Budgeting for travel.

I can’t afford that, Pat…

I’m a public school teacher married to a public school teacher. Trust me…I get it. 

This is a difficult topic, because you can’t even begin to use my tips if you are in debt or financial struggles in your regular life. If you can’t pay the bills, or are living paycheck to paycheck, or don’t have an emergency fund, then vacations are outside of your ability right now; and that’s okay.

That being said, my suggestions below don’t necessarily have to be used for vacations! If it helps you at all, use all of these little tips to “shore up” your family finances. Let’s talk about budgeting for travel.

Then you’ll be able to travel! You know…to the actual shore…

Funneling Extra Money

This section speaks more to your mindset and money style than actual cash. You absolutely will not reach any savings goals that you aren’t excited about and feel fully engaged in. Whether it’s that vacation or something even bigger—a car or a house—you won’t be successful until you make it a priority.

I’ve always said, and I firmly believe, that everybody is weird about money. I’m not going to try to change you to think more like me, but I will challenge you to accept how you feel about money. My kids joke that if they have something wrong, I will “throw money at it to make it better” and they aren’t completely wrong. I’m not quite that shallow, but I have found that money can solve quite a few dilemmas in my life.

So, embrace your money weirdness. Then figure out how vacations fall into your quirk. 

Cut Out The “Money Sucks”

Everybody wastes money. Everybody. That is absolutely fine, as long as you are doing it mindfully, and are reaping some type of benefit or reward from your purchases. In order to free up money for vacations, or anything else you want, you need to minimize how much money is going to things that aren’t adding value and joy to your life. Budgeting for everything, including travel, is very important.

For example, I’m a good cook, so we rarely eat out. Restaurants rank as the number one things people spend money on. We just choose not to. What can you cut out? Maybe it is that much-maligned Starbucks habit, or lunch out with friends. Perhaps, like me, you are a purse snob or prefer a certain brand of sneakers. I can list a ton of different luxuries Americans spend money on, but it’s up to you to identify what you can do without. Look reflectively at yourself and figure out where your money is going that can be amended, changed, minimized, etc. 

Starting A Savings Fund

This is your first step regardless of your goal. You need to start a separate place to drop your money so it will be separate from the regular family bills. This can be very simple, or quite elaborate, depending on your “money style” and finances.

Starting Easy

Get an empty jar and start saving change. It really can be that simple. This is even more fun if you’ve got kids, because they will love dropping coins into the jar and watching it grow. Empty your pockets every night into this little jar. Count it up when it’s full. Rinse and repeat.

Getting A Little Fancier

Move on to singles. We have a big cigar box that we put smaller bills in when we don’t need them. It has a little slot, and we just slip them in when we don’t need them. You’d be absolutely stunned how much money can add up without you even missing it in your wallet.

Going High-Tech

Adding a new bank account is free! Create a new account called “Vacation” for budgeting to travel or something cute. This is where you will deposit the counted change or singles every month or so. Even better, this account should be used as a consistent funnel of money. Set it up to transfer $10 or $25 out of every paycheck into that fund. You probably won’t miss it if it’s a small enough amount, but it will keep on accumulating every week!

All That “Extra” Money

“Spend less or make more…” is a very common suggestion to anyone looking to improve their finances; budgeting for travel or not. It isn’t wrong. Spending less, as we discussed above, might help you get part of the way to your vacation and savings goals, but you’re probably going to need to pull out the big guns and make more money. 

It isn’t really that hard once you put your mind to it. There are a wide variety of ways for you to increase your earning potential. Here are a few things to consider:

Make more money on your current job

If I could, I’d ask for a raise, but I’m a unionized public employee, so that can’t happen. What I can do, however, is volunteer for a wide variety of things on campus that provide what we call “extra duty pay”. Maybe in your world this equates to a raise, overtime or commission, but there may be a way for you to increase your earnings without looking for additional employment. 

Passive income streams

While I’m not opposed to it, I’m not advocating opening your house as an AirBNB! However, there absolutely are different ways—especially using technology—that can help you find passive income streams. Whether it is mindlessly filling out surveys or converting your dividend-paying stocks to send you checks, there are different ways to have some money coming in with little outward effort. 

Have a yard sale

On the “one and done” scale of things, consider a good old fashioned yard sale! This serves the added benefit of cleaning out your garage and house, while potentially generating extra income. After you’ve earned a few hundred from things you had forgotten you own, donate anything that doesn’t sell! That tax write-off for the donation just might help you out next April, too. Double win!

Sell that stuff online

If you find you have a lot of something—clothes or maybe a collection of figurines you inherited from someone—consider opening a small, online reselling shop. While it will take some work on your part, this could continue to add money to your finances on an ongoing basis instead of just once. 

