Travel in Budget

Stuart S. Travel asked:


One you can afford – seriously. 

 

Look at how much you earn. What can you put aside for a trip? What are you prepared to sacrifice to make your trip a reality? Maybe you’ve been saving for a while and have a few thousand dollars in the bank. You do? Great. Well that’s your realistic budget. If you want to fly to Europe tomorrow and you only have ten dollars in the bank then you are not being realistic. But it might be enough to get you in to the local museum for a few hours escape.

 

When you are setting your budget, be practical. Everyone has different needs for their travel experience and if your travel plans include overseas flights, you will need to budget accordingly. Sure you can find great deals and get there cheaper than you might have expected, but make sure you have enough money in your budget to not only get you there but to travel around, find a place to sleep, oh and have enough money to be able to eat! 

 

So how do you go about setting a budget? Following these steps might help:

1. Draw up a table with two columns.

2. Column A is for Expense Items. Column B is for Approximate Costs.

3. In column A write down all the things you can think of that will cost you money while traveling. These might include: air flights, car hire/fuel allowance, travel passes, sight-seeing tours, accommodation, food, insurance, immunizations, and souvenirs.

4. In column B write an estimate of how much you think these things will cost while on your trip. You can research your travel costs quite easily on the Internet. Food allowance might be a bit more difficult. If you are traveling alone, as a couple or in a family you will need to budget food costs accordingly.

5. Now add up the costs. This will give you an estimate of how much your trip will cost. Can you afford it? Yes – then this is a realistic budget for you. If not, then you may have to rethink your destination and the type of travel experience you want.

 

Remember that this table will only be an estimate of your travel costs. You must also budget for incidentals and prepare yourself for things to not go to plan. For example, have you got enough money in your budget to buy new clothes if your luggage goes missing? A realistic travel budget will have extra built in to it to cover emergencies. Setting yourself a budget of about sixty-five dollars a day, if traveling alone, is a reasonable amount. If you are traveling as a family or in a group, this number will be vastly different. 

 

Also consider if you will be traveling and working. If this is the case, then you may not need as much to start with, just enough money to get you to your destination and a place to live while you look for work. (And enough money to buy you food until you begin earning a wage.)

 

Start making your travel plans with your budget in mind. Don’t exceed your budget, always keep a little in reserve so you can buy that fantastic Italian leather handbag or go jet-skiing in Hawaii if the desire takes you!

 

This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru

www.stuartstravel.com



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Kenneth Scott asked:


The world of budget travel can be filled with excitement and appeal, and in our expensive world today traveling on a budget is becoming more necessary if you want to travel at all. It is important to keep costs low when traveling, whether you are traveling solo seeing a foreign country for the first time or a family with your car filled with kids and luggage heading for the beach or an amusement park.

If you want to go the lower cost route while traveling, it is definitely a good plan to generate a travel budget. Determine the approximate costs and prioritize the different portions of your trip, such as hotel, airfare, car rental, visiting attractions and sights, food, and gasoline. Once you have a good idea of what you want to spend on each part of your trip, then you need to begin shopping around for the best deals.

When it comes time for you to formulate a budget for travel, you should first prioritize by deciding what is most important to you and what you can cut back on. For example, while some travelers would rather spend a more on a higher class of accommodations, others would rather save money by staying at lower priced hotels or motels splurge on sightseeing or their food budget for the family.

Once you have prioritized the elements of your trip, begin researching what the best deals are. Often, discounted admission rates on area attractions are the most common and easiest to find, since many theme parks, museums and other attractions run specials to draw tourists.

To get big discounts on local attractions, the best place to start is the Internet, specifically the web site of whatever attraction you want to visit. Often you will find great deals online, such as two-for-one deals, free admission for children, special reduced admission days, even discounts on food and lodging.

There are other ways to get great discounts. If you are in the military, a senior citizen or a member of an organization such as AAA, you will find that there are many discounts available to you. Most AAA offices sell discounted tickets for theme parks, museums and other attractions within driving distance, and most AAA offices sell discounted tickets to popular destinations like the Walt Disney World Resort, too. The secret to making the most of your travel budget is to research and take advantage of any discounts available.

If you plan to drive your car on your trip, make sure you get it services so that it is in good condition before you leave. Something small like under-inflated tires or worn spark plugs or brake pads can affect your gas mileage and increase your fuel budget.

A good tip for keeping your fuel spending under control is to invest in a map of your destination. It will keep you from getting lost and therefore wasting gas. Being able to find your way to and from the hotel or other destinations without trouble will make your vacation less stressful and less costly.

No matter how work to save money on your next vacation, planning a budget and adhering to it will let you enjoy your vacation more, and worry about the costs less.



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