Some people want to save money for a vacation but they aren’t quite sure how to do it. Other people know how to save money for vacation but they want other ways to go about doing it. It doesn’t matter what boat you are in, this article will help you save for your next trip.
Below you will find 20 different ways that you can save money for vacation. You won’t use all of the different strategies but I am sure that you can find a few that will meet your needs.
Some of the suggestions I am going to give you are not going to be painful and are easy ways to save money for the next trip. While others may make you flinch and start to break out in a sweat.
Seriously, most of the things that I am suggesting are things that anyone can do. In the end when you have saved up for that next getaway, you are going to be glad that you did them.
Quick Look: 20 Ways to Fund Your Next Trip
Here is a snapshot of the strategies covered in this guide. Click any category to jump straight to those tips:
| Category | Best Strategies to Try | Effort Level |
| 📱 Automation & Apps | Automated bank transfers, Rakuten, Ibotta, Fetch Rewards | Very Low (Set it and forget it) |
| 🛑 Cutting Expenses | Eating out less, trimming grocery bills, canceling unused subscriptions | Medium (Requires some discipline) |
| 💳 Credit Card Rewards | Maximize travel points and flat-rate cashback cards | Low (If you pay balances in full) |
| 💰 “Found” Money | Physical coin jars, routing tax refunds, saving gift cash | Very Low (Redirecting existing funds) |
| 🛒 Decluttering | Selling items on Facebook/eBay, hosting a garage sale | High (Requires physical prep) |
| 💼 Side Hustles | Food delivery (DoorDash), ridesharing, working overtime | High (Trading time for cash) |
How to Save Money for a Vacation: 20 Proven Strategies
Use Tech & Apps to Automate Your Savings
1. Set Up a Dedicated Vacation Account
The best way to save money is never seeing the money in the first place. One way to do this is by opening up a vacation account through your bank.
Next, set up automatic transfers from whatever account you get your check deposited into. That way you never see the money, and your vacation account will grow over time.
2. Use Apps That Give You Money When You Use Them
There are many different apps that you can use to earn cash back. They are not going to bring in tons of money but when you use them all, it can bring in enough to help you fund a small portion of that next trip.
For our family vacation, I was able to cash out a couple hundred of dollars total from the apps that I use.
The apps that I use on my phone are Ibotta, Receipt Hog, and FetchRewards.
Ibotta is an app where you can earn money when buying items in store and online. In store, you can save money on particular items or for the whole purchase. With Online purchases, you can save from retailers, travel sites, and more.
For example, at the time of this writing, if you use Ibotta to book hotel rooms through Hotel.com you will earn 6% cash back.
Receipt Hog is an app where you take pictures of receipts that you get when buying items. You earn points for each receipt that you submit.
You can earn more points by linking an email account where receipts are sent to. You can link accounts to various stores, such as Amazon, that you have an account with to earn points.
There are different levels that you can cash out at. When you do cash out you can get an Amazon gift card, Visa card or cash directly sent to you through a Paypal account.
FetchRewards is another receipt app. You take pics of receipts and then you submit them. Points are earned for each one of the receipts.
Extra bonus points can be earned depending on what you buy. You can also link your Amazon account and earn points for each of the receipts that you have through Amazon.
There are different point levels and many different categories that you can cash out at. For example, they have cash back cards and a travel category.
3. Maximize Rakuten for Online Shopping and Travel Deals
Rakuten is a site that I love to use. Rakuten allows you to earn cash back, Amex, or Bilt points from over 2,500 stores. It is free to sign up, and you get cash for signing up.
You can download the extension to your web browser which will tell you if cash back is being offered from the site you’re on.
You can go to the Rakuten site to see if the store you want to shop at is offering a percentage off of your purchase. They even have an app for your phone.
You make purchases like you normally do, and every three months they send you a check or deposit the points directly into your account for the purchases you made.
If you have an American Express card that earns Membership Rewards or a Bilt credit card, you can earn points instead of cash. You will need to link your Amex or Bilt account to Rakuten. The points will be deposited into your Amex or Bilt account every 3 months.
One side note, Rakuten can also be used to book travel. Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com and other travel booking sites offer cash back.
Marriott, Hilton, Best Western and other hotel chains offer cash back through the site. British Airways and Hawaiian Airlines are a few of the airlines that can be booked through Rakuten.
4. Automate Savings with Smartphone Apps
Acorns and Qapitial are two apps that you can use to save for your next vacation. Each of these apps takes the purchases that you make and rounds them up to the nearest dollar.
The extra money is deposited into an account that you can then transfer the money into your vacation account.
