If you’re planning a trip, it might help to put some thought into your finances.
After all, a holiday can be a lot more fun when you know that you can make the most of your spending. Here are four things to consider as you build your budget for going away.
Travel expenses
Start by considering where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. The cost of travel to your destination is often one of the biggest holiday expenses, and therefore one of the most important to look at upfront. If you’re planning a long-distance trip, make sure you book well in advance. Consider downloading the Skyscanner app and set up an alert. They will tell you when the prices move, up or down.
Living expenses
Once you get to your destination – or even just leave home – you’re going to have to pay for food, drinks and somewhere to stay. These combine to make your living expenses, and are the daily cost of being away. Remember to adjust these to reflect how expensive or cheap your destination is relative to home.
If you’d like to get a rough idea of how much money you’ll need, the Internet offers some handy tools. For example, you can try Travelex Australia’s ‘Travel Budget Calculator’.
Activity costs
It’s also important to build a buffer into your budget for activities and souvenirs. If you’re a keen shopper, you might find something you just couldn’t get at home. If you’ve got an adventurous spirit, perhaps you’d like to book an activity like whitewater rafting or a day out on a yacht. Wherever you travel, the chances are that something special is going to catch your eye.
Before you go
By this stage of your budget you should have a good idea of what an investment a holiday can be. That’s why it’s important to protect your interests by including travel insurance on your list of expenses. Insurance can assist recovery of costs if something impacts your travel plans.
Now you’ve worked out what some key elements of your trip are going to cost, you can build a plan for how you’re going to afford it. Then you can enjoy going on your trip and getting home again – safe in knowledge that your finances should be just as healthy as they were when you left.
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