8 things I learned about money after traveling around Europe with my kids for 3 weeks

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In early June, my husband and I took a bucket list trip to Europe with our kids.

While we've visited countless countries worldwide as a couple, this was our first "big trip" with our daughters, ages six and eight.

In addition to the four of us, we took a family caregiver to help with the kids and give Mom and Dad a break. Over the course of 19 days, we spent time in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. The entire ordeal was exhausting, but it was an absolute blast!

Fortunately, we planned far enough ahead that we didn't spend too much out of pocket while we were there. By leveraging travel rewards credit cards and setting a daily spending budget, we were able to get the entire trip, which would normally cost $20,000 retail, for around $3,500.

In addition to the virtues of planning ahead as a savings strategy, we learned numerous financial lessons during our travels. While we were aware of most of these lessons already, seeing the world through our children's eyes served as the perfect reminder of the reasons behind some of our most important financial decisions.

Here are a few lessons we relearned thanks to our trip abroad.

1. Failing to plan means planning to fail

One of the most expensive components of our trip was dining, mostly because there were five people in our group. No matter how cheaply you try to eat, feeding five people three meals a day means your food budget adds up quickly.

While we tried to minimize our food costs by eating breakfast in our condo and searching for budget options, there were times where we didn't plan ahead and paid a steep price for our lack of preparation.

One meal in particular stands out. We traveled by train to Rome in the morning and arrived in early afternoon without researching restaurants or stores in the immediate area. In a tired and hungry daze, we entered the first restaurant we walked past near Piazza Navona.

Unfortunately, we paid big time for this oversight. Not only was the food overly touristy (pictures on the menu — blech), but our lunch set us back nearly $90. If we had searched ahead of time, we would have known we could have found much cheaper (and probably tastier) options had we walked a block in the other direction.

2. Expensive does not equal better

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That meal also served as a reminder that expensive isn't always better. We paid $90 for a lunch that was mediocre at best on that particular day, but at other times we enjoyed meals that were absolutely delicious and downright cheap.

One that comes to mind was a meal we had in nearby Florence, Italy. In order to keep our food budget under control, we started researching local restaurants once we arrived. Eventually, we stumbled upon a sandwich shop — Panini Toscani — that was uber-cheap but was also the third highest rated restaurant in Florence.

We wound up eating there twice. The food was delicious and convenient, and our total meal for five people was less than $20 both times.

3. Even budget trips can be fun

By the time we got to Switzerland (our last stop), I was pretty tired of spending money in general. So, when we had our final "free day" in the country, I spent some time looking for something fun and affordable to do.

Eventually, I remembered a town we drove by that had the most beautiful, clear-green lake I had ever seen. After looking up the details, I found that the tiny village of Lungern had a public beach and a few water slides with a daily admission cost of about $5.25 per adult.

This relatively cheap day was probably the most fun we had. All of us swam and rode waterslides the entire day, stopping only to have a low-cost lunch.

It just goes to show that budget travel can absolutely be fun, and that you don't have to spend a ton of money to enjoy yourself.

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