When I was younger I can remember taking vacations and returning home broke! But as I have gotten older and wiser I have come up with ways to cut corners, save money, and not blow all my money while vacationing. Here are a few tips:
------------------------
1. Pay for travel arrangements month's in advance. Because travel arrangements like flights, car rentals, trains, or bus tickets can be the most expensive, I like to get that expense out of the way in advance. Also, shopping around and searching flights on certain days can ensure that you get the best prices, especially when booking a flight.
2. I actually book my hotel arrangements before I book my flight. Depending on where you're vacationing lodging can be more expensive than your flight. I am the kind of person that even if I am flying into a city that I know people and can stay with them, I will still get a hotel. Because I like to come and go freely and am not forced to be on someone else time. Plus I do not skimp on the hotels that I choose to stay in, they have to be the best, especially since it will be my home away from home. But I have even heard of people staying in Hostels that are $25 a night - those are for people who are really into saving every penny and stretching their money.
3. Before you head out on your vacation, set a budget for yourself, this would include how much you have to spend on food, local transportation, and souvenirs. What I suggest is to google places near where you will be staying, so that you will know what there is to eat, how much it will cost, and how much it will cost you to get from your hotel to dinning. I even go as far as to create a list of people who I plan to bring back souvenirs for and set a budget for what I am willing to spend on that.
4. Plan and research the historical sites that you may want to see and tours you may want to take before leaving for your trip. A lot of historical museums allow you to pay online and print you tickets at home, this is the same when you're taking a cruise and want to book your excursions ahead of time.
5. Book your vacations for the week or weekend that you are getting paid. And not during the first of the month because that is usually when mortgage or rent is due. So, it is best to travel during the second pay period of the month, because you will have the extra money to spend if you'd like.
6. Stop or Cut back on frivolous shopping, eating out, or anything that you can live without but waste your money on anyway. If people calculated how much money they spent monthly (even yearly) on fast food, restaurants, or drinks at bars they'd be shocked. Now just imagine if you cut all that out, just how much you'd save to put toward a vacation.
Comments
Post a Comment