Keeping spending under control while on vacation

A vacation is a great time for a person to escape from reality. But a vacation is not the time for a person to spend all of their savings. Here are four specific ways that a person can keep their spending under control while they are on vacation.

Budget before you go

One of the best ways that a person can keep their spending under control while they are on vacation is to make a budget before they even go on vacation. Making a budget for the vacation is just as important as booking airfare and a hotel.

A person should sit down with their travel partner(s) and discuss how much they would like to spend on all of the aspects of their vacation. They can start out by writing a list of all of the things they will have to spend money on. For example, transportation, lodging, food, souvenirs, entertainment, etc. If a person has a realistic idea of how much they would like to spend in each category and how much they would like to spend overall, they will better be able to keep their spending under control while they are on vacation.

A kitchen

People tend to spend a lot of money on food during their vacation. And while most people do not want to spend their entire vacation preparing meals, having a hotel room with a kitchen (or at least a kitchenette) can really help them save money.

When a person gets a hotel room with a kitchen or a kitchenette, they can purchase snacks and drinks from a local grocery store to keep in their fridge. Then, when they are hungry for a snack or if they are thirsty for a soda pop, they don' have to spend money on the overly priced food in the hotel vending machines or the hotel gift shop.Just using the hotel kitchenette for snacks and beverages can really help a person control their spending while they are on vacation.

If a person wants to control their spending even more, they could use their hotel kitchen to prepare breakfasts and/or lunches throughout their vacation. Preparing breakfasts and lunches do not take a lot of time, and it will cost a lot less to purchase cold cereal and milk or bread and meat to make sandwiches from the grocery store instead of eating at the nearby Denny's.

By using a kitchen or kitchenette for simple meals and snacks, a person can keep their spending under control while they are on vacation. And to make sure that they know they are really on vacation, they can still go out to eat for dinner each night.

Limit souvenirs

It is important for people to remember their vacation. But there are more ways to remember a vacation than just purchasing souvenirs. A person can take pictures, keep brochures, keep ticket stubs, etc. It is a good idea, especially for families, to put a limit on the number of souvenirs that they purchase while they are on vacation. If a person is limited to one souvenir for the entire vacation, or a souvenir for less than five dollars from each location visited on the vacation, they can better keep their spending under control while traveling.

Cash only

If a person tends to have a big problem of overspending while they are on vacation, it might not be a bad idea for them to leave the credit and debit cards back in the hotel and only carry around the cash they need for the day. Since they should have taken the time to make a budget before they go, they should have a pretty good idea of how much money they are going to need each day for transportation, food, and entertainment. When the cash is gone, it is gone, and they will not spend more money than they had planned to spend.