Paying For Your Vacation

Vacations are intended to be periods of rest and relaxation.  There is no “vacation rule book” that says you have to pack up your family and take them on a trip you cannot really afford so you can charge it on your credit card and TRY to pay it off before time to leave on your vacation next year!

ESTABLISH A VACATION FUND
Make this fund part of your budget and make it part of your children’s budget.  If they have allowances or part-time jobs, have them contribute something toward the vacation expenses.  Obviously, their contribution won’t be equal to yours but it will help them start a habit of setting money aside BEFORE they need to spend it.

STAY CLOSE TO HOME
Find a nice hotel with a great pool (and other amenities) and spend a long weekend there.  You will save money on gas and lodging by not traveling far and not staying a whole week.  Another way to do this is to actually stay at home and visit tourist attractions in your area during the day.  Use this opportunity to do things you don’t normally do right in your own home town.

MAKE A LIST OF “VACATION ACTIVITIES”
Ask each member of the family to come up with 3-5 things they would like to do as a family during the summer.  Write all the ideas down and post them in a central location.  During the summer, make appointments with family members to do things from the list.  You’ll find that most, if not all the ideas, will be cost-effective not to mention that it allows you to spread your “vacation” throughout the whole summer.

PAY CASH
Don’t take a trip you cannot pay cash for and don’t borrow money to take a trip!

TRAVEL ON “OFF” DAYS
Some hotels have better rates on the weekends because they cater to business customers.  Other hotels have better rates during the week since most of their business is based on tourism.  Choose your hotel accordingly and try to schedule your travel to coincide with the lowest rates where you want to stay.