How to Afford a Summer Vacation this Year
According to a recent survey, more than half of Canadians say they can’t afford to take a vacation this summer. The poll indicates that Canadians are having trouble putting money aside for holidays. We would like to offer some help by suggesting 6 ways you may be able to save some money for a vacation.
1. Set a savings goal
How much money do you need to go on a vacation? To move towards your vacation, you need to set an amount that you think you will need and then begin saving. We will also show you were you may be able to find a lot more money to save.
2. Create a spending plan
If you don’t have a personal or household budget, this is the first step to finding money for your vacation. If you don’t use a budget, you would probably be surprised at how much money you spend on certain things. Once most people take the time to track their spending and create a budget, they usually find it easy to identify expenses that they can cut back on. Click here to learn how to budget (or click here for the really simple version).
3. Look for expenses to trim
If you take a look at where you spend your money, add up what you spend and then decide how much you want to spend, most people can find hundreds of dollars that they can re-allocate to something else like paying off debt or going on a much needed vacation. In a separate article we have laid out 8 ways that you can trim your current spending to save thousands of dollars. One of these tips may be your ticket to a vacation this year. Check it out.
4. Look for places to save money
There are many places that people can find money to save that they haven’t thought of looking into yet. Extra savings can potentially come from using smarter shopping strategies, your job, the government or your expenses. Click here to find 9 places where you can find money to save.
5. Setup automatic transfers
Your bank or credit union can help you setup automatic transfers from your chequing account into another account that is hard to take money out of. This could be a high interest savings account that is not linked to your bank card. If you automatically transfer $25 dollars per week into a separate savings account, you will have $1,300 saved within a year. You can probably see how this simple arrangement can easily help you save for your vacation almost "automatically."
6. Go on a "staycation"
If money is tight, you don’t have to travel anywhere to get away and relax. With the recent downturn in the economy, "staycations" have become more popular (click here to find out what a "staycation" is).
If you take a good look at each of these options that we have suggested, you should be able to find a way to save up for a vacation this year. If you find a savings tip that works for you and you apply it, you may be able to afford a modest vacation within as little as eight weeks.
What do you think of these suggestions? Do think any of them will work for you? Do you have any advice to offer? Leave us a comment below.
Related Topics:
Do Summer Vacations Leave You Broke? Here's an Idea
How to Plan a Successful Staycation