Cut Back on “Wants” and Everyday Expenses
5. Cut Back On Eating Out
Who does not like to eat out? I know that I like to eat out either in the restaurant, getting it delivered or getting it to go. It is nice and convenient to not have to cook.
For some people this is a big part of their monthly budget and for others it may not be as much. No matter how much you spend on eating out, you can cut out a few restaurant meals to save up for that next vacation.
You don’t have to go cold turkey for eating out. You just have to decide how many meals from restaurants that you are going to give up each month.
For people that eat out more often, it may be giving up one meal out a week. For others who eat out less it could be eating out half as much as usual.
No matter how much you stop eating out, take and put the money that you usually would spend on eating out in your vacation fund.
A side note to this is that it is not something that you have to do the rest of your life. It is for a specific amount of time, and then if you want you can go back to your normal spending, then do so.
6. Trim Your Grocery Budget
One of the major budget categories for people are groceries. There are ways that you can save on groceries without sacrificing quality.
Prepackaged Foods- Prepackaged items are convenient but that comes with a cost. You are buying the items that you are going to eat so take a little extra time and prepare them yourself.
Coupons- You can cut coupons and use them or you can use apps like Ibotta to save when buying groceries. Take the savings that you get from whatever way that you choose and put it in your vacation fund.
Buy in bulk- There are times when buying in bulk makes good financial sense. This is especially true if you have a family or if you buy things that are nonperishable, such as toilet paper and paper towels.
Discount grocery stores- The grocery store game is more competitive than ever. Walmart, Aldi and Lidl are a few of the grocery stores that offer great prices for many products.
You don’t have to buy everything at these stores but you can find many products that you may buy at a great discount versus other stores.
Eliminate the Junk- Chips, ice cream and pop are some of my favorite foods to eat. Cutting out these and other such items can save you big bucks and help on the waistline.
7. Temporarily Trim Your Daily “Wants”
Most people have things that they buy on a regular basis that are wants and not needs. This could be coffee, lattes, or movies just to name a few things.
So, if you are picking up a $5 latte every day that adds up to $25 a week or $100 a month. Just like with eating out, it does not mean that you have to give up that latte completely.
Instead of buying one each day, maybe buy a latte twice a week. Take the savings and put it into the vacation fund.
8. Audit and Cancel Unused Subscriptions
Do you know all of the subscriptions that you have? You probably have more subscriptions than you think.
Take an account of all the subscriptions that you are paying out each month. Then figure out if there are any that you are not using and cancel them. Put the money that you are saving into your vacation fund.
9. Switch to a Cheaper Wireless Plan
Wireless plans can be very pricey. I know that I am not saying anything that you don’t already know. Check with your carrier and see what plans that they may have that fit your needs but cost you less money.
Another option is to look into discount wireless companies. Some of these companies are owned by one of the major brands. For example, Cricket is owned by AT&T, Metro is owned by TMobile and Visible is owned by Verizon.
You don’t get some of the perks that you get with the major brands but you do get plans sometimes at a steep discount with most of the features from the big boys.
Optimize Credit Card Rewards
10. Maximize a Travel Rewards Card
Travel rewards credit cards are my favorite way to save on vacations. Over the last 5 years, my wife and I have saved tens of thousands of dollars on vacations that we have done together or with our family.
I have a beginner’s guide to using credit card points that will help you understand how to use them to save money on vacation. I also have posts that explain exactly how we used credit card points to save over $6,000 on a family trip to California and how my wife and I saved over $7,000 on a 17 day trip out west.
A single travel card won’t fund your whole vacation, but it can take a good chunk of the cost out of hotel stays, flights, or rental cars.
A good first time travel card to get is the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. It was the first travel card that I got. I have a post that explains all of the benefits that come with the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card.
It has many nice features that when used can help you travel with some peace of mind. For example, the card offers primary car rental insurance and trip delay reimbursement to name a few of the perks.
11. Utilize a Cash back Credit Card
If you don’t have a travel credit card, then using a cash back credit card is a way to earn some extra money from purchases that you make. Just like the travel cards, use this card on normal budgeted items. Each time you use the card you will earn cash back.
There are cards in the market that you can earn 2% cash back on all purchases. Other cashback cards offer 1% up to 6% on certain categories. You can cash out the money and use it for your next vacation.
One thing to keep in mind with cash back cards is that not all credit card issuers let you cash out the money at a 1:1 ratio. For example, Chase gives you a 1:1 ratio while Amex only gives you .6 cents per point.
Leverage Unexpected Windfalls and “Found” Money
12. Fill Up A Coin Jar
Even as people use credit and debit cards more and more, there are still times that people use cash. So, when we use cash and get change, we put the change in our coin jar.
