Ideas To Help You Save For Your Trip
- Open an account dedicated to saving for your vacation so you can reserve it exclusively for your trip.
- Consider automatically transferring money to this account with the Pre-authorized Transfer service.
- If youre tempted by a shopping deal, remember your goal and consider putting that money towards your vacation instead.
- The TD MySpend app can help you track your spending from your TD deposit accounts and TD credit card accounts.
Skip Drinks And Dessert When Eating Out
Kiefer said another easy way to save money when traveling is by skipping drinks or dessert when you eat out.
“Having lunch or dinner at a restaurant to taste the local cuisine is part of the travel experience, and you can do this on a budget,” he said. “Anna and I like to skip drinks and dessert, if possible, to keep the bill low. These little things really add up and can make a difference in your budget.”
Ways To Save For The Vacation You Deserve
Your dream trip shouldnt always be a fantasy. Here’s how to grow your travel fund and turn your bucket-list adventure into a reality down the road.
You’ve got a big trip on your bucket list . It could be trekking with the gorillas in Rwanda, cruising around the Caribbean for a couple of weeks, chasing the northern lights in Iceland, or eating piles of pasta in Italy. You know you’ll make it happensomeday.
Here’s the thing, though: Your far-flung fantasies will stay the stuff of daydreams until you decide to turn them into reality. You already have the destination picked outnow you just need to figure out a way to pay for it. Keep reading for some savvy ways to save up for the vacation you deserve, so you’re ready to go as soon as it’s safe to travel again.
You May Like: Book A Vacation To Mexico
What Are The Benefits Of Opening A Vacation Savings Account
Owning a home can be full of financial surprises. Youll need to have money socked away for unexpected maintenance expenses, but there are real benefits for putting your vacation money aside in a separate account. Youll be able to spend directly from that account while youre traveling.
And as your children get older, invite them to join the vacation fund. Consider allowing them to select a destination they want to visit and work with them toward that goal watching their savings rise with every deposit.
Create A Special Fund For Your Vacation Savings
Dave always talks about setting up special accounts for big purchases. Well, a vacation falls into that category, so it makes sense to add a Vacation budget line. Whether you use a physical envelope or an online budget app like EveryDollar, the actual act of setting money aside is what will make your vacation savings plan work.
Think back to the monthly amount you landed on in the previous step. Put that money aside in your Vacation account each month and leave it alone. If you let it grow, the cash will be there for you once summer rolls around.
Read Also: Great Family Vacations In New England
Americans Are Taking Fewer Trips
Between 2005 and 2013, the most recent year for which data is available from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, the number of pleasure trips taken by members of U.S. households dropped dramatically. In 2013, there were 30% fewer vacation trips taken domestically, compared to 2005.
While domestic numbers have declined more gradually, international trip trends have fluctuated in the past eight years. Nevertheless, overall trip numbers abroad still registered a drop, with 36% fewer international trips in 2013 compared to 2005.
Have Americans lost their love of adventure? Do they no longer have the discretionary income for vacations, given the rise in costs of housing, education and healthcare? Whatever the explanation, the drop off cant be good for the travel and tourism industry, which employs nearly 6% of American workers.
These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Advertiser Disclosure: The products that appear on this site may be from companies from which ValuePenguin receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site . ValuePenguin does not include all financial institutions or all products offered available in the marketplace.
Bring More Than One Credit And Debit Card With You
Stefanie Michaels, the founder of AdventureGirl.com, told Business Insider it’s important to bring more than one credit or debit card along on your trip.
“Before you depart on your travels, always make sure to contact your credit card companies and banks,” she said in an email. “With so much credit card fraud, financial institutions created built-in flagging to spot any unusual behaviors of their card holders. It’s not uncommon for them to block an overseas transaction, which you may or may not have made, to keep your cards safe.”
Michaels said that for this reason alone, don’t rely on just one card always bring multiple in case one should be frozen, lost, or hacked.
“Also, if you tend to hold a large balance in a bank account, plan out a few weeks ahead to move a percentage of your balance into a new account,” she said. “Only take the new bank card associated with your new scaled-down account balance with you. This stops any potential fraudulent activities from accessing your whole bank balance.”
You May Like: 10 Day Italy Vacation Packages
Cut Back On Your Variable Expenses
As your variable expenses are non-essential, they are by far the easier category to cut back on. There are several things you can do here. First, consider changing the way you shop for groceries to make some significant savings on your monthly food budget. This could mean making weekly meal plans so you can project your weekly food expenditure in advance, buying food in bulk, and avoiding shopping on an empty stomach.
