If you don’t plan your travel budget, you can spend a lot more than you expect and return home with an empty wallet. Alternatively, face a shortage of funds, which is even more unpleasant. You will have to borrow from friends or use a credit card. Fortunately, these sad consequences can be avoided if everything is calculated in advance. We will discuss how to plan a budget so as not to spend everything on the first day of vacation.
The First Tip: Plan
Having received a decent amount of money (and most often it comes out decently compared to a regular salary), do not give in to the desire to “hang out for fame”, give yourself time to think and calculate a little. Yes, you will need to use a calculator. Make a list of the main expected and mandatory expenses (for example, a planned trip, birthday celebration, gifts, etc.), calculate the approximate amount and subtract it from the funds paid to you.
Divide the money left from this deduction by the number of days until the next paycheck – you get the average component per day. Ideally, you will demand to live on it. If it turned out to be too little for one day, reduce spending on entertainment or find a better option.
The Second Tip: Cook at Home
Do not be afraid, there will be no offers to lock yourself at home and make something tasty for the whole vacation. Just do not get carried away ordering ready-made food and visiting restaurants – this may end up being the main expense item. You don’t need to completely deny yourself a juicy pizza, but remember that homemade food is much cheaper, and cooking, including simple pizza, is a space for creativity. You can easily get profitable cashback and make card payments with Sam’s Club Credit Card. Read more here.
The Third Tip: Get the Stash and Connect External Sources
It’s great if you have a habit of saving a portion of your monthly salary for future use. Such savings can make life much easier in terms of savings and come in handy in emergency cases. If you have not noticed anything like this before, but an emergency still takes place, don’t panic. There are four options:
1. Negotiate with loved ones. Husband, parents, brothers, sisters, friends – your loved ones will know in case of emergency that you may need help, especially if you live together. You can ask on occasion to take on most of the costs, which you can compensate for in the future. You can suggest not to buy delights for the table, etc.
2. Sale of unnecessary. Bought a new computer and left an unused laptop? The dress is new but doesn’t fit? In general, you understand that it’s time to put all this up for sale via the Internet or a newspaper.
3. Side job. Are you good at knitting? Were you good at writing essays at school? Do you draw? Believe me, your hobby can become a source of good income. Read more about this in another article.
4. Credit card. It is an extreme option. The disadvantage of using a card is that it is difficult to stop and it may well happen that there will be nothing to repay the loan. The advantage of a credit card is that you need to pay in installments (minimum payments) every month. You can find out about it here.
The main rule of budget planning is strict self-control. It does not make any sense if you do not control your spending. It goes without saying that it will hardly be possible to fit into the allocated amounts. At the resorts, there is a sea of temptation; you can go negative even before the end of the trip. How can you do it? For each day, you set aside a specific amount that you can spend and try not to go beyond it. If one day you spend more than the norm, then the next day you can be content with only less. Such a calculation will allow you to avoid impulsive and unforeseen purchases and expenses.
Thank you for reading this helpful article!
