Everybody needs a break occasionally from the daily grind of working life. A week or two in the sun is something most of us wouldn’t mind. The key is in knowing how to save money for a holiday, so you can take that well-earned break.Budgets are great for any situation in which you need to save money. Work out exactly how much money you have coming in, versus how much money you have going out. Allow yourself a certain amount of ‘spending’ money, and any that’s left-over can go into savings.
Set up a savings account so that you can keep your saved money locked away. This will move it from your sight, taking it out of the equation. You will be discourage from spending it on silly things, and much more likely to build the nest egg for that sunny trip. It’s easy to set up a standing order from your current account to your savings account as well, so you don’t even need to physically have your money in your hand.
There are of course numerous everyday methods for how to save money for a holiday, and if you put your mind to it you’ll see that money can be saved literally everywhere.
Food shopping is a good example because everyone needs to eat. Food is also where a lot of people waste money. In the UK, we as consumers throw around six million tonnes of food away each year. That is an awful lot of people buying food that they then don’t eat. Plan ahead. Write lists of meals and the ingredients required to make those meals. If your veg is on the turn, don’t throw it out, make soup with it, you wouldn’t know the difference once it’s all blended together. If you’re being really frugal you can even set a budget per meal.
You can also save money on the little things. If you buy your lunch at work every day, that’s probably around five pounds a day. That’s thirty five pounds a week and over one hundred and forty pounds a month. If you managed to save one hundred and forty pounds a month you’d very quickly be jetting your way to exotic destinations.
There are plenty of ways to save money on the trip itself. Last minute deals are a great way to save money. Hotels would rather fill their rooms, even if it’s at half the original cost, than have them empty and earning nothing. Airlines are exactly the same, and cheap flights are easy to come by. Look at the less popular destinations. For example, Ibiza will be more expensive than an unknown Spanish seaside town. If all you’re after is a bit of sunshine and a beach, the world is quite literally your oyster.
Now you know how to save money for a holiday, and on booking a holiday, you can start saving and planning for your hard earned break abroad.
Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beltzner/4335683931/