Great Ways to Save for that Memorable Vacation

We usually focus on specific destinations for you to visit and we enjoy doing that almost as much as you enjoy reading them! Who doesn’t like to dream about the next exciting place you can go, experience and be, to get away from the stress, rejuvenate your senses, and work on mental recharge? But in this post, and the other 4 following, we are going to dedicate to ways you can make your vacation better.

In today’s post, we will discuss ways you can save money for your vacation. Because, let’s face it, the more money you have to spend, the better your vacation will be!

Here are some ways you can save for that dream vacation starting now:

Tip #1

Discover online savings plans. This seems simple and everyone knows you have to do it. But it’s hard to stick to it. I found two great ideas to help you do this that will not require you digging into your vacation fund to pay for something else. That way, when you really need the vacation money, it will be there.

The first way is to open a separate account for your vacation fund. By setting up an entirely new account, you lower the risk that you will accidentally spend your vacation reserve before you get to your vacation date. Decide on a monthly amount you can deposit to the fund, then establish a deadline for withdrawal, which will coincide with your planned vacation. If you are disciplined enough to deposit a small amount each month, you should have the money you need when you get ready to go on vacation.

Another way to start and keep a working vacation fund is to check out http://simple.com. This is a mobile-only banking solution I found out about recently and I have now moved all of my money into this account. I absolutely love it and I think you will too. It allows you to establish goals that are specific to individual categories, such as vacations, emergency funds, and business goals, and the way it helps you save is also unique. Rather than requiring you to deposit a large lump sum amount all at once, it takes the money out a few dollars at a time on a daily basis. Are you familiar with CPC (cost-per-click advertisting?) It’s the same premise, except in reverse. Rather than it going out to advertising, it goes into your vacation fund in your Simple.com bank.

We’re not advocating for the Simple.com platform specifically, and we are not getting paid for mentioning them in this blog, but we wanted to make you aware of this as a simple but straightforward approach to saving money daily toward a goal that will allow you to use your mobile bank card for other things, while helping you save toward a specific goal.

Tip #2

Become an eBay seller. I do sell on eBay myself on a regular basis, but you may want to just do this once in awhile, in order to clean out your garage or house of extra items, make some hard, fast, cash, and promote your ideas. Whatever the reason, the cash you generate on eBay can certainly help fund your vacations in the near future. So look around the house, and start listing!

Tip #3

Cash in on a security or two you don’t plan to use later. If you have any kind of investment securities that have accumulated some significant “bull market” gains, you could cash these increased gains (leaving principal intact) and turn it into a temporary vacation fund. Please don’t use retirement income or some other priority money you know you will need for something else, but you could cash in on some of your extra “on the house money” assets for a vacation, and then reinvest the money after your vacation is over.

Keep in mind, we’re not investment or financial experts! However, we have utilized various creative strategies appropriate for our lifestyle and income to fund our worldwide travel! While several Skycap News contributors have done extremely well in the stock market over the years, we would never claim to be financial experts, these are just some hard and fast ideas to free up some extra green backs to go on that vacation. We don’t suggest cashing in anything of worth that you need for something else. But if you are looking for cash flow, these are some avenues you might want to explore. Bankrate.com has a few other ways you can save for vacations on their site.

For those of you that don’t like financial surprises, consider an up-front “all inclusive” super tourist resort such as Sandals or super private Hacienda del Mar located in the beautiful Pearl Islands of Panama. Remember, money isn’t everything, but it does let you afford more things than if you didn’t have much of it! So think ahead, start saving, and enjoy your trip!