Are any of planning a vacation this winter?
Here are some vacation budgeting tips:
1. Write out a vacation budget. There are websites that actually have templates for you to use but basically just write out how much you are going to spend on food, excursions, day trips, car rentals, gas, transportation to and from airport, childcare/pet expenses while you're gone, tolls, souvenirs, etc.
2. Once you know how much you will be needing for food and other things, think about how you are going to pay for things. Some options are:
-taking out cash for what you've decided you will be spending on your vacation.
-decide you will stick to your budget and use your mastercard
-put the money on your mastercard in advance so everything is paid for.
-Some people (and I had to check for this) still use traveler's cheques.
It doesn't matter what your system is, as long as you have one.
3. Have your vacation paid off before you leave. There's nothing worse than coming home from a vacation and trying to figure out how to pay it off.
4. If you are on a really tight budget and you still want a mini-vacation, use priceline or a similar website for a night or two at a hotel. We have got a 4-star hotel both in LA and in Toronto for under $40.00 a night. This is great if you know the city you are going to, but don't care what the exact hotel is. If you want to go to a specific hotel, I usually call to make a reservations and I know it sounds weird, but I always ask if there's a lower price and, again weird, there always is.
5. If you're on a budget, try to find restaurant coupons for your destination city.
6. Book your vacation last minute. Try Sunquest website for their deal of the day.
Check Trip advisor to see the reviews your resort is getting - especially if you're booking through the website and not through a travel agent.
7. Give your travel agent your budget and your vacation week dates and tell her to call you once she has something. Don't think that a travel agent is going to rip you off or that you are going to find a better deal. They do this for a living.
8. Travel with friends and split the costs. One of our most economical vacations (and most fun - thanks Bill) was sharing a house with a bunch of friends in Hatteras Island.
Most importantly, have fun with it!
It doesn't matter if you have a big budget or a small one, there is always somewhere you can go. It's not the destination as much as the people you're sharing your time with.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
What if my budget isn't working?
So, you’ve wrote out a budget for yourself or at least you’ve thought about it, but it just doesn’t seem to be working.
Here are some things you may feel about budgeting:
1. I hate tracking my expenses. If this is the case, then find a different way of doing your budget, rather than tracking everything. You might need to take out cash every week or month so you’re not always thinking about how much you’ve spent or have left to spend. Another option is you could spend a couple minutes every day looking over your budget rather than hours once a month – which can feel overwhelming.
2. My husband and I fight over the budget. If you’re with someone, you need to work on your budget together. Both people have to agree with how the money will be spent. It might take some compromise or adding things on your budget that you don’t want to.
3. The numbers don’t seem to adding up. Some people put all their expenses down on paper and then find out they are spending more than they make. So, either make more or spend less. These are really the only two options.
4. On paper we are supposed to have money over at the end of the month but we never do. This is more common than you would think. Somewhere you are not being honest about what you’ve spent. You can either be more diligent about tracking your expenses or use cash so that you are not overspending.
5. I cut out every fun thing out of my budget. It’s a lot of work to budget and live within our means, so don’t cut out every fun thing you do every month. Even if this amount is drastically reduced, you can still have some money to have some fun with every month.
6. I’m not good at budgeting. This one I hear all the time. This one sounds like an excuse to have debt. We all have to budget, whether we do it the same way or not. Everyone has to find some sort of system that works for them. It doesn’t all have to look the same, but we all have to budget (i.e figure out our money) whether we are good at it or not.
Here are some things you may feel about budgeting:
1. I hate tracking my expenses. If this is the case, then find a different way of doing your budget, rather than tracking everything. You might need to take out cash every week or month so you’re not always thinking about how much you’ve spent or have left to spend. Another option is you could spend a couple minutes every day looking over your budget rather than hours once a month – which can feel overwhelming.
2. My husband and I fight over the budget. If you’re with someone, you need to work on your budget together. Both people have to agree with how the money will be spent. It might take some compromise or adding things on your budget that you don’t want to.
3. The numbers don’t seem to adding up. Some people put all their expenses down on paper and then find out they are spending more than they make. So, either make more or spend less. These are really the only two options.
4. On paper we are supposed to have money over at the end of the month but we never do. This is more common than you would think. Somewhere you are not being honest about what you’ve spent. You can either be more diligent about tracking your expenses or use cash so that you are not overspending.
5. I cut out every fun thing out of my budget. It’s a lot of work to budget and live within our means, so don’t cut out every fun thing you do every month. Even if this amount is drastically reduced, you can still have some money to have some fun with every month.
6. I’m not good at budgeting. This one I hear all the time. This one sounds like an excuse to have debt. We all have to budget, whether we do it the same way or not. Everyone has to find some sort of system that works for them. It doesn’t all have to look the same, but we all have to budget (i.e figure out our money) whether we are good at it or not.
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