STICKING TO YOUR VACATION BUDGET
You can hear the audio version of this discussion on my podcast at Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast, on Apple Podcast, and many other platforms!
CREATING YOUR VACATION BUDGET
The most important part of being able to stick to your vacation budget is to start with a detailed budget. If you have not created a vacation budget previously, your first one will most likely have some things missed, but you will get better each time you do it. I always make notes while on a vacation of things I forgot to budget or didn’t budget enough for so that I can update my budget file for our next trip. Each time we go on vacation our budget is that much better because I have improved it based on info from our past trip.
I know there are some people out there that will think sticking to a budget on vacation is a form of deprivation. I strongly disagree with that. Some of the most stressful times in my life regarding finances have been while on vacation spending money that I had no idea if we even had. Knowing that I would be returning after the vacation trying to figure out how to recover from what we just did.
MAKE SURE YOU BUDGET IS DETAILED
Having money set aside for a vacation and a plan on how you will spend it makes a huge difference in the way it feels to be on vacation. Having a detailed budget is going to give you the most success in being able to stick to it. You will notice that many of these tips seem to focus more on planning your vacation than on making sure you spend what you anticipated while on your actual vacation. That is because in my experience the best way to stick to your vacation budget is to do a lot of research and planning beforehand. If you go on vacation without a game plan, unless it’s a very low-cost location, you will very likely end up exceeding the amount your thought you would spend on your trip.
DECIDE ON AN AMOUNT FOR YOUR VACATION
You may already have money set aside for your vacation and will create a budget to fit within that amount. Or you might be creating a budget to determine how much you will need to start saving up. Regardless of how you arrive at the amount of money, you are comfortable spending on vacation, it is important to have a number or at least a maximum. This will help guide you in creating your budget and deciding what types of vacations will fit your budget. I find it easiest to have a rough idea in mind of the amount we will budget and then start by pricing everything out to arrive at our final budget. I can then look at how much we already have saved and if any additional amount will be needed to afford the trip.
DO YOUR RESEARCH
I find that researching a destination is probably one of the most important parts of planning a vacation. It is also one of the most important parts of creating your budget. Especially if you are going to an area known for tourism, there will be a big variety of activities you can do during your trip. By doing research you can make educated decisions on what things you would like to do on your trip and what the cost is of each activity. It can sometimes be difficult to make these decisions while on vacation because you can end up dealing with the fear of missing out.
If you take the time to research what is available ahead of time, including reading reviews, you can make your best judgment on what would be most enjoyable on your vacation. You don’t want to end up spending a huge chunk of your vacation budget while on your trip and then discover the next day that there were things you would have rather done with that money. You will either end up possibly doing those things anyway and blowing your budget. Or you will end up being disappointed in your choices. Of course, there is no guarantee that you will love everything that you chose to do on your trip. But, having a plan for the things you will do and knowing in advance how much they will cost will greatly help you stay on budget.
FIND SOME FREE OR LOWER-COST ACTIVITIES
Most vacation locations have some things that you can do that cost little to no money. This might be strolling the downtown shopping area (if you are not prone to impulse spending). Or maybe visit a local park that shows off the scenery of the location. As an example, many of the national parks have ranger-led walks that are completely free. We have done them in Shenandoah National Park in VA, Acadia National Park in ME, and Gettysburg National Military Park in PA. Those free ranger-led walks were some of the highlights of those trips. They were informative and entertaining and allowed us to save money to put toward something. This is just an example, but by taking time before you go to look into free things to do in the area you can often find some things to do that do not expand your budget.
JOIN A FACEBOOK GROUP
The last vacation we went on was to Gettysburg in PA. This summer we are going to Williamsburg in VA. Both of these locations had Facebook groups that I was able to join. The groups consisted of many people that either live in the area or that were frequent visitors of the area. These Facebook groups have been super helpful in doing research on things to do in the area. Posting a simple question like “This is our first time visiting the area, what are some of your must-dos?” has gotten so much information. It’s also another good way to hear what people think about certain events, activities, or restaurants you might be planning on.
While internet reviews are a great resource, they can sometimes be limited. I also feel like people that had a bad experience are more likely to go vent their frustration via a bad review than people that had a great experience. So, sometimes it’s hard to get a good read on something you are considering if there is a limited number of reviews. A local Facebook group can be a great resource to get feedback. You can also often get tips on the best times to do a certain activity or times to avoid it.
WATCH YOUTUBE VIDEOS
Who doesn’t love a great top 10 video? Often doing a search for “best things to do in … ” or “free things to do near …” or “off the beaten path in ..” can lead to some really great information regarding the location you plan to take a trip to. Often these do end up being top 10 list-type format videos which I often find fun to watch. Sometimes you will find things to do that never would have come up in an internet search or tourism website. It’s entertaining too and adds to the fun of planning for a vacation.
HAVE A PLAN FOR FOOD
Unfortunately, with all the planning in the world, the cost of eating on vacation is an unavoidable one. The cost for this can range anywhere from very low budget with cooking at the location you are staying at if that is possible, to eating at an expensive restaurant for each meal. We usually do some combination of the two. When we go camping, I don’t mind cooking some simple meals in our camper while the family is hanging out at the campground. But, I do realize that the thought of cooking anything while on vacation can be very off-putting to some. We all get to decide how we want to spend money on food while on our vacation.
If we want to stick to our budgets, it’s important to have a plan for how we will feed ourselves each day. If eating out includes restaurants, looking them up in advance and getting an idea of the menu prices beforehand can help you set a budget. It also can give you an opportuning to make a different choice that fits within your budget. There is nothing worse than sitting down at a table for a meal to see that nothing on the menu is even remotely in your price range. Researching places to eat and estimated costs will help you create a realistic budget for your meals.
BUDGET CATEGORIES TO INCLUDE
As you are doing your research and deciding what activities you will do and places you might eat out or purchase groceries detail the estimated cost for each of those items. Also, make sure to include a budget for Lodging, Gas/travel expenses, and Souvenirs. And of course Misc. / Contingency – it’s nice to have a little bit of extra to cover the little things that usually end up popping up on vacation. Even if it is something as simple as stopping to get everyone ice cream while walking through town.
BE PREPARED TO MAKE CUTS
Once you have done your research and listed out the estimated cost of your vacation you might find that it comes to a bit more than you had planned to spend. This is when you have the opportunity to make some changes to get back to the amount you had planned on. Doing this at home before your vacation makes it much easier to make thoughtful decisions about what you are willing to give up. It’s no fun to have to make these decisions while on your vacation. And sometimes when we are in vacation mode, it’s much harder to make these choices. Being able to take the time to think through what is most important to you will allow you to have a much nicer vacation than trying to eliminate things last minute.
TRACK YOUR EXPENSES DAILY
If you have done all the legwork to have a great budget for your vacation, don’t allow yourself to overspend by not tracking your spending. I recommend tracking your spending on a daily basis. I use an app where I can log our expenses as they occur because I just find it easier to do at the moment. However, you can also take a few minutes at the end of the day to record your spending for the day. By doing this it allows you to see where you are at so far in your budget. If you overdid it on the miscellaneous spending one day, it gives you the opportunity to cut back a little bit the next day. Maybe your restaurant meal cost a bit more than you expected, so you can choose to do pizza the next day.
Whatever choices you make, updating your budget each day allows you to see how you are tracking to budget so that you can make adjustments along the way. It is difficult to remember what we spent after some time passes. This is especially true while on vacation. So, by updating at least once a day, we are less likely to forget something.
Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!
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