How to Save Money While on Vacation

Many of us have been here before: we go on vacation, spending money frivolously and charging it to the credit card, only to come home with a huge bill from the trip. Before taking the vacation, everything was planned out and saved for, but all the little expenses like travel between destinations, food, souvenirs, etc. were not accounted for, and therefore end up being charged to the credit card. So, how do you avoid your vacation coming home with you – in the form of a giant bill?

Plan ahead.

The key to financial success is to plan, plan, plan. Setting a budget, and sticking to it are crucial factors in any financial situation. When you factor in the expenses of travel, there is even more of a reason to set a strict budget. When it comes to planning a vacation, set a budget by accounting for all possibilities. Don’t forget the small stuff like subway or bus passes, daily food allotment, gas for the rental car, and souvenirs. These are all of the little things that can really add up on vacation.

Some things to think about within this step: where/how will you eat every day? What sights are you going to see, and how much do they cost? How much do you want to spend on souvenirs? By factoring these items into your vacation budget, you will be that much more prepared for the overall expenses.

Use cash.

After you have written your budget, it’s time to actually start planning how you will make that work. It can be tempting to just swipe the card, and watch the expenses stack up. Instead, after you have a written budget for the trip, plan out exactly how much money you will need to take with you for this. Create a built-in, fail-proof system for your vacation spending. Rather than taking the credit card and charging everything up, take cash and separate it into envelopes for each area.

For instance, a 5 day trip to a theme park could look like this: $100 for souvenirs; $150 for food (including groceries to pack in meals); $80 for gas; $30 for public transportation tickets. This would be broken up into envelopes, separated for each area: souvenirs; groceries; food; gas; transportation.

Don’t get carried away.

The final tip when planning to save money while on vacation is to avoid getting swept up in the moment. It can be easy to slip into old spending habits, or even to live extravagantly while on vacation. Instead, live like you normally would. It’s OK to splurge here and there on vacation, but don’t splurge on the entire trip, or you may find yourself broke by the end of it!

 

What’s your favorite money saving tip while traveling? How do you stay within budget?