How to Save for a Summer Vacation

You may be still paying for last summer’s getaway. But that doesn’t mean you’re trapped. If you follow a serious course between now and the summer solstice, you can plan this year’s vacation and expect to leave your credit cards at home.

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In the next several months, use a credit card that accumulates “rewards” (points or cash rebates) for everything you can: gas, groceries – even day care tuition, suggests Jimmy Williamson, a certified public accountant with MDA Professional Group.  However, pay the balance each month. If you’ve been banking points, let them build toward hotel or rental car discounts, plane tickets, or gift cards for restaurants you’ll visit while away.

About eating: you can chow down now at home or feast on vacation later. From now until your trip, one week out of each month, stay out of the grocery store and eat only what you have in your house. You likely have more staples than you realize, Williamson advises.

Eat fewer meals out. A typical family with children younger than age 6 spends an average of $239 a month on restaurant meals. “That money could easily be diverted to your vacation fund,” says Williamson.

And while you’re cutting food expenses, siphon off part of your pay. Budget a portion of each paycheck as vacation money. Keep it in a savings account (or a CD) and promise not to touch it until booking your travel.

If that leaves you looking at Minnesota when you want to go to Marseilles, generate cash. Sell unneeded items on eBay, Craigslist or hold a yard sale. And then find money in your house: putting change into a jar every evening will help. “Small amounts, saved regularly, will accumulate surprisingly quickly,” says Kevin Gallegos, vice president at Freedom Debt Relief.

Consider taking a part-time retail job or let your neighbors know that you’re available to shovel snow, mow a lawn or two, or help prepare a school report. The cash you earn will support your leisure. And if you’re lucky enough to get something back from Uncle Sam come tax time, stick that cash into your savings.

Just as you’re saving meal money for vacation, save bank and ATM visits for the end of the year. Instead, use your debit card to purchase small items and get cash back at no charge from the retailer, says Jenny Realo, executive vice president of CareOne Services, a debt relief services provider..

“This can save you $2-$5 for each visit you might have taken to the bank or ATM,” she adds.

And once you start saving on fees, you can start saving elsewhere. Try carpooling to save on gas and wear-and-tear. And turn the thermostat down a few degrees. You save about three percent on your heating bill for every degree you set back. Put on an extra layer of clothes or keep a blanket around the places where you spend the most of your time in your home. Stay motivated and think, in just a few months, you’ll be off on a warm vacation,” she adds.

And make choices: how about dropping your satellite TV for six months so that you can see the world this summer?

Truth is, with a little bit of sacrifice you can return from your summer jaunt without the sobering sight of a stack of bills.