We treat the coin jar as a vacation jar. We don’t dip into the jar. As we get close to going on vacation, I will take the coins to the bank and cash them in for our trip.
This is one of those things that does not take any effort on your end. All you do is put the change in the jar, and let it go until it is time for the big trip.
It may not be a tremendous amount of money but this added to many of the other suggestions can add up fast.
13. Bank Your Tax Refunds
Most people get back a tax refund with the average refund being around $3,000. It is very easy to think that you have a windfall of money when this happens. So, instead of spending all of the money, put a percentage of it in your vacation fund.
14. Save Your Gift Money
Do you get money from people for your birthday, anniversary or for Christmas? If you answered yes, think about taking all or some of the money that you receive and put it into your vacation fund.
Declutter Your Home for Quick Cash
Look around your living space. Chances are, you are sitting on hundreds of dollars worth of unused clothing, electronics, and household goods that can be converted into travel cash.
15. Sell Unused Stuff Online
In today’s world it is easier than ever to sell things online. You have all kinds of sites to pick from. You have Craiglist, Ebay, Facebook MarketPlace, Mercari , Poshmark, and Amazon to name a few.
These can be items that you do not need anymore around your house or in your closet. You could be like my sister or son-in-law who buy things on the cheap and then they sell them online for a nice profit.
No matter which way that you decide to go, you can make some extra money that you can put towards your next trip.
16. Have A Garage Or Yard Sale
If you are a normal person, you or you and your family have accumulated things that you don’t need or use anymore. A great way to get rid of those items is having a garage or yard sale.
Go through your home and decide what can stay and what can go. In the town that I live in, they have village garage sales twice a year.
You can wait for one of those times if your city or town does that or advertise your sale and do it as a solo sale.
Generate Extra Income with Side Hustles
17. Pick Up A Side Job
Picking up a side job is easier than ever before. You can get a side job at a local business or a major chain. Businesses are more flexible than ever before to accommodate whatever schedule you have.
If working outside of the home does not work for you then getting an online job is a nice option. While I was teaching, I got a side job online. It was something I could do before and after school. It was nice money, and I could do it from the comfort of my home.
18. Deliver Food On Your Schedule
DoorDash, UberEats, and Grubhub are some easy ways to earn some extra money. The fact that you can decide when you work and how much you work makes it appealing.
I know a number of people that deliver for one or all of these companies. They do it when they want some extra spending money. Whatever you make can easily be put into your vacation fund.
19. Drive For Ride Share Companies
If you have a nice car and you don’t mind strangers being in your car then earning some extra money driving for Lyft or Uber may be a good fit for you.
Just as with delivering food, you can decide when you want to drive people. You can set aside a few hours on a given day, or you can drive for a half or whole day on the weekend.
20. Work Overtime Hours At Your Current Job
When I was a teacher this was an option that was not available to me since I was on salary. So, if you are paid an hourly rate this could be an option for you.
Some jobs have overtime available quite often. If this is the case for you then pick up some extra shifts. Other jobs you may need to ask your supervisor if extra hours are available. Overtime hours can add up quickly since you are earning at least time and a half.
Frequently Asked Questions About Saving for Vacation
For me, the absolute best way to save is to make sure you never see the money in the first place. You can do this easily by opening a dedicated vacation account at your bank and setting up automatic transfers every time your check gets deposited. If it’s not sitting in your checking account, you won’t be tempted to spend it!
If you don’t want to change your day-to-day habits, let technology do the heavy lifting. I love using apps like Rakuten, Ibotta, and Fetch Rewards to get cashback on normal things I’m already buying. For our family vacations, I’ve been able to cash out a couple hundred dollars just from scanning receipts and using these apps.
You can, but you have to be careful about which cards you use. For example, Chase is great because they give you a 1:1 ratio when you cash out your points. But if you try to do the exact same thing with Amex, they cut your value down to just 0.6 cents per point. Always check your specific card rules first!
If you’re paid an hourly rate, the fastest way to earn extra cash is simply asking your supervisor for overtime shifts, since earning time-and-a-half adds up fast. Back when I was a salaried teacher, that wasn’t an option for me, so I picked up a flexible online side job I could do right from home before and after school.
Final Thoughts on Saving Money for Vacation
Going on a vacation is supposed to be a relaxing and an enjoyable time. Going on vacation and not having the money to do so is not relaxing to me, and I am sure not for you either.
You don’t have to do all of the suggestions that I mentioned to save money for a trip, but taking the ones that work for you can help you get to the point where you have that trip fully funded. It may take some sacrifice for a season, but it will be more than worth it in the long run.