Maybe you’re one of the fortunate ones who can count on receiving a sizable tax refund. If you don’t need the money to catch up on other bills … great. Put it in your travel fund and use it guilt-free. If you aren’t so lucky, then it’s a good idea to start reviewing your monthly budget to determine what you can afford to save towards a vacation. Planning your vacation spending mindfully helps avoid struggling to repay unplanned credit-card bills when you get home.
If your budget feels too tight to fit anything extra in, start tracking where your money is going. We can often control impulsive or unnecessary expenses better when we pay more attention to our daily spending. For example, it may not seem like much at the time, but a daily stop for coffee or lunch adds up. Do the math: spending $10 per working day on lunch out adds up to approximately $200 a month.
But what if you have reviewed your budget and, with the increase in living costs, you are barely making ends meet as it is? The next step would be to review what those costs are and if they can be cut back. Some two-car families have found since COVID-19, and the transition to working from home at least part of the time, that they no longer need a second vehicle and the associated expenses.
If the cost of fuel is hurting your budget, consider trading in your vehicle for something more fuel efficient orto save more at the pump. If that’s not feasible, consider other ways to reduce your transportation costs. Maybe a co-worker lives nearby and is willing to carpool. Public transportation might not be as convenient, but it is much cheaper than operating a vehicle.
It also never hurts to review your cable, cellphone and internet bills to ensure you are not paying for features you don’t use. Streaming services can be much cheaper than cable, but subscribing to several at a time adds up. If you have several cellphone users in your household, explore changing to a family plan that has lower costs and allows you to share data. Inform your kids about the cost of using data when Wi-Fi is not available to further save on that cellphone bill.