Saving Money for your Spring Break and Summer Travel!
Tips and Tricks for making your upcoming travel affordable!
Spring break travel is coming up, and even if your goal for 2026 is to save money, that doesn't mean you have to forfeit taking a vacation this year. While traveling tends to be a spendy venture, there are ways to get the most out of your trip without it hurting your bank. Here are some tips and tricks that will help you get the most out of your vacation, while also being mindful of how much you are spending!
The first, and probably most obvious, is to make a vacation fund and start saving in advance! Once you have a place in mind that you want to go to, do some research and figure out a rough budget for the trip. With this budget decided, now you need to determine how you will save this money. Maybe that means you pull a certain amount from your paycheck and put it into your vacation fund. Or if you have a job where you receive cash tips, use your tips to make up the vacation fund. Whatever method you choose to use to save the money, you need to make sure you are committed to it and that it works for your lifestyle.
Now that you have started saving for the trip, it’s time to start planning! While being spontaneous on vacation sounds fun in theory, it’s much easier to save money if you plan things out beforehand. Don’t go into the vacation with the mindset “I’ll figure it out when I get there”, especially when it comes to things like transportation and food. Now that you know where you want to go, it’s time to figure out how to get there. When looking for flights, consider flying early bird and red eye flights; these tend to be the cheapest flights. Make sure you put a lot of time into comparing different prices across different websites. Some websites, like KAYAK and Google Flights, allow you to set alerts for when prices drop, ensuring that you can get the best price. Don’t just jump on the first flight you can find; dig a little deeper and see if you can find one for cheaper. Be flexible with your travel as well. When looking for flights, utilize the “+” and “-” days feature. This will show you flights around the time that you want to go. It may be cheaper to fly on a Thursday rather than a Friday.
Once you’ve booked your travel, it’s time to think about travel while you are there. The two easiest ways to save money on transportation are walking and utilizing public transportation. Using rideshare to get everyone on vacation can add up quickly, so when you can, take advantage of walkable cities and cities with easy-to-use public transportation. Not only can this save you money, but it also allows you to see more of the city you are visiting.
Now, let’s talk about food! Food can easily be one of the most memorable parts of a vacation, but it can also be the highest cost. This is something that you are really going to want to budget for. Make a plan on how much you will spend on food per day, and decide which meals are more important to you. For example, you can do hotel breakfast if it’s included, or buy some breakfast food to keep in your room and do the same for lunch. If you are staying somewhere that has a kitchenette, you can easily stock up on easy breakfast items, like cereal, or breakfast sandwiches, and lunch items, like sandwiches. And then treat yourself to dinner. You can also cook some dinners to save a little bit more money. It’s important to know what amenities the place you're staying offers, so you know what to plan for. Research beforehand, and choose some specific foods or restaurants you want to try. If you are going somewhere where they are known for the food, you might want a bigger food budget, but if you are going somewhere that has the same style of cuisine as where you are from, that money might be better spent elsewhere. If you want to save money on food, hit the grocery store on your first day and grab stuff to make meals at your hotel.
While planning your trip, determine what is most important to you. If you aren’t someone who enjoys museums, don’t go to them just because everyone says you need to. It’s your vacation, so focus on doing things that you enjoy. There is no need to spend unnecessary money on something that isn’t for you. You also don’t need to fit everything into one vacation. Once you have a list of things you want to do or see, rank them according to their importance to you. Now with your budget in mind, you can decide what you will and won’t do.
Here are a few more things to remember when booking your vacation. Avoid extra fees like baggage fees and seat upgrades. Avoiding baggage fees might mean having to limit what you bring, but it will allow you to do more once you are there. This is all based on your comfort, but another way to save money is by reading reviews on some great, cost-efficient hotels. Read travel blogs of the area you are going to be in and see what people who have been there say. You can also check out AirBNB and VRBO for some more cost-effective options. Make sure to utilize credit card rewards and points if your card offers them. Many credit cards offer extra points for hotels and travel that can help you in the future.
Now that you have started booking things, you need to save money until the trip. One easy way to save money is to eat at home. It’s easy to want to eat out all the time, but use the vacation as a way to get yourself to refrain. You can also buy gift cards and use those as you're spending money, that way you have the budget of what the card has to use. This can be used to save money before the trip, and even during. Along with this, don‘t make unnecessary purchases. You don’t need a whole new wardrobe for your trip, so don’t use that as an excuse to go on a shopping spree. Treat the vacation as a little reward for yourself for saving all the money.
We hope that this blog was helpful and gave you some ideas while planning your upcoming trips. We know it can be costly, but there are ways to have a budget-friendly vacation while still enjoying the place you are in!
