Over the years I have had the opportunity to help people with their household budgets. It is something that I really enjoy.
So, being able to give some helpful tips on budgeting for a trip is right in my wheelhouse of things that I enjoy. I know that for most people that is not the case. In this post I want to try to lessen the pain for you.
What is a budget?
Most people when you say the word budget envision a noose around their neck. They think that it is a freedom killer and takes all the fun out of spending money.
When you develop a budget, all you are doing is telling the money that is coming into you where it is to go. A budget is not usually easy to put together since most people don’t really know where their money is going.
It usually takes 6 months to a year to get a budget working well. Once you have it down it can be quite liberating. Many people give up after a month or two because it seems not to work because life happens.
Once you have a household budget, then one of the categories in the budget can be for travel.
Why Budget For A Trip?
In 2020 36% of people in the United States went into debt to go on vacation. The Bible says that the borrower is slave to the lender.
So, there is hardly anything worse in my mind than going on a vacation and you have to borrow or charge your way to do so. Becoming a slave while trying to unwind and have fun is not my idea of a good time.
Budgeting for a trip can give you peace of mind. Knowing that the gas you are using, plane tickets you have bought, sights you are seeing, places you are staying, activities you are doing, and food that you are eating is fully funded will make the trip that much more enjoyable.
Categories to Budget For a Trip
A household budget has major categories that everyone has but there are other categories that are going to be different from household to household.
A travel budget is much like a household budget in that there are categories that fit most everyone with other categories that are unique to a person’s situation.
The typical categories that you need to deal with when taking a vacation include: transportation, lodging, food, activities, shopping and miscellaneous.
Examples of categories that may be unique from person to person include pet care, national park passes, gear purchase, passports, and visas to name a few.
Steps in Budgeting for a Trip
1. Decide where and what dates
The first step in budgeting for a trip is deciding where you want to go and what dates you are going to be gone.
The where and what dates questions can save or add money to your vacation. Some locations are more expensive than others, the dates you leave or return and the time of year can affect your cost.
If you are flying, the dates that you are leaving and returning can greatly affect the cost. Being flexible is a key in saving money. You can use Google Flights or Skyscanner to see when cheaper dates are available.
Another thing to consider is going to your location during off peak times. This can save you money on lodging, flights and more.
2. Budgeting for Major Expenses
Once you have where you are going and the dates that you are going you then need to do a little research to see what the costs are going to be for the major categories.
The main way to do this is using the internet. You can do a Google search for various categories to see what prices are for flights, hotels and the like.
Another option is to ask family and friends that you know that have been to where you are traveling.
You can also use sites like budgetyourtrip.com which allows you to put in the location that you are traveling to. They give you the average cost of things like transportation, food and lodging for that location.
They also show you how much it will cost a person for a week at the location.
Research Transportation to location
Transportation is usually the largest expense category on a vacation. How much you are going to spend on transportation depends on a number of factors.
Are you driving, flying, taking the train or bus, flying then renting a car, taking a cruise or traveling domestically or internationally.
If you are driving hours away from home then your travel budget is going to be much less than if you are flying.
Earlier I mentioned using Google Flights and Skyscanner and those are my two favorite sites when looking for cheap flights. If you like to fly Southwest, you will need to look at their site since they are not on any of the online travel sites.
My post “Ways to Save and Find Cheap Flights” will help you with booking cheap flights.
Research Transportation at location
Once you are at your location, you are going to need to get around. Depending where you are you may be able to take local transit like buses, subways, ride sharing or you may have to rent a car.
You can do a simple search to see what costs are if using local transit like buses, subways or ride sharing.
For example, if you plan on driving to New York City but you are going to use the subway to get around, you will want to do some research to see what the cost of the subway is. You then can include that cost in your budget.
If you are renting a car, you will want to use sites like Carrentals.com, Kayak or Priceline to look for deals on rental cars.
My post “How to Find the Best Car Rental Deals” will help you save money.
