Bon Voyage without Breaking the Bank: Tips for planning your next vacation
BudgetYourVacation: Americans spend $324 each per day on vacation, not including transportation to the destination
(InvestigateTV) — The U.S. Travel Association projects that domestic leisure travel will top $1 trillion in 2025, meaning Americans are spending a bundle on vacations.
Cherry Dale, the vice president of financial education at Virginia Credit Union, said Americans love to travel, but vacations are where a lot of families end up spending more than they budgeted.
It is what pushes a lot of people into debt, so Dale urged people to be smart from the beginning and stick to their budget.
“It’s really important, I think, to communicate to your family, to whomever you’re going on vacation with,” she said, “to get everybody on the same page where you are financially for the year, and how much money you have this year to spend on vacation.”
Dale said know how much time there is until that vacation hits, so money can be saved and budgeted. For example, some could set aside $300 a month and while involving the whole family in that process.
“So, when you’re out with your kids shopping and they want this or that you can say, ‘Hey that vacation we are talking about, if you buy this now it’s going to take away from fun stuff then,’ so teaching them those opportunity costs at the beginning,” Dale suggested.
Dale said vacations are a great chance to teach kids about money. Give them a set amount to spend and show them how to stretch their dollar and budget for the fun activities.
She said after saving, look for fun things to do on vacation and always shop around for the best bargains.
One way travelers can save is to research if their credit card rewards points could be used to pay for portions of their trip.
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