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Cost is the #1 Reason people don't travel, so let’s unpack it with Travel Money Chat! from transparency of travel costs to money saving strategies for traveling, we will chat it up here! Today's Topic is Travel Budgeting Basics!
Travel cost transparency is a cornerstone of my travel blog. In every blog post, I share a full breakdown of what I spent on my trips. Cost of travel isn't talked about enough! We see vacations all over social media but have no idea what they spent to get there. That stops here, In this 6 part series, I'll share exactly how you can spend intentionally on your travels.
Budget Basics
It's easy to have a love hate relationship with your travel budget. BUT I promise you, It is your friend. A travel budget will give you peace and be a lifesaver when you need additional funds! Here are my budgeting basics!
- Making a budget is reviewing the itemized costs of each travel item while planning your trip - this will give you awareness of "the cost" of the things you want to do on your trip.
- Once you have this "list" with the cost of each travel entry - then you can see your total estimated trip cost and decide where you want to spend more or less.
- Dust your budget with a bit of grace - I always overestimate the cost of each item on my trip AND 🎇add 10% extra🎇 as backup funds as a buffer... just in case because I don't want to worry about money when I travel.
- After you have a total cost (plus your buffer) you can set this money aside for your trip.
- To build up my travel funds, I will auto-draft money each paycheck into my travel account to 🎇"auto-save"🎇 for my travels!
I also like to compare the cost of my trips! I created a travel cost metric of cost per person per day to compare the cost of different destinations! by dividing the total cost of my trip by the # of days and # of people, I can compare the cost of different destinations.
I love to review my travel spend before and after I travel to have full visibility on my travel funds. Building a budget before a trip makes me feel prepared to travel. I also will review my spending after a trip to budget better for next time. If I see that I am overspending on shopping, then I can add more money to my shopping budget for my next trip.
Harnessing your travel budget will make you a Travel Pro! These key skills above have kept me organized and comfortable when I wanted to spend more on my travels or have a travel emergency. Now you will be prepared too!
Travel Cost Awareness gives you the power to know where your travel funds are going so you can decide where to spend the most on your trip! Now you are ready to explore the world and save money while you do it!
Happy Travels!! - Lydia
Want more travel how-tos and planning tips?
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Thanks for Reading & Happy Travels!