4 Ways to Stay on Budget on Vacation

Hello Travel Addicts!

I previously answered how I afford to regularly travel, now I’d like to touch on how I stay on budget when I’m away. Here are 4 of my techniques:

Do Your Research.

I usually Google, “how much money do you spend a day in XYZ,” and get results from 4 or 5 sites. After I do this, I take an average and (duh) multiply that by how many days I’ll be in that location. My budget is now set! If I’m feeling friendly and decide to get gifts or souvenirs, I’ll add that in as well.

Create an Itinerary and Pre-Book.

I know I’m a special type of person & slightly OCD! I know people find it strange that I know which day of the week I’m going to wash my hair, or go to the grocery store or get gas before the week begins and I’m not encouraging you to be like me or discouraging you from “going with the flow.” However, you may want to consider doing some pre-planning before your next trip because it always helps me stay on track with my funds.

For example, when I went to Spain I paid for my prior activities such as my entry into La Sagrada Familia and photography tour, so I knew which days I would need to spend the most money and could further fine tune my budget. Also, sometimes when you get to places it costs much more to do things versus you booking in advance. When I went to Italy I paid $38.95 for my gondola ride, I saw tickets being sold for $80 in Venice.

C.R.E.A.M. Cash Rules Everything Around Me (ON VACATION).

So I know you’re probably scratching your heads like “huh, I thought this was the credit queen,” and that I’m contradicting myself, but it’s true, on vacations I mostly prefer to use cash. There’s a few reasons why…

Some countries aren’t credit card friendly and I hate to be that “hey I don’t have any more cash, I’ll CashApp you the funds,” person on the trip.

I get it—cash is not secure, is less convenient and does not give you the opportunity to rack up rewards, but here’s another tip I use while on vacation. I believe when I went to Spain my research suggested I would need about 50€ a day. So with my cash I would take out just that a day every time I left the hotel. And I would “hide” the rest of my cash somewhere in my luggage. When I was out of cash, I was out of cash. I like this method because sometimes I have surplus cash and can treat myself or others.

Love on the Locals.

I am not a shy person and I use this to my advantage when I travel. I love asking them where to go and eat. They will tell you where the food is both good and not overpriced. Avoid all the touristy spots. The street food I had in Vietnam on an excursion with locals offered some of the best and cheapest meals I had the entire time. There is no reward without risk!

Thanks for reading. Again, this is my opinion and the tips I’ve used to prevent coming home broke. As with all of my advice…do what works for YOU! How do you stay on track during your trips?

XO,