Spring time is finally starting to show itself in Portland, Oregon. Less rain, more sun and longer days. I am so excited for summer to be here soon!
And summer for most people means vacation! Which is something that I also love. Now that we’re recently debt-free, we get to travel more. Something I’ve always wanted to do. And we may or may not have Hawaii and Disneyland trips booked for 2018. 🙂 The excitement is REAL.
But when you’re planning a vacation, it’s important to stick to the budget! Here is how you can create and stick to a travel budget, so you don’t go overboard on travel this year!
Pick A Place And Time
If you want to save on travel, it’s important to plan ahead. I have a list of places that I want to go so that I can dream and plan about a year ahead of time. I am also a planner so I love the whole process of planning the vacation. It makes it fun to have something to look forward to months down the road!
When my husband and I got back from our debt-free cruise in the Caribbean in October, we wanted to have our next trip on the calendar. So we first decided on a place. That being Hawaii.
Next, we wanted to decide when we’d go. Since we don’t have kids yet, we didn’t have to worry about scheduling around school. So we decided to plan our trip for May-leaving us 7 months to plan and save, and flights and hotels are cheaper since it’s not fully summer yet.
Make A Budget
When you’re planning for a vacation, it’s important that you know how much you’re going to spend! So think about an amount that you feel comfortable spending. If you already have money saved for a trip, that’s great! But if you don’t, then now’s the time to decide your entire budget amount.
If you are working on paying off debt, a $500-$1000 trip will have to do. Or if you’re doing well financially and ready for that 10 year anniversary trip, maybe $10,000 is your budget! But first and foremost, decide on the total amount that you’re willing to spend on your trip.
Now it’s time to save! There are two ways to do this:
1. The Sinking Fund
Every month, you can save a certain amount of money and set it aside for the purpose of a vacation! Jacob and I do this in our monthly budget. Once you have enough, take the money in your savings and go on that vacation you’ve been looking forward to!
2. Add Up The Costs
If you know that you really want to go on a trip to Europe, price it out! Find out how much it will cost in total (which means making the budget)! And once you know what it will cost, divide the cost over the amount of months until the trip. Therefore, you get to save that much money each month into a sinking fund.
Determine What’s Important To You
This is a HUGE part of your travel budget. Once you’ve determined your total amount for your trip, you have to break it out into smaller categories. Things that you will spend money on for your trip are airfare, hotel, rental car (and gas), food, entertainment, fun, etc…
So think about what on your trip is most important to you. Is it getting a direct and day time flight? Is it a nicer hotel? What about good food? If you’re traveling on a budget, chances are that you won’t be able to do it all at a high level! So spend more money on what’s most important for you. After all, a budget gives you permission to spend!
Then assign each category an amount. The thing that is most important to you should obviously have more assigned to it.
I, myself, am a hotel snob. And I only want to stay at the Hilton. I blame my parents for only taking me to the Hilton as a kid. 😉 So therefore, I prefer to allow myself to spend more in that category!
Don’t Stop Searching Once You Book
Once you’ve booked your hotel, flight, and rental car, don’t stop searching for better rates! For our Hawaii trip, we booked our flight in October with Alaska Airlines. And if after you book your flight and the price goes down, you can call Alaska Airlines and they give you a credit for the difference!
I check our flight every day to see if the price goes down. And you can adjust it any time until the day before your flight! Since October, I have racked up $175 of credits for a new flight because I keep checking the price! And those credits will just about cover one person’s flight to LA in December!
I have also done the same for our rental car. The only difference is that I just reserved it and haven’t paid yet. So I just keep making a new reservation and cancelling the old one! My most recent reservation is about $100 less than the original reservation I made.
So don’t stop checking for deals and lower prices until the day before your trip! It could save you hundreds like it has for us.
Keep Track Of Expense While On Vacation
So you’ve set the budget and you’re ready for the trip! You’ve saved with that sinking fund for MONTHS and you’re about to hop on the plane for your vacation. But how will you track your spending during your trip? Contrary to what I do normally, I love using cash envelopes during vacation.
In my normal daily life, I don’t like carrying cash around. I’d rather log onto my banking accounts every weekend and reconcile my transactions via card.
But when I go on vacation, I like carrying cash envelopes for those variable categories like food and entertainment. It’s an easy way for me to see how much I have left to spend without worrying about logging onto my accounts and tracking everything in my spreadsheet when I’m at the beach!
Plan Now To Save Later
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again! A budget gives you permission to spend. So if you’re wanting to take a vacation, start planning now! Figure out where you want to go, determine how much you want to spend in total, start a sinking fund for your travels, determine what’s important to you, and track your spending easily with cash envelopes!
So start your vacation planning and be smart about travel spending!