Holidays are expensive, and a luxury. We all know that, and you should never think that holidays are essential. However, we all just love a holiday! Maybe you are even planning a honeymoon or wedding abroad? If you REALLY love them, then you will be spending quite a bit of money! Here, we are going to look at budgeting for a holiday.
It is important to have a good idea of the time you have to save, and the money involved in your trip. How much will you actually need? Remember to take into account things like food, travel, spending money and even things like holiday clothes. Bear in mind that some places are more expensive than others. For example, if you are travelling abroad, be prepared to pay more for accommodation, transport, food and any other expenses. When travelling to a new place for the first time, it’s crucial to understand how much things cost. Eating out in London will be more expensive than eating out in Spain, for example.
When you have your figure of how much you need, you then need to look at your current incomings and outgoings. Start with your bills that you must pay – your rent or mortgage, utility bills, phone bills, – any fixed bills that you know you can’t do anything about. First thing to do, is to see if you can cut down on any of these. For energy bills, if you are coming to end of contract, try Uswitch, who will check all the providers to see if you can get a cheaper deal. For phone bills, call the provider. If you have a package with your television and internet, there may be better deals on that you can switch to. Cancel things like movie packages and sports channels too.
You can also look to save money on your mortgage, by either re-mortgaging, changing supplier, or even downsizing if your circumstances have changed. Its crucial that you get the correct advice when looking at mortgages, as your house is the most expensive thing you will ever own. The first thing to do is to look at how much you can afford. Use a mortgage calculator to see exactly how much you can spend – remember you want to include your holiday saving too! If you are considering re-mortgaging – taking out a lump sum then paying it back over a longer period of time, you should also check a calculator to see just how much those extra payments will add. You may be pleasantly surprised!
Then take the remaining figure per month and work out what you can cut down on. do you really need your Netflix account? If you have Netflix and Amazon Prime, cancel one of them for the foreseeable future. Can you cut down on your food bills? We all waste too much food – work out what you can add to meals to bulk them out cheaply. Things like adding changing supermarkets or going to markets will really make a difference.
You can also save for your holiday by asking for money for birthday gifts – this way you get something you really want instead of countless candles and flowers.
Use an online banking app to help you decide how much money to save each day or month too. There may have money left over at the end of a month which you can just quickly transfer.
The most important thing is to get started on planning! What do you need to do before your trip? Learn some useful skills, perhaps?