Extra Ways To Add To The Vacation Fund

Extra Ways To Add To The Vacation Fund from North Carolina Lifestyle Blogger Adventures of Frugal Mom

How much you decide to add to your vacation fund is up to you. Start small, even if it’s just $20 a week and add more as finances allow. As you get better at tracking expenses and living within your means you’ll be able to set more and more aside.

By why stop there, you can always look for deals as well. Putting $20 a month into a vacation fund may not add up to enough to pay for anything more than a 3-Day-Weekend at a cheap motel.  However, if you know your ideal vacation will be well above what you’re setting aside in your monthly auto drafts, consider some extra ways to add to the vacation fund. But saving for vacation doesn’t mean that you still can’t have fun throughout the year. You can still find great deals for places to go like sporting events, theater tickets or even a trip to the beach. 

  • Start by putting extra cash throughout the year into the fund. This could be that bonus check you got, the extra pay for working overtime, the cash birthday gift from Grandma and even your tax refund.
  • Next, see if you can beef up those monthly payments. Look through your list of expandable expenses. Could you cancel that magazine subscription or downgrade to a lower cable package? Can you consolidate your cell phones into one family plan and save a few bucks each month?
  • And let’s not forget about the money you spend here and there throughout the week. If you’re heading to Starbucks several times a week, to grab your favorite $7 coffee drink, consider cutting back to once a week, or making your coffee at home and funneling those savings into your vacation fund. And not eating out a lot can save you some money.

Start with something that seems fairly easy and that jumps out at you as you look through your weekly and monthly expenses. Let’s say it’s giving up that Starbucks habit or packing your lunch instead of going out to eat. Give it a couple of weeks and once you are used to this new routine, find something else you can save on.

After a while, it almost becomes a game to see how quickly you can get the vacation fund to grow. And don’t think you have to do it all alone. Share the progress with the rest of the family and ask them how they can contribute.

If your kids are old enough to do little jobs around the neighborhood like babysitting or cutting grass, or even getting a part-time job, encourage them to go do it and ask if they would like to contribute a portion of their earnings to the family vacation fund. Or have your kids explore simple ways to make money online. I know quite a few teens that are clearing several hundred dollars a month creating YouTube videos or writing Kindle Books. It’s a good experience and teaches them valuable life skills about earning and budgeting money.

Of course, your kids aren’t the only ones able to make a little extra money on the side. This may be just the motivation you need to get that blog going you’ve been talking about or explore selling handmade jewelry on Etsy.

Frankly, this is all about rearranging your priorities and if the annual family vacation is important enough, you will find a way to make it work.

 

Similar Posts:

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.