With the weather getting warmer and summer right around the corner, your mind may begin to wander toward a nice relaxing vacation. However, as you probably know, it is very easy to overspend on vacation, so you may want to consider planning your budget ahead of time. This tip shares some things to keep in mind while planning your dream vacation.
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Transcript:
Welcome to Money Tip Tuesday from the Making Money Personal Podcast.
First, come up with a list of places you’d like to go. Travel can be really expensive, so figure out how you are going to get there. If you plan on going overseas, the only real option you have is to take a plane. Even if you aren’t going overseas, but it’s still far away, it might be more cost effective and time efficient to take a plane. If you’re not going too far and have access to a car, driving might be the way to go. If you go this route, figure out how far you will have to drive and how much gas you will need. Other alternative transportation such as buses and trains are also available and may be cheaper than driving yourself.
When traveling, it can be easy to go over budget. According to ValuePenguin, a personal finance website, the average American family spends 44% of their vacation budget on traveling to and from the destination. When flying, it doesn’t help that airlines are constantly pushing more and more expenses to your bill. Things like flight insurance, in-flight meals and beverages, and in-flight entertainment, while nice to have, increase the cost of your travel and aren’t necessary. However, some credit cards offer travel rewards, so you may get some money back by using them. Some airlines also have reward programs for flying with them.
Next, decide where you are going to stay. According to ValuePenguin, lodging on average takes up 26% of travel costs domestically and 21% internationally. Hotels and motels are usually the go-to choice, with motels typically being cheaper. Hotels are typically nicer than motels but can have a lot of fees that you may not know about. Hotels often charge for mini-bar and snacks, parking, early check in or late check out, and more. Air BnBs are a newer option, where you can rent someone’s house or room. This will give you a homier location, and you can choose which Air BnB is best for your price range. You can choose the location of where you want to stay, what type of housing you’d like, and what amenities you want, which may include a kitchen, and this brings us to our next topic of food.
What and where you are going to eat is important to budget out, too. Do you plan on eating all your meals out at restaurants? This will fill up your budget very quickly. Some hotels and Air BnBs have kitchens included, so you can bring your own ingredients and food to make your own meals. This is a cheaper option and will allow you to budget some money for more fun and exciting activities.
Finally, it's time to plan out what you want to do on this vacation. Are there any national parks to explore? Or maybe a theme park is more your style. Like all the other things, create a budget where you don’t overspend, but are still able to do what you want and relax. You may want to check Groupon or Travelzoo to see if they have any deals for your activities. Your local library may also have coupons that you can use on your vacation.
Planning your next vacation can be stressful, but it’s better to do it now so you aren’t stressed while on your vacation and can be completely relaxed.
If you found this episode helpful, we’d like to hear from you about thoughts on this show or maybe you have some ideas on other topics we should cover, email us at tcupodcast@trianglecu.org. Be sure to subscribe to the Making Money Personal podcast for our full episodes and weekly Money Tips wherever you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook for more great content.
On behalf of the podcast team, thank you to our sponsor, Triangle Credit Union, and thank you, as always, for listening.
Have a great day everyone!
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