Travel Within Your Means

Many people are making travel and vacation plans for the upcoming holiday season. You may be diligently looking for low-cost places to stay with the amenities you want and close to the beaches and attractions you’d like to see. 

You’re comparing airfares during the travel period you’ve targeted and are figuring out the prices of available and convenient ground transportation. If you’re like most eager, but poorer travelers, you’ve also set a limit on the amount of money you’ll spend per day once you’re on your trip.

Losing Your Grip on the Travel Budget

But a strange thing happens you’ve arrived at the destination you’ve been dying to experience. You start to lose your grip on your travel budget. You have to have a souvenir that catches your eye, or you can’t go home without experiencing a well-known nightclub and having a few drinks. 

Every less-than-experienced traveler encounters this “travel budget leakage.” You want to have fun on your trip, because who knows if you’ll ever be able to visit the destination again? So, you start bargaining with yourself. You tell yourself you’ll scrimp on breakfast tomorrow and use that money today to buy the perfect souvenir t-shirt. Or you’ll stay for just a couple more drinks tonight at a great bar and do without lunch tomorrow. The problem is that the longer you continue to play this bargaining game, the more you lose track of your budget. 

To avoid financial trouble while on your vacation, pre-pay for as much of your vacation as possible. Airfare should already be paid for. Have many of your meals included in your pre-paid room costs. If you drive, pre-paying for a rental car solves all your ground transportation worries. And use a debit card with a limit instead of a bottomless credit card wherever possible. Lastly, put aside enough money to cover your monthly bills once you get home. 

Enjoying your trip means not having to worry about how you’re going to pay for it all when you’re away and once you get home.