Planning a vacation next year?
I sure hope so. A vacation offers families the chance to connect away from the pressures of everyday life, deadlines, household chores and school. Vacations interrupt the everyday routine, providing opportunities to make memories to last a lifetime.
While most vacationers invest time selecting hotel accommodations, airline tickets and packing lists, many forget to plan how to pay for that vacation.
If you’re planning a summer getaway this year, start saving for it now. (If you are already saving, kudos to you!!!)
According to American Express, the average summer vacation costs around $3,000-$5,000. Most of us don’t have that kind of money lying around so we need a plan. Of course, the alternative (NOT a good alternative) is to charge the whole thing and pay when you get home. A $3,000 trip, paid entirely on a credit card at 15% interest would cost almost $3,800 if paid off in only three years. Ouch! That $800 could be used for a weekend away midwinter or a head start for next year! Hopefully you agree with me that saving is important. If you’re not sure where to start, try these savings ideas.
Vacation Savings Plan:
1. Set aside a minimum of $50 from every paycheck for your travel fund. If you get paid twice per month, you’ll save $600 by the time vacation rolls around. NICE! (Consider a separate interest bearing savings account just for travel.)
2. Forego the morning drive-thru coffee. I know… You want to do your part to keep Starbucks going. I promise, the company won’t collapse if you skip the non-fat, double-shot, caramel latte for a few months. At a cost of $3/cup (which is low), you would save $15 per week. Over six months that’s a savings of $360!
BONUS TIP: Did you know that Sam’s Club sells syrups to flavor your coffee at home? Check it out here. That’s right, you can have your flavored coffee at home for a whole lot less!
3. Eat out half as much as you usually do. The average American family eats out 4-5 times per week. At a conservative $25 per meal, that’s $100 per week spent on restaurant fare. Dine at home with “semi-prepared” foods such as pre-formed hamburger patties, rotisserie chicken from the deli or frozen meals to heat and eat and cut that spending significantly. A family can easily dine for $10 per meal at home. Doing the math, two restaurant meals is $50 and two at home meals equals $20, saving at least $30 per week. That’s a savings of $720 over six months toward your summer vacation.
Using these three tips, you can stuff that piggy bank with at least $1,680 by the time your summer vacation gets here. That’s more than half the trip pre-paid, no credit card interest… meaning more money in your pocket! Vacation does not start with “V,” it starts with B, for budget!
Share with us… How does your family do to budget for summer vacation?
Other Vacation Budget Planning Resources and Tools:
- For more vacation budget savings ideas, read this article.
- Let your house help pay for travel by using these ideas.
- Dine for less on vacation, here’s how.
- Estimate travel expenses so you know how much you really need to save.
- Calculito’s vacation budget planner (a great online tool) can help you plan.
- When traveling in the UK, consider travel lodge coupons to save.
We put our spare change into a jar on the kitchen counter and use it for travel gas money on vacation.
Susan, that’s awesome!
We do something similar, but use the change for souvenirs and “little extras” not included in our budget. In Paris, we got lots of pastries and ice cream with our spare change too! 🙂
Great advice and easy to implement. I started the monthly savings last year – wow! It does add up.
Congratulations on starting a savings plan. It’s amazing how quickly it adds up! It’s like exercise, you hate getting started but once you’re going, you love it.
What a great site and great advice! I stopped by with the Aloha Friday Blog Hop and love your site. My husband and I love to travel but now that our family includes a little one, of traveling needs are slightly different. I look forward to reading more and have followed you! Check out my site and follow back if you like it.
http://www.wordswithletidelmar.blogspot.com
I’m visiting you back from Being at Home by Nature. I’m also your newest follower! I can’t wait to find out what money saving tips you have to share. My husband and I have been married four years and still haven’t taken a honeymoon…maybe you can help me finally plan for one!
Thanks again!
Mary Beth
Four years without a honeymoon?! We definitely have to remedy that! Thanks for stopping by, Mary Beth. Please contact me directly (through the contact tab at the top of the page. Let’s talk and start planning!
Great tips! I found that sticking to a grocery list instead of buying everything that looks yummy in the store can actually save $$ off your grocery bill. Also we try to combine outings with running errands to save on gas and this too can add up over the course of a year.
Great tips, Lynn. Thank you for sharing! It is definitely easier to grocery shop AFTER eating than before! The goodies are a little less tempting then. 🙂
Good tips! I actually got my first ever “bonus” this Christmas and have already put it in savings to use for a vacation. Now we just have to decide where we are going!
Andrea, Congratulations! A bonus really is a nice surprise. Enjoy your vacation, wherever you decide to go. It sounds like you’ve earned it!
Happy new year.
Awesome post! We have a change jar, and you wouldn’t believe how much is in there at the end of the year!
I would believe it! 🙂
One of my key words for 2013 is “Mindfulness,” Karen. When I’m mindful, I ask myself if I really need that magazine, that latte . . . The money I save is going directly into my vacation account!
That’s a great way to think of it. If it’s all right with you, I might adopt the same word. I’m fairly disciplined with travel budgets (I better be if I write a budget-minded travel blog), but sometimes I need to be mindful of other things, especially kid-time over blog-time! Thanks!
Luckily I only buy coffee when I am lured in by their festive, seasonal flavors…normally I am quite content with my cuppa joe at home. With that said it’s so hard to save – so these tips were great!
Thanks Karen!!
Leigh
Happy saving, Leigh. Maybe we can save enough for a Girls’ Weekend, with or without Starbucks! 🙂
We save all year for our big vacation, and take little mini-trips (usually within our own state or a state over in either direction) in the summer because they are most budget-friendly.
Rosey, Later this month I’m featuring a new travel app I just discovered to make those close to home trips easier to plan and enjoy! 🙂 I hope you enjoyed the Staycation Party post (1/9/13) which makes saving for the big trips easier too. I think we think a lot alike! 🙂
Such a clever and painless way to save for a vacation! Would you be interested in doing a slightly re-written version of this as a guest post on my blog? Check out the articles in my travel section…I’d be happy to rewrite one for you!
Kristi, I’m emailing you separately. I’m flattered!
Great money-saving tips! We usually set aside money for our vacation fund and trying to eat less this year. We take mini-trips so I’m constantly on sale alerts. We’ve also had a couple of garage sales to clear out the clutter and put whatever money on the V fund too. Happy Travels!
Our garage sale last year went to college textbooks for our son. Not nearly as fun, but still a good thing!
Did you see the staycation post? Lots of ideas to take an “at home” vacation to the next level. (It’s the Mark Addison interview from January 9th.
What’s your next big vacation?
Great article and so true. Every family I work with I make them budget money for vacation. They need the break. By planning how to pay for it they don’t have the worry or guilt later about the new debt.