How to Save for Your Dream Vacation in 2016
If the only thing that’s coming between you and your dream vacation is money (read as ‘lack of money’), then take a resolution to battle it out towards the end of the year. Save and have enough in your kitty to sponsor your dream vacation on your flights to India. We will help you out by providing practical money saving tips.
Calculate the expenditure:
Just take an idea of how much would it probably be costing you to go on your dream vacation.
1. Flight tickets
Start from checking flight fare; browse through travel sites to find the cheapest deals. For example, if you are planning a trip to India, search for cheapest flight tickets to India from USA, or wherever you are. Check the fare prices with random dates around the year, to know which time of the year the prices are the least.
2. Accommodation
Next comes the money that will be spent on hotels/lodgings. This too requires some well researched planning. Check through the best accommodation facilities available in the particular place you want to go. Before hotels, check if other modes like home exchange, couch surfing or hostels (as these are obviously way cheaper). And if such facilities are not available then gather as much information as you can about the various hotel you could check in. Their prices, facilities and rush seasons.
3. Food
After flight tickets, accommodation, another big investment at a new place is on food. So learn about the food and food spots in the place you’ll be traveling to. Research about the must try cuisines, specialties, affordable eating joints. You could even pack up some snacks to take with you for mid meal hungers. Another useful thing to search about is the custom of tipping in that part of the world. Exp;ore the lip smacking delicacies and savor the flavors after taking flights from USA to India.
4. Miscellaneous Expenditure
Now you will not be just gazing the night sky with twinkling stars, once you reach your dream destination. So from the ‘to do list’ make a rough estimation of budget that would have to be set aside for the sightseeing, shopping and commute too. It should also include the price of entry passes to particular landmarks or museums or galleries you are planning to pay a visit to. Or make a list of free things you could do at the place.
Set Your Saving Goals:
Now that you have rough figures of how much money is going to go into the actualization of your dream vacation, the next step is to lay out a plan to save that amount of money ( and a bit more to be on the safer side).
1. Short term goals
Set a weekly saving target to fill in your travel piggy bank. Most people don’t really work by making and keeping up with household budget. And this is the reason, why we end up spending on things we don’t even remember by the end of the week. Going by the budget also helps you keep up with storing supplies and cutting down on sudden useless expenditures. So start with a weekly budget and then set aside a reasonable amount that you can save every week.
2. Re-estimation of the Goal after a Month
So by the end of the month, access your savings and calculate if it’s enough to meet your travel expense for your flight ticket booking to India from the USA at the end of the year. Suppose if you saved $200 by the end of the month, on the lower limit you’ll probably be able to save $2,400 by the end of the month. Is it enough to make the trip happen? If not save more.
3. How to Cut down on Expenses Even Further
- Prepare Meals At Home
- Take Home Food For Lunch at Office
- Socialize on a Coffee rather than expensive dinners
- Look for Free Entertainment/Recreation Places
This way you’ll probably be able to almost double your savings, and reduce your travel stress to half.
To Meet Long term Goals:
1. Add Up Your Miles
Use your credit cards instead of paying in cash, whenever and wherever possible to add up useful miles on it. First of all you have to sign for a credit card that offers reward miles, and you will be given great amount of mile points for just this initial process, and with every dollar you spend through the card, your miles will keep on accumulating. You can then use these mile points to get discount on your air tickets.
2. Alternative sources of Income
For the passion of traveling, you may even land up a summer part time job. Right? Involve yourself in a fun paid activity and utilize your holidays and spare time to fund your dreams. You may babysit or tutor young kids or work at a departmental store. There are plenty of options, if you are willing.
Guess, that would suffice. And then you are finally ready to book your tickets and fly to the place of your dreams. Remember, even though no one ever said that travel is inexpensive, but then no passionate traveler would ever utter these words too- I cannot afford it.
