It is officially summertime, you’ve put in the request for some time off at work and you’re ready for some much needed R&R! You finally start to plan out your vacation getaway, and then… you see that the expenses are adding up quickly. The last thing you want is to arrive at your destination and realize you’re out of money. So how do you plan a vacation without overspending, that also fits your budget?!
A group of friends and I recently went on a weeklong vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. All in all – I spent around $500 for the week. This included the price of the house we rented, the cost of gas to drive from Massachusetts to North Carolina, food, and house supplies. I felt comfortable with the money that I had spent and so I returned home stress-free (and very burnt).
Here are some tips that I learned while on vacation to help you stick to your vacation budget:
Make sure you have a budget in mind going into your vacation planning and stick with it! Before the official planning had even begun, my friends and I knew that we did not want to blow the bank on this vacation. Many of us have upcoming weddings, are new homeowners and have other expenses that still have to be our main priority. Because of this, we looked for a destination that would cost no more than $350 a person for accommodations. Fortunately, we found a beautiful house in the Outer Banks that met this price point. The low price for the house allowed a greater budget for items like food, house supplies, and any fun excursions people wanted to experience while there.
Luckily, the house that we booked for our trip had so many ways to keep us all occupied that we never felt the need to leave! We had a pool, beach access and a game room which helped limit our daily spending. However, there were days when some people wanted to shop or try some tasty restaurants in the area. I brought cash with me so that I knew how much I was spending each day. I also knew that when I was out of cash, I was out so I capped my daily spending limit at $50.00. Any money that I didn’t use was added to the next day’s limit! I only ended up buying random groceries one day and some Outer Banks apparel on another so I remained well under budget.
You’re on vacation, so of course you want to enjoy the local food! However, eating out every day can add up quickly! If you’re able to find lodging with a kitchen then you could cook up some quick meals during your stay. We had 35 friends on this trip which is an overwhelming number of mouths to feed! As a solution, each person was in charge of their own breakfast and lunch, but when it came to dinner, we split up into 7 teams of 5. Each night a different team was in charge of dinner for the whole house. This did a couple of things: it switched up the types of meals people were having (which was super fun) and it allowed the grocery bill to be split 5 ways. In total, I spent $30 on the night my team cooked dinner. As a bonus, we always had so many leftovers that people could have options for lunch the next day!
Because the Outer Banks are only a 10 hour drive away, half of our friends decided to drive rather than fly. The drivers were all lucky to have cars that were able to make the trip. If you’re not in that boat and have to rent a car, you will have to factor in the cost of the car and insurance. Another benefit of driving: we were able to bring our own food and house supplies which ended up saving us both money and time! I spent around $120 in gas which was way cheaper than a plane ticket. So if you’re able to sit in a car for a number of hours – I highly suggest buckling up for a road trip!
The Carolinas are known for their beautiful golf courses, so it came as no surprise that many of our friends wanted some tee-time. After some research, we found out that our stay came with a package deal that allowed visitors a certain % off at a local golf course. Not only did our friends enjoy a day of golf, but they were able to do so at a cheaper rate! With the money they saved at this golf course, they were also able to try out another course later in the week.
Another group wanted to splurge on a deep sea fishing excursion. While this was a little pricier, they were able to fit this expense into their weekly spending by opting out of a golf day or a trip to a nearby restaurant.
Vacations are meant to relieve you of stress, not cause it! By planning your vacation budget ahead of time, you can help make your actual time away that much more enjoyable! Plus, when you return to reality, your bank account will thank you! You’ll still have enough to cover all of your necessities and stay on track towards meeting those financial goals. A vacation budget is great to have, however, don’t forget to still have fun! And don’t forget to wear your sunscreen!
Category: Budgeting & Debt Reduction
You just got home from your beach vacation. Instead of unpacking, you spend hours scrolling through photos reminiscing about your time away. But then reality sets in when you realize it is Sunday night and you have to work the next day. Your stomach grumbles but the fridge is empty because you haven't been grocery shopping for 2 weeks.
It is officially summertime, you’ve put in the request for some time off at work and you’re ready for some much needed R&R! You finally start to plan out your vacation getaway, and then… you see that the expenses are adding up quickly. The last thing you want is to arrive at your destination and realize you’re out of money. So how do you plan a vacation without overspending, that also fits your budget?!
