Start Now To Get Your Vacation Fund Ready for Action

If you don’t have a budget, then you don’t have a way to evaluate and control your spending. Create one so you know where all of your money goes.

It helps to add vacation expenses to your budget. Make a separate category for your vacation and devote a specific amount of money to it each month. By spring or summer, you should have enough money saved to fund your vacation.

Making a budget will force you to take a close look at how you spend money. Most people discover that they spend more money than they think. Now is a good time to cut unnecessary expenses so you can devote more cash to your vacation fund.

Popular ways to cut expenses include:

• Carpooling to work or using public transportation
• Unplugging electrical devices when they’re not in use
• Canceling memberships and services you rarely use
• Getting books, movies and music from your local library

You may also find that you can save money by consolidating your student loans, mortgage and other debts.

If you have credit card debt, contact the credit card company and ask for a lower interest rate. Even one or two percent will help you save money each month.

You rarely have to pay full price for hotel rooms, rental vehicles, airplane tickets and other travel services. The internet has plenty of websites that will help you find travel deals that make it easy to save money.

Some of the best websites for travel deals include:

• Travelocity
• Airfarewatchdog
• Travelzoo
• Kayak

Deals can come and go quickly, so check these websites at least once per week. If you wait until the last minute, you could miss an opportunity to save hundreds of dollars.

Going on vacation can cost quite a bit of money. As long as you start planning now, though, you should find that you can fund your vacation while staying on budget.