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Budgeting for a Trip

Budgeting for a Trip

I’ve talked about finance in this blog before, but today I wanted to go through the specific steps I go through when planning out and budgeting for a trip. I know sometimes the thought of taking a big, expensive trip can be a bit daunting, and there can be a fear of going over budget when you travel, so I’ve put together this guide for you on how to budget for a trip.

The planning stage

During this stage, you’ll want to decide where you’re going to go and how much everything is going to cost. I know that sounds like a big, daunting task, but don’t worry: you can figure it out in steps. I suggest keeping a spreadsheet where you keep track of costs. You can use Excel, but I suggest an online spreadsheet through Google Drive, which you can share and add to with your traveling companions.

Here is what you are going to want to research:

Now that you’ve written down all these things, add them all up. That will be the rough budget for your trip. This is the amount of money you want to save.

Saving

You can approach saving for a trip in one of two ways.

The purchasing stage

Once you’ve got your travel fund up to where it needs to be, it’s time to look into purchasing. At this stage, I like to look for deals. Just because the average flights at this time of year might be $500 round trip, but that doesn’t mean with a little searching I might not be able to find them for $350 round trip. Try to find ways to save money on all the things you book.

Look at airline websites, hotel sites, vacation rental sites, car rental sites, etc. and spend some time searching for the best deals you can. Try to stay on budget, but it’s even better if you can find something for under budget. Also, look at the price of booking things individually vs. packaged deals. Sometimes one can offer a better price than the other.

Book all your major costs at this stage. That’s the hotel, the airfare, the car rental, and any other big purchases you’ll be making on this trip. When you’ve done that, take a look at your budget and re-evaluate what your daily maximum is going to be. Also, keep saving right up until the day of the trip. The more you can save, the more you’ll be able to do when you get there.

During the trip

Stay on budget! Go under budget whenever possible. Try to spend money where it counts (meaning…on things you really want to do). Make sure to enjoy yourself, though. I like to do things like saving money on some meals by eating cheaply from the grocery store and then saving more of my budget for those really extravagant meals I definitely don’t want to miss out on.

Try not to put too much on your credit card that you can’t pay off immediately out of your trip budget. You don’t want to get yourself into debt. Sometimes the temptation can be great when you’re in the moment, but do whatever you can to stay on budget. Only charge things that you absolutely need to.

After the trip

Hopefully, at this point, you’ve had a fabulous time and stayed on the budget the whole time. Chances are, however, that you may have ended up with some extra money on your credit card during the trip. It happens to the best of us. Make sure you make paying off that credit card debt a priority though.

You may need to forego a few luxuries or cut costs for a little while after your return so you can allocate more money to paying it off. Try to pay more than the minimum payment, and pay off as much as you can possibly afford to at a time. Once any trip debts are paid off, now you can start planning your next trip.

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