Budgeting for Your Dream Vacation 

Podcast Transcription 

Hi everyone! Thanks for tuning into another episode of PFCU’s Money Talk, I’m your host Maddy. It’s that time of year- summer time! And for a lot of us that means vacations whether you’re heading up north or across the country, flying or driving, taking a solo trip or making it a family affair- budgeting is crucial!

And I tell you what, it’s so easy to overspend on a vacation whether it’s the hotel, the flight or the rental car being pricier than you anticipated or whether it’s things while you’re on the vacation like the food, souvenirs or the activities and outings you decide to go do. And is it just me or is does food always seem to be the biggest money sucker? What is that about? It doesn’t matter if you buy your groceries at the store or if you eat out at restaurants every day, food is so pricey. I’m going to share some tips with you so you can plan and enjoy the perfect summer vacation within your budget. 

My first tip is to plan early, early, early. You might be someone that loves to be spontaneous- And I wonder what that’s like? Please, please tell me what that’s like. But that could be costing you if you’re planning at peak times and giving yourself no time to start saving. Start early, research the costs of lodging and food, flights and gas and keep an eye out for any deals and price cuts. Find out when it might be cheaper to take your vacation too. Even look at destinations that might be cheaper at different times of the year. If you don’t have a certain place you want to go already planned out, take a look a which countries might be a little cheaper to travel to, what states might be a little cheaper. So just keep an open mind if you don’t have a specific destination in mind. And start putting away a little bit of money every month and keep that money in a separate savings account. For example, at PFCU you can start a separate club account and designate it specifically for your vacation and you can start automatic transfers to that account and save without even thinking twice. The earlier you start to plan and save, the bigger your budget can be for your vacation.

My next tip just like for your regular monthly budget is to break down your costs of your vacation. And you guys, if you don’t have a budget made just for your everyday living expenses and you want some tips on how to get that started, you can check out my podcast from several weeks back for some budgeting tips. So, anyway, break down the cost for your vacation so things like food, lodging, transportation, activities, if you have pets, any kennel or boarding fees or hiring a dog sitter to come to your house, if you need someone to watch your kids, what childcare is going to cost, souvenirs and then a miscellaneous or unexpected category. So, if something comes up whether that’s an activity you want to do that you did not originally plan for or if your car gets a flat tire on your road trip. This category could be a real lifesaver.

And to go along with this tip of creating categories, you need to lay out a plan for each one of these categories to guide your budget. Now obviously I can’t give you any hard or fast numbers but just keeping in mind, for example, do you plan to eat out for most of your meals or will you have access to a full kitchen in an Airbnb where you can get groceries every day, are you going to be spending your time hiking free trails and doing some free sightseeing or are you going to be going on excursions that cost money. So, you might need to increase your budget on certain areas for what you want to do. And that goes back to doing your research so figuring out what the activities cost that you want to do, going on their website, seeing what’s free, what’s not free and what those costs might be.

And the last thing to think about is how you’re going to pay for things on your trip. Are you going to be bringing cash in envelopes to keep your budget items straight and on track or are you going to be bringing your debit or credit card which you will need to be careful to make sure you’re not overspending those? Now credit cards might be a little bit safer than cash or a debit card but just make sure you still have the money set aside to pay that bill at the end of the month. And it’s also a good idea to let your financial institution know when and where you will be traveling ahead of time so they can make a note that any transactions from your vacation destination are not fraud and your account isn’t unexpectedly frozen.

I hope these tips will make your vacation planning a little bit easier and your vacation a little less stressful. I do not want you to go on this perfect, dream vacation and walk out of it spending way more than you anticipated so do your budgeting, do your research.  I hope you can get out and enjoy some beautiful weather and some beautiful places. Thanks for listening!