Your Guide To Saving Money For Your Next Vacation
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Inflation is high and costs for everything are soaring.... So how can you cut costs and save enough money to afford a vacation? Today I am going to share with you some of the ways that my family and I save money for our vacations
9 Ways To Save Money For Vacation
Start a Separate Vacation Savings Account Or Savings Plan
Start a separate vacation savings account and save all year. Keeping your vacation savings separate from your regular savings account can help you save some extra money and not spend it. Many savings accounts even allow you to automate savings, enabling you to start it and the best part, forget about it until it is time to cash out for vacation. Another option that can potentially earn you more money but does come with some risks is an investment account. You could use an app like Stash to invest some money for vacation. I have used Stash myself and I appreciate the ease of use and the cash-out process is easy too. When you invest you can lose money so this requires more time and research when using this method and holds some risk of loss when investing. Another great way to increase your vacation savings is by using a savings plan. I like to start one of these money-saving plans at the beginning of each year to help jump-start my savings. After a year with the savings plan I prefer to use I have saved a full $1,378 which is enough to impact your vacation budget. Here is a post I wrote that can help you choose a money-saving plan that is right for you.
Use a Credit Card To Earn Points, Cash Back, or Flier Miles
Use a credit card that can help earn you benefits towards vacation. What I mean by that is many credit cards that offer points, cashback and flier miles can help to increase your vacation budget. To do this properly and not end up in a lot of debt can be tough for some people. I recommend this only if you can afford to pay the card off each month before you are charged a fee. This is how I use mine and I never accrue any interest I just use the card for my necessary spending and pay it off after I use it. My favorite credit cards to use are the Marriott Bold & The Delta credit card which both help me earn hotel stays and flights. I personally only use credit cards for the benefits that I can earn and make sure to pay them off monthly before accruing interest. This is what I recommend to anyone who signs up for and uses a credit card like these. Make sure that it does not trap you further into debt which happens quickly with credit cards if you are not careful. My advice when using credit cards to earn rewards is this focus your credit card use on things you are already paying for monthly in your budget. Examples: Childcare expenses, groceries, gasoline, cell phone bills, Internet, insurance payments (if they allow for payment by credit card), etc. You can sometimes pay for utilities by credit card also but be careful because they often charge a fee in addition when using a credit card.
You can use my referral links below to sign up for either of the cards I use and love. When you sign up using the link provided you are helping to support what I do here at Saving Joyfully. Thank you for your support it is appreciated.
Choose a Hotel Or Vacation Rental With The Right Amenities
Choose a hotel or vacation rental with amenities that support your vacation needs. Example: Free breakfast, snacks, free coffee and tea, free wifi, concierge services, etc. If using these free services will help you save more money it is worth considering in advance when choosing where to stay.
Vacation In The Off-Season
Select a time to take a vacation that is off-season and you will be so glad that you did. Find out what the off-season is for the location where you are visiting and you can find more ways to save money. Hotel pricing will be cheaper and the selection of hotels or vacation rentals available will be much better.
Bring Food and Beverage Items
Pack beverages, snacks, and additional items that could save you money on your trip when driving. My husband and I will take a trip to Costco for bottled water, juice boxes, beef jerky, etc. before taking our vacations. We are never sorry that we did because with increasing costs gas station beverages and snacks can easily cost us a small fortune on our trips. This also comes in handy when we stay in hotels because these help us to not use the hotel vending machines or food counters quite as much.
Find Coupon Books & Deals
Many areas have visitor centers that offer information on things to do around town. When traveling on vacation these can be helpful because many have coupons for restaurants and attractions you might want to visit. Another option is an Entertainment book for the location you are traveling to visit. Entertainment book offers restaurant, hotel & entertainment coupons around the area for select retailers. When we go on vacation it is often around my birthday so my favorite thing to do is gather all of my birthday freebies on vacation.
Birthday Deals If You Travel Around Your Birthday
If you are like me and travel around your birthday, taking advantage of birthday deals to stretch your budget can be fun. Such as Free drink at Starbucks (only on your birthday sign up for the rewards club for more details), Free sub at firehouse subs and Jersey Mikes, Buy one meal get one free at First Watch, $20 off $40 at Tupelo Honey Cafe, Free pastry at Panera Bread, Free cookie at Crumbl cookie, Free treat at Chick Fil A using the app, $3 free at CVS using your extra care birthday reward, etc. These are just a few of the rewards that I like to claim on vacation. If it is not near your birthday you could try using rewards accounts to stretch your budget just with the rewards earned or points you can claim for discounts. Many companies have these types of deals like Chick-fil-A, Panera, Whataburger, etc.
Seek Out Free Or Cheaper Parking Options
Search for free or discounted parking options. It can be tough to not have to pay for parking at prime locations but it is possible. We love to visit the beach and find a variety of paid and unpaid parking options available. We try to research a bit in advance where we can park for free and choose the beaches that have free parking options, bathrooms, and picnic areas which can also save us money when we decide to do a quick sandwich or salad option for a meal.
Find Ways To Save Money On Gasoline
Save gasoline points for places like Speedway or Kroger to be redeemed during vacation. This can help stretch your gasoline budget a bit and save you more for the fun stuff. Many stores offer gasoline discounts when you buy gift cards from various retailers and restaurants. You could plan to purchase certain gift cards for restaurants to be used on vacation to earn extra gas points. Just an extra simple savings that could help stretch your budget on items you are already purchasing.
Grocery Rebate APPS
I love using Grocery Rebate apps to save money after every shopping trip. I use multiple different grocery rebate apps but my absolute favorite is Ibotta.
There are a handful that I recommend using below and each one works slightly differently. Some will link to your grocery store account and some require receipt scanning. Either way, it is great to help you earn cash back or gift cards toward vacation.
Here are my most recommended rebate apps:
Receipt Hog - Download the app and enter code vump3111 to earn a special bonus when you scan your first receipt
Fetch - Come save money on Fetch with me! Sign up w/ code V8QKN & get 2,000 pts for signing up using my link See you there!
Shopkick - use my code NICE196185 when you sign up and earn 10 kicks in stores within 7 days you will get 500 bonus kicks
Take Surveys to Make Money
I have always loved doing surveys to share my opinion and earn a little extra money. Depending on the amount of time you have available you might be able to save up quite a bit using just this method. Some market research survey sites pay more and do more video chat methods and online opinion-sharing communities. Other websites solely do market research surveys and product testing which can earn a bit less but can be done almost any time of the day or night.
You can learn more about my favorite market research websites to start earning money at this post here.
