MyNext EscapeLets face it, due to Coronavirus and its impact on the global travel industry, you probably aren’t going on a holiday this year, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t start or keep saving for your next holiday whilst we wait for better travel conditions.
So we recently asked our members to share their advice when saving for a holiday and hidden within your answers, we found some great tips and consistent messages.
The majority of our members have told us that it is important to to save regularly towards their next holiday, with only 11.8% saying that having a regular saving plan is not important or neutral.
For the rest of us that do need to save for a holiday, we saw some constant messages and below we have pick our favorite tips that may help you save for your next holiday:
- Do your research regarding cost, factor in some ‘must do’ experiences and a splurge component. Once you’ve established how much it’s likely to cost it’s easier to see how much you have to save and you have a goal to work towards and a clear idea of what you are saving for.
- Having a goal in mind helps because it’s easier to stay on track if you have an incentive. Put your holiday savings in a hard to access account so you don’t see it everyday and won’t be tempted to spend it.
- I start with a good flight deal 9-12 months ahead and then book and pay for accommodation a bit at a time. When you are actually making payments regularly it’s a lot easier on budget. It’s also fun to keep adding to the itinerary as you go.
- Make a conscious effort to have less take away coffee and snacks, which can really add up over a year. You’ll be amazed how much you spend on take away food when you start saving that money instead.
- Look at you travel plan long before you are ready to go & write down anticipated costs for each day then line that up beside the savings list & then compare if it fits but always add a % for the unknown like breakdowns.
- Make a wish board and stick up pictures of places you’d like to visit and tick them off as you travel to these destinations. Once you see how easy it is to make small sacrifices in your daily life to achieve big goals you will be hooked on regularly saving for travel abroad.
- Think about what saving on things at home can get you on your holiday. For example, if you eat at home for a meal and don’t get take away then those savings could buy a great dinner on your holiday. This especially holds true if your holiday destination is likely to be cheaper than Australia.
- Buy the biggest money tin you can get ( i.e. one you need to use a can opener on – this will prevent raiding it temptations ) then every payday put in a set amount. Then on every other odd day you have spare change after making your usual weekly shop, etc, drop in all your spare change ( gold & silver coins ). You’ll be astonished how swiftly it’ll build up to an amount you can take to your local bank branch to exchange for $50 and $100 dollar notes. And there you have it; holiday spending money that will be worth heaps more in foreign currency depending on where you decide to enjoy your well-earned break.
It doesn’t matter how much money you have saved for your holiday – you always want to make the most of it. No matter where you have in mind for your next trip, a general rule of thumb is the earlier you start, the easier it’ll be to meet your savings goals. And if you start early enough, you should have more to spend, allowing you to splash out on something amazing or put any extra money into your next holiday.
If you have a great money saving tip that you would like to share with us, simply complete our short survey and you might be featured in our next update.
