instead of bags. During the trip we would go to the grociery store instead of a restruant for lunches Since we were on vacation though we would eat out dinner at a pre-picked/planned restruant every night. As a kid it seemed like a drag however I now understand why we went this route!! When we went to Disney World we brought our cooler inside and sat and had a picnic I dont know if thats allowed now though

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