Get a temporary second job

While the easiest time to add a second, part-time job is probably still the holiday season with all of the seasonal hires, don’t discount getting a second job at any time of the year! You might even find something that fits well with your schedule, and you may meet some fantastic fellow workers that you can make friends with. You’ll meet other people who are budgeting for travel as well! While your schedule of availability might be quite narrow due to your “real job”, in this economy many companies are looking for great workers regardless of their availability. 

Use your car

Robber Baron was in need of additional funds when he was living in extremely expensive Southern California. He drives an older model car, so Uber wasn’t  available to him, but DoorDash was a great alternative. He could create his own schedule and area where he would deliver. It wasn’t great money, but it was decent money while he drove around listening to his terrible music at full volume. More and more companies do delivery now—thinking about my pharmacy—so there are different vendors you could look into working with now. Try it!

Creating A Budget

You need a budget for your vacation. Everybody does. Taken at the simplest form, a budget consists of two items: What you control and what you don’t control. Once you separate your expenses into these categories, it will be easier for you to see what and where you can shave off some money. Let’s look at these two types of vacation expenses:

What you don’t completely control 

• Airfare/travel – You do have some leeway on this category, depending on how inconvenient you are willing to go. For example, flying non-stop mid-day is going to be more expensive than late night with a stopover. But is that acceptable to you? Same thing for days that you travel and which airline you decide to use. Can you adjust your dates to fit into the cheaper fares, and can you survive a middle seat for a few hours? Only you can answer these questions, but these questions have costs.
• Gas prices – Making the decision to drive to California instead of fly is easy for us, because we need a car when we get there. What we can’t control is how much gas is—particularly on the interstate when there are very few options (and they know it). What we can decide, however, is which car to take with us. While my larger car is decidedly more convenient than Sweet Husband’s, it is also a gas guzzler compared to his. 
• Hotel prices – I’m a hotel snob, which I’ve admitted before. I’m not a five star luxury hotel snob, but I avoid things that start with the letter “M” instead of “H”. Fortunately, the majority of places we visit have many alternatives for accommodations, so I am usually able to stick within my budget for hotel stays. While you don’t control the cost, you do control how and when you book. Remember to try several different booking sites, including the hotel itself, and to check for any discounts you might be entitled to use (thank you AAA).

What You Do Control

• How long do I stay? – I added a day to WDW this summer. The flight dropped $100, and the hotel cost was $150, so an extra day cost me $50 (plus food). It rarely works out in my favor, but you control your budget directly by setting limits on how long you stay. Sure, you’d rather be there longer, but when you add up all of the associated costs, it might price you out of your budget.
• What activities do we do? – The beach is free in San Diego, so it’s my absolute favorite activity. While I love the zoo or theme parks when I travel, the cost of admission bumps my vacation budget up a huge step, so sometimes we will just go “on the cheap” and relax at the beach all day long. Not a bad life, really.
• Do I really need souvenirs? – Purely individual choice, you need to decide in advance what—if any—souvenirs you will purchase. We don’t buy much, but sometimes a mug or magnet makes its way back to our house. This is a fantastic place, in my opinion, to trim that budget.
• How do we handle food? – Part of my “hotel snobbery” leads me to pick hotels with included breakfast, because I travel with some eaters. We also grab fruit or hard boiled eggs for later, when we can. We eat one large meal when we travel, preferring to eat light or “out of the backpack” for snacks throughout the day. Food costs are one of the biggest line items in my vacation budget, so I will economize on this as much as I possibly can. With the exception of one “special meal” or meeting friends for dinner, we keep it pretty simple (and cheap!) if not particularly healthy!

When To Pay For It

Like everything else, this is entirely up to you, but I share my budgeting philosophy on paying for travel: Do it before you go. I prepay absolutely everything I possibly can, so that when I am on vacation, it’s basically with a “clean slate” (and a clean credit card) which makes it easier for me to keep mental notes about the budget and how we are doing with expenses.

Now Add 10% 

My final piece of advice for budgeting for travel is to add 10% to whatever budgetary figure you come up with. It never fails that something will add additional costs to my vacation, whether it is a weekend at the beach or my Europe trip this summer. There is going to be something, and I don’t want to come home to a financial mess.

So bump up every budget line item by 10%.

Then come in under budget.

And use that money to start saving for the next adventure!

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR!!!

Thank you for reading all about budgeting for travel!

Hey, since you’re here! You may as well check out some other tips, like how to make an airplane comfortable, here, or what spending New Year’s in Vegas is like, here! Or, check out our other topics here! Either way, I appreciate you!

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