Budgeting For Your Vacation

By Lisa Xing
[Personal Finances]
Research Before Choosing Accommodations

Another trick of having a worry-free vacation is to do some thorough research into your accommodation choices, because this is more often than not one of the areas you will spend the most on.  Buying a travel guidebook for the area you’re travelling to is a great way to help you figure this out.  Guides like the Lonely Planet series sort accommodations by budget, as well as location, so you have everything virtually laid out for you.  They have contact numbers and addresses, as well as maps, so your job is easy.  For example, figure out if you want to be by the beach or in the downtown core on a trip to LA and go straight to that section of the guide for some effortless choices based on your budget.

The Details Of Your Destination

One task I can’t stress enough is to research the actual cities to which you will be travelling.  This is important because you will get a good idea of whether or not the destination will make a huge dent in your wallet or not.  For example, California is generally an expensive state to live in, so that will affect your budget.  However, Morocco is dirt cheap and you can get by on relatively little upon landing.  This will obviously affect how you budget and plan your vacation, depending on how much money you have.  Also research the sights you want to see and the prices involved with that, because that will more than likely take up a large chunk of your budget as well.

Leave Room For Improvisation

One of the most important things you can do is to stay flexible with your budget.  Leave room to spend more if you have to.  This way, you minimize surprises and stress on your vacation.  Plus, it is never a bad thing to come home with more money than you expected.

Research Overload

Actually, when it comes to research, you can never do too much of it.  Researching in advance gives you an advantage in that you will know exactly what you want to do and what you want to see.  This doesn’t lock you into an itinerary, per se (so you still have the flexibility to change your plans), but it does make you more informed about the decisions you may have to make if you do change your plans.  It also makes the trip more enjoyable so you’re not constantly worrying about your finances when you’re supposed to be having fun.
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