Spring is finally upon us! While most people are thinking about spring cleaning their homes, it is equally as important to think about cleaning your finances. Yes, just like that one crinkled shirt hidden in the depths of your closet that you promise “you will wear one day” – your finances need some reevaluating, too! So, where do we even start? Here are a few tips and tricks to start spring cleaning your finances:
Before we start, I already know what you’re thinking, “Olivia, you’re not good at saving money. Is this going to be a huge flop like the ’No Spend November‘ challenge?” And my answer: potentially. I always do my best to be transparent when it comes to money… and I am a work in progress! I cannot guarantee this spending plan is going to be my “a-ha moment” where I get my life and finances together, but it is worth a shot!
Ah, February – the month where love is in the air and, for us single folk, it is the month where we get amazing deals on post-Valentine’s Day chocolates. In February, relationships are celebrated with romantic dinners and roses, however, there is an important relationship that often goes uncelebrated – your relationship with yourself!
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When you’re 25 years old, retirement seems so far away. Even though I have at least 40 more years in the work force (sigh) I still know that one day I am going to be burnt out from working 5 days a week- I already am! Eventually, I’ll need to stop working as hard as I am now to enjoy some relaxation except I can’t get to that point if I run out of money prematurely.
When my mom was growing up, my grandparents would pull off the clown car illusion of stuffing every neighborhood kid into their car to go get an ice cream cone every Friday night. There were days when my grandparents had only a couple dollars in their pockets, yet, they never turned anyone down.
The painful truth for most people my age- we have no clue how to file taxes. And what do you do when you have no clue how to do something? Ask your parents!
When I was 10 years old, I envisioned that by age 23 I would be an “adult.” I’d be married and living in a colonial home that I’d raise my family in. Fast forward 16 years. At 26 years old, I am not married, I still live at home with my parents and I couldn’t imagine having kids of my own right now. It seems laughable now but how did my 10 year old vision change so drastically over the years?
Is anyone else confused at how it is already 2022?! Growing up, I always felt that the years were so much longer. However, the older I get the more I realize how quickly each day goes by. I began my career at the credit union when I was young and fresh out of college. Now, I am in my late 20’s and my back pops when I bend over!
Hi my name is Olivia and I am a total clothes horse. I buy for a mixture of reasons, including being a spin instructor so always “needing” new workout sets or severely overestimating the amount of times I go outside my house. In reality, I wear the same t-shirt and sweatpants every day (yay for working from home!). Essentially, I have spent so much on clothes that my bedroom has started to look like a TJ Maxx popup shop.
At one point in my post-grad career, I had to temporarily switch to an Income-Sensitive Repayment Plan. This option stipulated that the loan payments were going to be based on my annual income. I was only on this plan for about one year but I was paying almost $200 less than what my regular payments were supposed to be.
When I was young, I was gifted the coolest plastic safe. It was deep grey with a bright purple handle that you would spin to open and it had clinking sound effects whenever you opened the safe and deposited money. Since this was before I had a savings account, I threw all of my money in there until it would all fall out when I opened the safe.
According to a survey from CreditCards.com, “47% of Americans are carrying credit card debt.” This statistic would make my grandfather furious if he heard it. He would often say to me, “Vivi, the world started to go downhill once they introduced plastic money!” Following my grandfather’s testament to the downfall of society, he would then tell me the story of how he used to always leave a wad of cash in his work locker for emergencies.
If you’ve been a regular reader of the ThinkPink blog series, you should be well-versed on the importance of a budget. When it comes to saving money and having a plan, a budget is one of the best ways to take control of your finances and reach your financial goals. However, I’ve found that following through with a plan can be cumbersome and while there may be momentum in the beginning, eventually it fizzles out before a goal is even reached. Why is that?
For some readers, the No Spend Challenge could be done with ease and that is awesome! For me, a No Spend Challenge is difficult. It is especially hard when participating during the month of November. Let’s cue the smallest violin here, again. For starters, every store is now fully stocked with their transitional fall into winter pieces, which is arguably the best season for creating outfits.
When you graduate from college, one of the first things that you start to save toward is getting your own place. You just lived on your own for 4 years and had that taste of “freedom.” You could go about as you pleased without having to tell your parents where you were going at 11:00 pm. And if your diet consisted of late-night pizza and mozzarella sticks then so be it. College is essentially a 4-year long sleepover with your closest friends but then one day it ends and before you know it you are back in your bedroom at home.
Since starting this blog in 2020, we've covered a wide range of topics. It has been fun doing deep dives into the world of personal finance. All this big thinking, though, can cause us to gloss over basic financial principles.