Next up, its time to cancel any unused subscription services, swap your mobile tariff to a cheaper plan, and get into the habit of buying new items second-hand. If you want to set yourself a challenge, try choosing a day each week where you commit to spending nothing . Those these savings might seem miniscule, collectively, they will add up.
How Much To Save
How do you know how much to save for your vacation? Well, you could just pluck a figure, say $2,000, out of the air and aim for that.
Alternatively you could work out how much you can afford to ring-fence into a vacation savings account.
Over a given period of saving e.g. 12 weeks, 6 months or 12 months, youll know how much will be in your vacation savings account because it will be your weekly payment x 12/6/12.
Savings plans for vacations are different for everyone.
You might want a 5* all inclusive resort holiday whereas your neighbor might be aiming for a week of camping near the beach.
So one savings plan does not necessarily fit all.
Having a visual reminder of how much you want to save and why is a great way to keep you on track.
To help you achieve your savings goals I have created 4 different savings goal trackers for you.
Two 12 week travel savings plan for this years vacation. A 26 week tracker and a 50 week savings plan.
You can find them and download them from my free resource library.
Read Also: Vacation Rentals Pacific Beach Ca
To Find Out About Flight Deals Sign Up For Travel Newsletters And Sales Alerts In Advance
“If you’re open to inspiration or being a bit random with your destinations and dates, signing up for newsletters that do the deal-finding for you on flights can be a great way to save money,” Kristin Addis, CEO of BeMyTravelMuse.com, told Business Insider in an email. “Sometimes it works out perfectly for something you already have in mind, too.”
She named Scott’s Cheap Flight as one option, and said another service, Travel A Bunch, helped her get a great deal on a flight from LAX, her home airport, to Tahiti this year thanks to its newsletter that she only pays $24 per year to receive.
“You tell them which airport you want to find deals from, and they will email regularly with cheap flights from your home airport to anywhere in the world,” she said.
Gennifer Rose, who runs the travel and lifestyle blog GenniferRose.com, also said to sign up for airlines’ sales alerts.
“I get the best deals on flights during flash sales,” she said. “The best rates go super quick, so when you receive the email, open and browse to your destination city at your earliest convenience. I once got an airline ticket from San Francisco to New York City for only $31 because JetBlue was running a Halloween promo.”
Matt and Anna Kiefer, founders of Hostelgeeks.com and LesBoutiqueHotels.com, recommend signing up for alerts from many types of sites, including low-cost airlines, booking platforms, and flight comparison websites.
Identify Potential Splurges Ahead Of Time
Traveling for pleasure is special by definition. Even frugal travelers can be forgiven for loosening their belts once in a while.
If you have some budgetary breathing room, do yourself a favor and look for an opportunity or two to treat yourself as you research your destination. Your ideal splurge might be a spa day, a fancy restaurant meal, a chartered fishing trip, a guided city tour it all depends on your destination and personal preferences.
Identify and budget for any splurges well in advance, so that they dont adversely impact your ability to save for the rest of your vacation. Set up a separate savings through CIT Bank or money market account just for this expenditure and build it into your savings plan say, an extra $10 per week into your splurge account on top of the $30 youre already putting into your general travel account.
On our most recent trip, my wife and I set up a splurge fund for two specific bucket list items: dinner at an exclusive, critically acclaimed restaurant and a boat trip to a remote archipelago. We started saving far enough in advance that neither expenditure affected our household budget nor hampered any other part of our vacation. Im glad we did they were the two most memorable experiences of the trip, hands down.
You May Like: Best Vacation Rental Management Software
Determine The Cost Of The Trip
Once you know the when and the where, start breaking down the how much. Lets say were going on a trip to Washington D.C. This is a super-smart destination because the place is packed with free attractions. Its like our country tis of thee wants to us know more about our history. Win-win.
So while we do our budget breakdown, we figure in lodging, food, transportation, and flight. Looking into good deals, we see a train pass for our stay is just around $10 a person. And we know well walk around a lot too. Bravo, us. Heres to being healthy and saving money.
Total expenses look like theyll be around $1,570 for a couple, and we add in $50 just in case. Were going to need $1,620 to make this trip happen.
Do the same kind of math with your own trip to find out the grand total. Too much too soon? If you push your trip to a further date, youll have more time to save. Also consider shopping around for more deals or tweaking a couple of your plans. Aim for a doable date and reasonable costs.
