Vacation Savings Accounts
A Good Idea

We all need a vacation, even if it's just for a day or weekend.

So how about starting a vacation savings accounts....

Sometimes our budget is so tight we just can't afford even a small vacation. So let's start a vacation savings account... start by putting at least $5 from each paycheck in a savings account labeled vacations. While your putting money into your vacation savings account be your own travel agent and start planning your vacation.

How about a one day vacation, this can be something as simple as a day at a local spa, or treat yourself to an overnight stay at a local or neighboring town's bed & breakfast. Let them pamper you. What about your local college, sometimes the local community service office offers reasonable one day trips.

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What about a weekend vacation, is there someplace you have been wanting to visit within a couple hours drive of where you live. A beach, an aquarium, theme park....Do you like to camp, fish, hike... What about a train trip...

Start planning now for one of these mini vacations or for an extended vacation, perhaps you want to travel to another state or country.

Research now and estimate what a mini or extended vacation will cost. Think about what all you want to do for your vacation. Will you be staying overnight? Will you be visiting an attraction that has a fee cost? What about your meals, will your hotel be offering a continental breakfast and/or snacks? What about souvenirs?

Let's break these questions down some and play travel agent.

Will you be staying overnight? There are many ways to check what a hotel will cost. You can use one of the many travel sites who will search for hotels where you are planning on staying. Do look at these, but don't settle for the price they give you. Once you find a hotel you want to stay at, go to the hotel's website also and compare the hotel's price with the price that the travel site gave you. Try different searches withing the hotel's website, using the various discount options available. Normally reserving your lodging online will give you the best deal. But if you have discount cards such as AAA or AARP there may be a discount available for using one of them. Compare, compare, compare.

Will you be going to a theme park or attraction such as an aquarium? Will you be going to the attraction for one day or more? Compare the cost of a one day ticket versus an annual membership, especially if this is someplace you may want to visit again before the membership expires. Memberships may also include discounts for gift purchases and meals.

Other places to check for discounts for theme parks and attractions are:

• Your work HR office.
• Credit unions, are you a member? What's nice about this is you can purchase your tickets prior to your vacation, thus saving you from standing in the ticket line at the theme park.
• Online at the attractions website, they may be offering ticket specials online.
• Hotels generally offer discount tickets to local attractions also.

Meals -- this cost can add up while on vacation. Here are a few ways you can save on your meals:

• Make sure the hotel you stay at offers a free continental breakfast.
• Check with the hotel and see if they have any discount offers from the local restaurants
• Check for local fundraisers that offer meal coupon books, these coupons normally offer 2 for the price of 1.
• How about making your own picnic lunch or dinner.

Another way to save money is to see if the attractions are offering package deals. Package deals may include entrance tickets, lodging and meals. Remember compare, compare, compare.

How much do you want to spend on souvenirs? T-shirts, key chains -- set a budget for these now.

Now that you have an estimate of what your vacation is going to cost you need to figure out when you are planning on or will be able to take your vacation.

Now figure out how much you need to save from each paycheck to have enough for your vacation. Take the estimated cost of your upcoming vacation and divide it by the number of paychecks you'll get before your planned vacation. This is what you'll add to your budget...

Do you have to make some adjustments to your budget? Or maybe find another way to save some money for your vacation?

Emergency Savings
Christmas Fund
Misc Other Savings
Retirement Fund

Start Small and Watch It Grow

Remember
It is better to have tried and failed than to fail to try!