My family loves to ski but the weekend ski trip has gotten extremely expensive. Taking a day trip to go skiing can cost a family of four over $300 (lift tickets, food & equipment rental). Here are five tips to help save you money on your next ski trip:

1. Find a local ski club in your area. Local ski clubs often offer discounted packages on ski trips they organize. They work with local resorts to get cheaper lift tickets and lodging. Just do a website search for clubs in your area.

2. Contact your county or township government office to see they offer any discounted lift tickets to local ski resorts. Often local government offices provide discounted lift tickets as a service to their residents.

3. Pack your lunch/snacks/drinks before you go to the ski resort. This is pretty simple, but we often forget this step. A family of four will spend $40 to $50 on food and drink alone if they eat at the ski resort. Why pay $8.00 for sandwich and $2.00 for a soda when you can stop at a supermarket on the way to the resort. You'll save money and you can bring home any food/drink that you didn't use.

4. Ski at off peak times. Often it is cheaper to ski during the week or during evening hours (if available). Take a day off during the week and get cheaper lift ticket prices (it’s less crowded, too).

5. Shop online to buy new skis, snowboards or gear. Go to your local ski store to get fitted for your skis, ski boots, snowboard and gear. Then go online to shop for the best deal. There are plenty of online ski and snowboard retailers out there. One of my favorite websites is SkiHeart.com. They search online ski and snowboard websites for sales on skis, snowboards, ski jackets and gear. They then post all the deals on their website. This is a great website to help you to comparison shop.

I hope this article helps to save you some money. See you on the slopes!