Pick Up Extra Hours At Work
If youre paid by the hour and dont mind spending more time on the job, ask your supervisor about picking up extra hours. Even if the first answer is no, youll make it clear that youre open to working more, sparing your supervisor some hassle when he or she actually does have to fill extra shifts.
For a while, I worked at a college town restaurant that got super busy on game days. It was a no-brainer to pick up extra shifts on those days, which were all-hands-on-deck affairs anyway. Between wages and tips, Id reliably make $200 for four or five hours of work, doubling what Id take home on a good normal day.
Extra work really pays once you cross the 40-hour-per-week threshold and become eligible for overtime at 1.5 times your regular pay rate. Just make sure your employer is on board many low-margin companies have strict no-overtime policies.
Also Check: How To Avoid Getting Your Period On Vacation
Cut Back On Nonessentials
Most people spend money every month, or even every day, on things that they dont really need.
Do you really need to go to Starbucks every morning for a coffee before work, or could you have a cup at home?
Do you really need both cable TV and Netflix, or could you just stick with streaming?
Think about what you really need in your life, and cut out the non-essentials. Then, put whatever cash youve saved into your new savings account. Youll be surprised by how much cash you can save, just by cutting back a bit.
Airfare Takes Up A Huge Chunk Of Your Vacation Budget
$359 pp / $1,436 for family of four
These prices will be all over the board. According to the Dept of Transportation, the average cost of a domestic plane ticket is about $359.
International airfare is going to vary greatly based on your outbound city. You can often find international deals from major coastal hubs that will get you an international ticket for $500-$800. You can also consider to help lower your transportation costs.
Recommended Reading: Vacation Rental By Owner Utah
Doing Some Research On Your Dream Vacation
Now, its time to do the fun partstart researching your trip. Decide what kind of vacation you want to havebe it a surf, snow, hiking, adventure, leisure, city, or country escape then start looking into destinations that suit your desires.
Once you pick a spot, you can look at things like average hotel pricing, average food cost, transportation costs , average excursion cost, and add in a bit extra for entertainment expenses.
This way you have at least a rough idea of how much youll need to save to have a great time. Just dont forget to budget for hidden fees, such as resort fees, rental fees, and taxes. You may want to call the hotels concierge to get those numbers if they arent displayed, as they can add up rather quickly. Also, you may want to ensure your number crunching includes an extra slush fund for those just in case moments.
If hotels look to be a bit too pricey in your intended destination, you could always look for cost-cutting accommodations. There are always hostels, but there are also places around the world that will let you stay for free in exchange for services.
You could try signing up on websites like Rover to offer free dog sitting services in exchange for free place to stay. Websites like Mind My House also bring together people looking for house sitters and those looking for accommodations. Check out the listings and see if any fit your vacation needs.
How To Save For A Vacation On A Tight Budget
Now its all very well me saying you can save $1000 in 12 weeks but if you dont have a lot of spare cash how do you do that?
Saving for a vacation when you are on a tight budget is totally doable but requires good planning and decision making in order to be successful.
Even when we were broke, Mr2p and I were determined to have some form of vacation each year.
Sometimes it was 7 days of camping in England or perhaps two weeks in a French hotel.
Because we wanted that holiday we had to be prepared to tweak our budget to make it happen.
When you dont have a lot of spare cash, having a budget and incorporating vacation savings into it is the only way you will achieve your goal without going into debt.
Our monthly budget has savings built into it as an essential line. Its up there with paying our utility bills.
Now obviously, if we had a crisis and needed to implement a survival budget then savings of any sort arent going to happen.
But we have a rainy day fund so for small or one off crisis we would turn to that pot of money.
Losing your job is a different form of crisis, hence having a separate survival budget for times like that.
Saving for a vacation when you have a low income or limited funds requires you to prioritize your money.
Do you want a holiday more than buying new clothes or going to the movies?
If you do, reduce your spend on those and increase the money you pay into your vacation savings account.
Don’t Miss: Park City Utah Ski Vacation Packages
Track Your Expenses Before Your Trip And Set A Daily Budget
Kiefer said that tracking your actual travel expenses at home, and while traveling before your next trip, will give you a much clearer idea of where your money goes. That way, you can make a realistic travel budget for your upcoming trip.
“It can be a complete eye-opener,” he said. “Budgeting apps like Trail Wallet are easy to use, and at the end of the month, you’ll have clear stats on your expenses. This will help you stick to your daily budget during your travels.”
- Read more: