Almost 2 years without travel plans surely make us feel nostalgic and miss the old times when getting a flight to our get-away location was not a major sport.
We get the urge! However, post-pandemic travel plans and trips may need more careful planning than ever before. If you are planning to hit the road again, it might be a good idea to weigh your travel funds.
This is because some locations are bound to see a surge in the number of visitors. Consequently, you can not expect services like hotels and Uber to come in cheap at this time.
How much you should spend on a travel trip is not an easy question to answer but there are some steps you can take to ensure you don’t end up spending more than you should.
Plan Ahead
It is a good idea to move your reserve funds to a bank account to have more clarity on the budget that you can afford to spend on a trip.
Moreover, the travel plan does not need to happen right away. For example, lockdowns and restrictions are slowly settling down which means you can set aside a “post-pandemic trip” savings account to separate the money that you wish to dedicate to the trip.
You can begin by putting aside the money you need for necessities and payments. From the rest of the funds, a percentage could go into your savings accounts. Ultimately, you can save up enough to enjoy a get-away without worrying about breaking your pocket.
Put It Down On a SpreadSheet
SpreadSheet is a great idea to help keep track of different expenditures and relevant amounts of funds. There are some free budgeting template sheets available online that you can download for free and list down items like tickets, hotels, travel, etc against total expected cost of each.
You can also use a similar spreadsheet to keep track of your savings. The progress on the sheet would show how financially “free” you are to travel a luxurious trip with your family.
Take Help From Budgeting Apps
There are plenty of budget apps that you can use to manage your finances conveniently. Some of them are available for free while others, with additional tools and services. May cost up to $5 per month.
The objective of these applications is to help you track your spendings and plan a budget ahead of time. Some high-tech apps even provide insight on how you should save your money and suggest how much to spend at a particular time. The only downside is that these can cost $12.00 per month.
Check If There Are Any Credit Card Points or Cashbacks
Ever had the chance to apply for and get your hands on cashback credit cards or those cards that let you accumulate travel points on every purchase?
Now is the time to put them to good use!
Credit cards frequently offer loyalty programs. This means you may be able to score a discount if you use a specific card to book a flight, hotel, order food in international restaurants, etc.
Even more convenient is the use of a phone to pay at certain locations such as fuel points. This often comes with cash back or bonus points that you can redeem in the form of small gifts or cash.
Take-Home Message: No Travel Plan Is Worth Putting Yourself In Debt
All in all, no escape is worth losing all your savings over or putting yourself in debt. The idea of an extended travel plan may seem quite tempting given that we haven’t been freely traveling for a couple of years now, it is still bad to go into debt for anything.
Moreover, the post-pandemic period may see a boost in interest rates. In fact, some analysts point out that the expenditure calculated for a trip right now is at least 3X of what it would have cost had there been no restrictions and lockdown in Covid pandemic.
Nonetheless, we are not here to discourage you!
You can carefully calculate the cost of the trip and ensure that you have enough in the savings account to really enjoy a worry-free travel plan with your friends and family.
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