Traveling with a Budget

When living on a budget, many often choose to cinch the budget on travel and vacations. It is an easy area to cut spending and can be an expensive line item in your budget. But it doesn’t have to be, and it doesn’t have to be the first item cut. There are ways to include travel within your budget and still be affordable.

1. Plan for it.

To be honest, this is the easiest way to include travel in your budget. Just plan for it! It sounds simple, and it should be. But in reality, it can be a challenge to actually accomplish a realistic and affordable travel budget. Especially in our society. According to a recent Forbes article, many Americans spend more than 10% of their annual income on travel. Now, there is no set guideline on what a good estimate is for a travel budget, but in our opinion at FFL, there are 2 rules that we say to follow. The first is to never ever spend money that you don’t have. No matter how great the sale or the deal, don’t do it! The second rule is to plan it in your budget, an amount that meets your lifestyle. For instance, our budget for the past several years has had a very low travel amount, but a higher amount of entertainment. Whatever is important to you should be reflected in your budget.

2. Get the Timing

When shopping for travel, it’s all about the timing. Hotels and airfare are priced differently at different times of the year and in relation to when you are traveling. Paying attention to these things can save you a lot of money. If timing isn’t important to you, try flying mid-week. Tickets are typically cheaper, and traffic is lighter on those dates. For deals on travel, check out Skyscanner. It’s a mobile app that helps alert you to travel deals in your preferred area.

3. Keep it cool.

Remember when traveling, that you are still living on a budget. You still have finances to manage and a budget to keep. Just because you are on vacation does not mean it’s a free-for-all, and you can spend exorbitant amounts of money to “let loose” and “have fun”. Those are rapid ways to go into debt.  Instead, keep your head about. When you plan for your vacation, you can plan for spending money. Plan within reason, and within your budget, what you want to spend. Don’t go crazy, and remember your goals. You can still have fun while on vacation, but don’t spend money you don’t have, going into debt to do so.

There you have it – our tips for traveling on a budget. It’s simple when you break it down into real life habits. Remember your goals, and you can attach the Finance Free Life.