Being fully vaccinated has made us get on the travel bandwagon again and planning trips has been so fun and exciting. After the past year just planning trips seem like a dream. If you, like me are wanting to travel but also don’t want to break the bank I am sharing 5 ways to save for your dream vacation! So you can get to planning and saving!
5 Ways To Save For Your Dream Vacation
Use rewards and points: Whenever we travel we ALWAYS use miles from our credit cards to book flights. I can’t remember the last time we paid out of pocket for a flight. Signing up for a great credit card with rewards really helps. We do pay off our cards monthly but we put everything on our cards to get points we can use for flights and hotels. We actually just signed up for a new card to purposely save for a BIG trip we are planning to take in 2024 for our 10 year anniversary!
Have money auto deduct monthly: This is such a great way to stock money away for vacations. Having a bank account specifically for vacations that’s gaining interest, and stocked away where you can’t see it or touch it. If it’s separate from your regular bank account you are less likely to use it for something else.
Have money “stolen” from your account: There is a great app called Digit that will take small amounts of money from your bank account. You set up in your digit account how much you want to save and Digit will analyze your spending. Then automatically transfer money from your checking account to your Digit account when you can afford it. THIS IS GENIUS! You can use this money for vacations, to pay off debt, etc. You could easily have your entire vacation paid for this way.
Search for deals: No different than buying a jacket or cutting coupons. When traveling ALWAYS look for deals. Most hotels have AAA, government, and book ahead rates. We saved over $1,000 by paying in advance for a hotel stay. Sure there is the risk if you end up not being able to go but if you know that won’t be the case it’s good to look into. With AAA there is no risk so if you are a member ABSOLUTELY use those deals! With flights, there are always great websites and deals directly with airlines. So if you don’t have miles/points to use this is a great way to get highly discounted flights.
Go during off-seasons/times: Another great thing to do is going during off times or seasons. Flights are the MOST expensive Sundays and Fridays. Saturdays, Mondays, and Thursdays are the cheapest flights. So something to consider is to fly during the cheaper days. Another thing is to go during off-seasons. Travel during holidays, Spring Break, etc are always going to be the most expensive. We are actually taking the kids to 30A in Florida in September with friends and purposely booked after Labor Day for a much less expensive trip!
Do you have a dream destination in mind? Share below!
This post was originally published in 2020 and has been updated for 2021
There are great pieces of advice. We are also saving up for a nice vacation. Every one in my family pitches in and every Saturday, we check how much we already have in total. That gets everyone excited to save more so we can start looking for deals for airfare and hotel accommodations.
Yes! My husband and I do all of this except use digits. But we but everything on the credit card and pay it off monthly but get lots of points! Luckily, my boy’s school district has adopted an amazing calendar this year that will be used next year too that gives an entire week off in both October and February, which are off-season so we can vacation for much cheaper! We are planning CA for my cousin’s wedding this October and a cruise with friends next February.
These are great tips to save money. Not just for our dream vacation but for big-ticket items. The Digit app seems interesting and would love to check it out.
Thank you for sharing this.
Great tips – I put some money to one side each month for travel. And we always used to go outside of peak times but now our daughter is at school that’s not possible unfortunately…
We have an auto monthly transfer set up. It makes a huge difference. And at the end of every month we transfer anything leftover to cover. It works for us. We have to save too only way to get where we wanna go.
I definitely need to look into using points more. I have money automatically deducted from my paycheck to go into a separate account so it’s gone before I notice. Lol. I use that for vacation money.
We can’t travel yet but we’re already planning! One of our dream vacations is a monthlong stay in Southern France. Just immersing in the culture and the food!
Great recommendations here! I haven’t begun to travel yet, but it’s definitely something I’d love to do in the future. Buying a house comes first, then traveling 🙂 I can’t wait to use your tips!
I have money saved up for my dream vacation, I been trying to save up since February.s hard to go on Go during off-seasons/times because of my profession as a teacher and that is all year long (Japan goes all year long).
Thanks for these tips! I’m always trying to go during off-seasons myself! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Points are big for us. This is one reason we usually choose the same chain wherever possible. It has helped fund many trips.
Thanks for sharing these awesome tips! I think traveling is so important.
There are great pieces of advice. We are also saving up for a nice vacation. Every one in my family pitches in and every Saturday, we check how much we already have in total. That gets everyone excited to save more so we can start looking for deals for airfare and hotel accommodations.
Yes! My husband and I do all of this except use digits. But we but everything on the credit card and pay it off monthly but get lots of points! Luckily, my boy’s school district has adopted an amazing calendar this year that will be used next year too that gives an entire week off in both October and February, which are off-season so we can vacation for much cheaper! We are planning CA for my cousin’s wedding this October and a cruise with friends next February.
These are great tips to save money. Not just for our dream vacation but for big-ticket items. The Digit app seems interesting and would love to check it out.
Thank you for sharing this.
There are some really fab tips here for sure. Going slightly out of season can save a massive amount of money xx
Great tips – I put some money to one side each month for travel. And we always used to go outside of peak times but now our daughter is at school that’s not possible unfortunately…
We have an auto monthly transfer set up. It makes a huge difference. And at the end of every month we transfer anything leftover to cover. It works for us. We have to save too only way to get where we wanna go.
Those are great advice, I am trying to save for my birthday vacation. Unfortunately, it’s not in offseason. Thank you for sharing.
I definitely need to look into using points more. We have money automatically deducted into a vacation account so it’s gone before we notice. Lol.
I definitely need to look into using points more. I have money automatically deducted from my paycheck to go into a separate account so it’s gone before I notice. Lol. I use that for vacation money.
wow just amazing these are great tips to save money. all the pictures are wonderful. we will plan trip
Thanks for the ideas!
We can’t travel yet but we’re already planning! One of our dream vacations is a monthlong stay in Southern France. Just immersing in the culture and the food!
Saving and enjoying are both so much desired! Interesting tips on how to save for a dream vacation.
Great recommendations here! I haven’t begun to travel yet, but it’s definitely something I’d love to do in the future. Buying a house comes first, then traveling 🙂 I can’t wait to use your tips!
I haven’t heard about Digit! That sounds like a fabulous thing to do, and you won’t even miss the money.
I have money saved up for my dream vacation, I been trying to save up since February.s hard to go on Go during off-seasons/times because of my profession as a teacher and that is all year long (Japan goes all year long).
These are such awesome tips! We always look for super saving deals and use reward points too 🙂I’ll check out DIGIT!