Research Lodging
Besides transportation most of the time lodging is going to be the next big budget item. There are many types of lodging to pick from.
You have hotels, motels, Airbnbs, hostels, or bed and breakfasts. If you are camping, it could be a site rental for a tent or camper.
Using sites like Kayak, Agoda, Booking.com and Hotels.com can help you find a good deal on a hotel room. Plus, they have reviews that you can read over about the different hotels.
Make sure to check out Airbnb or Vrbo to see if any accommodations fit your needs at a good price.
If you are staying in a large city, a cheap alternative are hostels. You can meet new people and some offer individual rooms for a little more if you like the privacy.
To get more ideas on how to find cheap lodging check out my post.
Food
Food is a tricky part of a travel budget. People think of food just as meals but you will also want to figure in snacks that you may have throughout the day.
Again as it comes to food costs, you will want to do a little research about what the cost of food will be where you are traveling. For example, the cost of meals are going to be different between Moab, Utah and New York City.
You can use sites like TripAdvisor or Budgetyourtrip.com to get a general idea of food cost.
Some ways that you can save on food is to book accommodations at a hotel that offers free breakfast. When I booked our family trip out west, I booked hotels that offered breakfast which saved a lot of money on a 16 day trip.
You can also book a hotel room that has a kitchen or kitchenette and fix some meals in your room. You could also book an Airbnb that has a kitchen and fix some meals.
If you are going to fix meals, then you may want to have supper since it is generally more expensive than going out for lunch.
3. Budgeting for smaller expenses
Activities
Wherever you are going there are going to be things to do there. Tripadvisor is a site that I like to use when looking for activities at a specific location. They have reviews and links to the specific activity.
Googling activities for a specific location is another good way to see what is worth doing or seeing in an area.
Some activities may be free which is nice but there are going to be things that you will probably want to do that will cost you something.
If you are in a major city, a CityPass is a good way to save money when seeing different things in a city.
Once you know the activities that you are going to do then you can figure up the cost and add it to your budget.
Souvenirs
Most people like to buy things on their travels. Figuring out the budget for souvenirs is like the food budget. You will just have to decide what a reasonable amount is and add that to the budget.
Making a list of people that you are buying for and deciding on an amount can help you come up with a dollar amount. This can help with impulse buying and keep you on track.
Miscellaneous Items
This is a category that is going to be different for everyone. Do you have pets that you need to board or have someone watch? Do you need to buy equipment for the trip? Do you need to purchase national park passes?
You will want to figure out a rough cost for all of the miscellaneous items and add it to your overall budget.
4. Start saving
Once you have a rough estimate of the amount of money that you need for the trip now you can start saving.
For example, if it is going to cost you $3,000 for a vacation and you have a year to save up for it then you need to save $250 a month.
If the amount you figure up for the trip does not work for your budget, you may have to push back the trip to save up longer. You can also get a side hustle to earn extra money for the trip.
Travel credit card points/miles can be used to help fund the cost of a trip that you are going on.
I have a post on how to save for vacations and why to have a travel credit card.
5. Tracking costs
Once you have the trip funded, you are not done with the budget. Once you are at the destination or on the trip, you will want to track the money you are spending.
When I work with people on tracking their money, I always tell them to use the method that they are the most comfortable with. This is no different when it comes to vacation budgets.
If you are a paper and pencil person, then break out the notebook and pencil and track away.
If you are a little more high tech you can use your computer and use a spreadsheet to track what you are spending.
Apps on your phone like TrabeePocket and Trip Coin are just a few of the apps that you can use to track money on your phone.
A thing to remember is that your budget is a guide. Sometimes things may not workout exactly. You can always make adjustments on the go if you find that you have spent too much in a certain category.
Final Thoughts
I know that budgeting is not the most exciting thing in the world but with a little work it can be done. It will give you peace of mind when you are on your trip.
You can relax more knowing that you have all the money that you need to enjoy the trip. You don’t have to worry about how you are going to pay for it while you are on vacation.
