9 Holiday Savings Tips
You have planned your dream holiday, you have set your budget, and now to get savings to build that budget to make it happen. How do you go about it? Saving for your dream holiday does not have to be something to lose sleep over. With careful planning and some tough decisions, you can have the holiday you want and not go into debt for it. How can we do it, I hear you ask? You make a plan; we will look at nine ways to help save. Some ideas may be a different way of thinking to achieve your desired results, and others may be the inspiration you seek.
For the longest time, I would either go on holiday and then wait for a bonus to cover the shortfall or go into debt. Most of these holidays were local, and debt was low. Then we discovered travel overseas, which often included acquiring more debt, personal loans, or credit cards. We had a ball while we were away, living the dream, but then we would return home and still have this debt to pay off.
The option we used to pay for the bulk of our holidays was lump sums from different places with not much thought for much else. Over the last couple of years, we have seen lifestyle changes. One of them has been Saving for and paying for our holidays (almost) in full before we travel.
Listed below are some of the things we have used, and others are brilliant ideas others have used and recommended. I hope this little article inspires and encourages you to save and sets you up for a guilt-free holiday (well, from a financial point of view).
Make a Savings Plan
Once your plans, budget and timelines are planned out, it is time to work out what you need to save to make it all happen. Say you need $10,000 for your trip and have 12 monthly pay packets before you go. Divide the total by your pay periods, and that is what you need each month to set aside ($10,000/12=$833.00 into savings per pay period). Now, this is great if you can sustain this, but maybe there are other ways to save to help you along.
 Have a NO spend Period
I know I am starting with one of the most challenging solutions, but if we can use this one to break some spending habits, the roll-on effect may be widespread.
We all can fall into the trap of just spending for the sake of it. You know, buying that new outfit because it is there and the money is in the bank, or going out for dinner because you can. None of this is terrible, but if you want to get your holiday saved, you sometimes have to say no, and you need a time of restraint.
I think setting yourself a small allowance is vital for budgeting in general, but also saving. That way, you can enjoy living now but tightening the belt for the short term will be helpful. I found it was harder to save when I was going long periods without doing things I enjoyed. I forgot to budget a small amount of personal spending money, making it extra hard not to spend. Once we added a small allowance into our budget for hubby and myself, it made saving and restraint easier.
Have a money box
A savings tin may seem like a small thing, but in the early days, when I was new to savings and our savings goal was small, this was how I did all my savings. Of course, back then, it was more than change. Now I can end up spending a couple of hundred extra dollars just by emptying my change purse now and then or deciding not to spend any $1 coins and depositing them in the tin.
Over time this is a great way to build a portion of your fund.
Do online surveys
Some companies pay you to do online surveys, and I know people who have paid for part of holidays using this method. You could do this as you sit and watch tv at night or on the train on your way to work (if your commute allows it). Online surveys are varied; some companies even let you select the topics that interest you.
Here are a few I have used in the past.
https://www.opinionworld.com.au/en-au
https://join.au.surveycompare.net/
Join a rewards program
We have saved hundreds of dollars with this one; we have a Credit card and an in-store rewards card link to earn points for our Frequent flyer program.
We have not only flown for almost free (still have to pay the taxes) but saved on hotels as well, and the ones we get through the rewards program are better than the ones we pay cash for, as the cash price would not fit our budget. Check with your rewards program and ensure you use it to your advantage. These companies are affiliated with lots of other companies, and using those services could help build your points and save real cash on that next holiday.
I would recommend looking at how using points would most suit you; as I said, we have used them for hotels and found a better hotel than our cash budget would have allowed us to stay in, our preference is often hotels overflight, but I know we are the exception in this case.
Hold a Garage sale
Have you ever looked at the stuff lying around and thought I must do something with all this? Why not turn it into an injection into your holiday savings? Holding a garage sale is great for helping clear things out and moving forward in your day-to-day life, and the funds raised could help pay for a specific item or go towards your holiday in general.
If holding a garage sale at your place is too daunting, there are heaps of buy, swap sell sites you could advertise items on… or keep it personal and put things up on your own page. I have a friend whose family did a cruise, and her kids sold enough stuff to allow them to buy the adventure passes for the cruise and had a ball, all while selling things they no longer used.
Set up a high-interest bank account to increase savings
Often our budgets for a cruise or a Europe holiday are in the thousands, and we save for extended periods of time. Why not help kick things along a little bit and put your money once at a decent amount into a high-interest account? This also locks that money away for the period making it harder to spend on spur-of-the-moment purchases. You usually need a few thousand to start one of these accounts… check with your bank or research to see which is offering the best returns.
Keep an eye out for freebies and add-ons
This is a biggie for me, and we are always leaving our young adults, and kids behind, so internet access for me is important for staying in touch with them and getting work done. I will always look for hotels that have free wifi (it has been the deciding factor before). Breakfast included is another savings that can help (think about saving $15pp or more on a meal every day). Some Hotels offer airport or cruise port transfers, and if you need these services, that could be a huge saving if offered for free.
Take on a change-saving challenge
Every now and then, we see those challenges that help you save over the course of a year. This one has been popular for a few years, https://goo.gl/images/C7PzxL Starting with just $1 and increasing by $1.00 a week by the end, you will have saved $1387.00 towards your holiday. This, of course, is starting small. There are plenty of others that would help you yield a higher return if you are up for the challenge.
Saving for your dream holiday will take commitment and maybe some sacrifice; you can do it with some planning and a little resolve. If your budget and timeline aren’t realistic, then I guess decisions will have to be made, but keep communication open and dream together, came to a place of agreement if you need to change plans to help bring your dream holy day to life.
What are some of your favourite saving tips?
Need some inspiration for a place to include in your next itinerary? Here is a post containing 5 European Destination Overviews for 2023
