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Tips On How To Save For Vacay!
It's that time of year again or maybe it's been a couple of years since you had one or maybe some sort of crazy pandemic has turned our "world" upside down...Thanks Covid! But now, you say it is TIME to start planning a vacation!!! "Where are we going to go? When? Tomorrow? Who should we go with? Skiing adventure or coconut drinks & massages? Tomorrow? Beaches or mountains? Cruise or resort? Tomorrow?"
Okay...okay...let's just all take a big deep breath in...and sigh it out...aaaaaaahhh. Man, its fun to dream up vacations but here's the big question..."how are we going to pay for it?"
This is probably the make or break question when thinking about vacationing...it is the decision to pull the trigger or not...to go on vacation or to not go on vacation...?
GO ON VACATION!!
Sheesh people!
Vacation can be expensive and your piggy bank can take a pretty hard hit if you aren't preparing for it. (or your credit...)
But when you work hard...you've got to play hard! At least that's how my family rolls and it's worked out pretty well so far. But we haven't always saved for vacations....there were definitely some camping trips in there back in the day....and I don't mean in a cabin!
We've got a pretty good thing going these days though with saving for the vacay moolah.
How do you save for vacation? Do you take a percentage of your paycheck or a certain amount and set aside in a savings account? Do you use credit card points or cash back? Get a side job? Are you an avid budgeter or use the leftover/carryover money you have from the budget every month to set aside? (if this is you, comment below on how exactly this happens for you so we can all have the knowledge...or is it self-control?)
These are all some great schools of thought for saving for a vacation but are there more? I've done some research and even ran a poll on my Facebook Page to find out more great tips for saving for your next vacation!
When you think of Dave Ramsey, what do you think of? 'This guy knows money!' Right? Here's what he has to say about the subject...
"You can turn that dream vacation into reality. But you’ve got to start a vacation savings plan now." And "the key to saving for a vacation is having a plan."
U.S. News says "Vacations tend to go better when ample money is set aside for them." and I would have to agree. There is going to be a lot less stress if you're not worried about money during vacation and less stress means more relaxation and rejuvination! Isn't that the whole reason we go on most vacations or is it just me?!
Ready to check out those poll results?
Don't you love pie charts?! Everything looks so much more official when it's in the shape of a pie. Who knew?
Sorry, it's APPLE PIE season too...ok back to the poll...
So, taking a percentage or specific amount out of the paycheck every pay period seems to be the winner! And I tell you what, this works great for us as well! We personally save 5% of every paycheck that we receive to go toward our travel budget. Jeremiah, my hubs is a real estate agent so he works by commission only. Even though its a bit unpredictable for us as far as how much we will have to spend on vacation every year, this seems to still work well for us!
I will say, having a budget is also a great way to allocate money to specific places and try your best to stick to it! We had some friends who went through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University help us with a budget years ago that we still use today! Let me know if you'd like to get on that bandwagon and I will send you the template!
So, how do you save for vacation? Do you?
I would love to hear any other tips and tricks that you may have to save for that next vacation! Feel free to comment below and
Travel Godspeed Yall!
Resources:
https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/how-to-save-for-dream-vacation
