How to Save for a Vacation

As a travel advisor, one of the things I have been hearing from people the most is they can’t afford to go on vacation. They struggle with how to save for a vacation. Especially if they are already living paycheck to paycheck. Thankfully, there are small things you can do to save for a vacation that adds up quickly. Plus, simply changing your mindset and making saving for a vacation a priority can help. Even if it is only a small amount of money once a month. Today, I am going to share some of the best ways to save for a vacation. Some of these ideas may work better for you than others. Choose those and before you know it, you will be ready to contact me to start planning a future vacation.

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How to Save for a VacationHigh-Yield Saving Accounts

High yield saving accounts are an excellent way to save for a vacation. Since these accounts earn you a higher rate, you will have more money added to your account from interest each month. And you don’t need to do anything. Well, make sure you have money in the account to earn the interest. It is best to choose a high-yield saving account that doesn’t have high fees because that will negate your savings. You should also read all the fine print and make sure the bank has convenient options that work for you. Most of the best high-yield saving accounts will be online, so that is an excellent place to start looking. You can also check with your current bank.

Take Advantage of Credit Cards with Cash Back Rewards

Credit cards can be tricky to use if you are not diligent with your money each month. To get the most out of reward credit cards, you must make sure you are paying off the balance every month. If you carry a balance, you will pay more in interest than you are earning. A credit card with cash back rewards is one of the best for traveling. You can use those cash rewards to pay for gift cards to use for travel. Or you can simply add your cashback to your high-yield saving account. One of the best cash-back credit cards is the Capital One Card. When you click here, you can see if you are pre-approved before you even apply. The pre-approval process will not affect your credit score in any way. It is an excellent way to see if you can start using this option for saving money for vacation and keep your credit score as high as possible.

Direct Deposit Money into a Vacation Savings Account Each Month

If you haven’t been successful with setting money aside to save for a vacation yet, you may want to consider a direct deposit. You can have a specific amount direct deposited into your savings account every week, biweekly, or even monthly. You get to choose the days that work best for you. I always recommend this method, because if you think you will just deposit whatever money you have left at the end of the month, it won’t happen. It never does! That money will always be used for something else. It will never hit your saving account.

So, plan ahead.

Plan for a direct deposit.

Then forget about that money each month until you need it for your next vacation.

Consider Cash Back Apps

As long as you are purchasing an item because you need to, a cashback app is an excellent option for adding to your vacation fund. Ibotta can be helpful when you are purchasing those holiday items while doing back-to-school shopping. Simply download the Ibotta app or install the Google Chrome Extention and click through to the website you plan on shopping at. If your purchases apply to the bonus on Ibotta within a couple of days, Ibotta will deposit money into your holding account. You can direct deposit your ‘cash back’ money once you reach the $20 thresh hold.

You can get a jump start on your earnings by using my code to sign up today. Simply sign up, type in my code, and earn a cashback bonus.

Fetch and Rakuten is two cash-back apps that work well with groceries. Again, as long as you are purchasing those specific items, you might as well get a little cash back to add to your vacation fund. Are you ready to start using Ibotta? Easy as can be!

Place Coins in a Jar

This may seem old school, but placing all your coins in a jar at the end of the day can add up. Simply roll the coins and take them to the bank every few months to add to your saving account. Another option is to take your jar of coins to a CoinStar machine, or something similar. You can dump the change in, and the machine will count it all up for you. There is a small fee for this service. It does beat rolling all that change though! You can do a new twist on this by saving all your dollar bills each day. Or up your game by saving five dollar bills a few times a year.

These are some of the easiest ways to save for a vacation. I recommend choosing the one that will work best for you and then adding others as you can. Once you have a routine in place for how to save for a vacation, contact me. We can then talk about where you want to go, and I can plan an amazing vacation for you! Remember, there is no right or wrong way to save for a vacation. The option that works best for you is always going to be the way to go. Are you using any other method for saving for your next vacation? If you are, I would love to hear about it!