5 Simple Holiday Budgeting Tips For 2020 & Beyond

5 Ways to Achieve Your Holiday Saving Goals in 2020

Taking a holiday is a fabulous way to celebrate a year of hard work. Deciding to indulge in one annual holiday a year rather than shorter ones can be somewhat difficult but yet rewarding. Accumulating leave, planning and budgeting for an overseas travel or a longer holiday in your own country has its advantages. Planning a holiday? Looking to save some money? No problem! Here’s 5 simple and easy to follow holiday budgeting tips for 2020 & beyond.

How Much Will You Need For Your Trip?

The cost of travelling in other countries can differ greatly depending on the currency, type of holiday and whether you’re a couple, going solo or packing up the kids and dog in a camper van. It is essential you know ythe value of your dollar in another countries currency. Foreign currency rates can make a big difference to the overall travelling costs of your holiday. No matter where you are travelling, you’ll certainly need to save for your next dream holiday.

1. Have a Tangible Goal

Step one is choose a destination best suited to your budget. Research the cost of living in the places you plan to visit and if holidaying overseas, check the currency conversion rates. Create a concrete budget that is clear and achievable and one that you can stick to.

On a spreadsheet, list all your holiday expenses! Don’t forget to include how often you plan to eat out, how many alcoholic drinks you are likely to consume each day and special tours or activities you are likely to take. You might be surprised just how much you spend in restaurants, bars and on fun holiday activities.

Budget Your Trip

Budget Your Trip helps travellers plan and track their travel budgets. This informative website has a huge repository of typical travel prices for thousands of destinations, as well as travel advice and tips for new and seasoned travellers.

Once you have established your true holidays costs, you can then move on to step two. Add to the spreadsheet your income and everyday expenses and work out how much you have left over to put aside in your holiday account. By doing this, you will be in a better position to know how much income you have to work with which will then help you to save more efficiently.

 2. Dedicated Holiday Account

Next, open a separate, no fees holiday bank account online. Most banks allow you to open a new savings accounts online without having to go into a branch. Setting up a direct debit from your everyday account to your holiday savings account will help you to achieve your set goal sooner.

What is Rounding Up?

If you haven’t heard of rounding up, then I encourage you to do some research on the benefits of setting this up. It is an optional tool often available via an app that some financial institutions offer. This feature works by rounding up your daily transactions to the nearest $1 amount and sending that lose change directly to your savings account. For more information on rounding up visit the Raiz Invest

3. Examine Your Expenses Closely

Reducing your spending and becoming a more frugal shopper can open up more opportunities to save. Keep an eye out for great holiday deals, hotel discounts, travel tips and always read other travellers reviews online before booking with a budget airline or deciding on cheap accommodation. You don’t want your holiday ruined by bedbugs or incurring excess fees for luggage that you haven’t budgeted for.

Everyday Savings

Every year or so it is worth comparing what other utility providers are offering their customers. Often you can get better rates on power, water and mobile plans than what you would expect. For more ways to maximise your savings, look at how much you spend on discretionary items like coffee, clothing and entertainment and look at ways you can cutback and reduce your expenses in these areas.

4. Make Extra Cash in Your Spare Time

One of the big things Australians have become more interested in is creating their own side hustle to earn extra cash. A side hustle is generally referred to as a second job that allows you to hold down a full-time job. It’s a great way to convenient bring in extra money. You can work as much or as little as you want. There are plenty of side hustles out there to chose from.

Millions of people around the world have created online businesses on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree. All are simple and easy to set up and great platforms to buy and sell anything from second-hand clothes and books to exquisite handmade products. Another way to make cash in your spare time is to utilise your acquired skills on sites like Airtasker and Fiverr.

5. Do Free Things

Give up your Netflix subscription and get university educated. The edX website offers an assembled of free online self-paced courses on everything from Architecture to Social Sciences. Get non-university educated at Tedtalks and Khan Academy. Volunteer for a local charity or find a recreational team in your area and get fitter from playing sports like tennis, swimming, cycling and surfing.