Traveling and Budgeting, How Did I Do It?

Have you ever dreamed of going on that special trip that you have always wanted? Or that destination you have seen in those magazines?

Traveling and budgeting can be difficult. Usually, those terms don’t really mix. I have heard many people say, I have always wanted to go there but I don’t have the money for it. Guess what? ITS POSSIBLE!!

When my husband and I were planning our honeymoon, we knew we wanted to pay cash for not only just the hotel, but also the attractions and even the food. We decided we wanted to go to Saint Augustine, Florid. We loved the historic attractions the city had to offer as well as the beautiful scenery and delicious restaurants. It was going to be expensive, and we knew we needed to start saving.

The first thing we did was decide what hotel we wanted to stay at. There were hotel prices that ranged from $50 a night to over $400 a night! The one we decided on was about $250 a night. We were staying three (3) nights, so the total was around $750 but with all the taxes and the hotel accommodation fees they charged us (as we all know how hotels do) it was about $800. We started a list.

1. Hotel $800 

We decided on what historic attractions we wanted to visit. We knew we wanted to visit the old jail (where they say there were haunted prisoners) , the trolley ride, the old museum, schoolhouse and the wax museum just to name a few. Each attraction was about $20-$30. With all of the ones we wanted to see that added up to about $200. We added that to the list.

1. Hotel- $800
2. Attractions- $200

Now the most important part and usually the most expensive was food cost and gas. We picked out the restaurants we wanted to go to as well as took a glance at the menus. That was important so we can stay within our budget and decide what the total amount of our budget would be. I’ll be completely honest; I didn’t go as far as deciding what we wanted to eat but we used Google to help decide how many dollar signs we wanted to spend. After much discussion we decided to stay within $$ (two) dollar signs. Our food budget was $500. That included breakfast, lunch and dinner. That was added to the list.

1. Hotel- $800
2. Attractions- $200
3. Food- $500

Last but not least, with the growing gas prices nowadays, we calculated the number of miles from our house to the hotel as well as back. While we were there, we were able to take the hotel shuttle that was offered to and from the attractions at no additional cost so that saved us some money. We took into consideration the gas mileage and decided to take my SUV because my husband’s Camaro uses more gas. We put aside about $200 just to be sure and we could always use that extra for food. We filled the gas tank up before we left and filled it up again before we left the hotel. Our complete budget included:

1. Hotel- $800
2. Attractions: – $200
3. Food- $500
4. Gas: $200

Once we decided exactly how much we were going to save and what are budget was, it was time to begin. Each week we put aside $20 each in an envelope to begin our honeymoon savings. We decided to round out our savings to $2,000, just to keep the3 round numbers. As we put aside the $20 each week, we used a savings challenge to help us keep track of our goal. Each time we put $20 aside we colored in a box on the customized savings challenge. That helped us visualize how much we were saving, and it was a very easy way to keep track of how much more we needed.

Note: You can check out the savings challenges on my Etsy Shop at: Fortierfamilybudgets.etsy.com

We saved up the $2000 we needed for the honeymoon and booked the hotel using a debit card. Once the hotel was all secured and paid for, we went right back to the bank and put the money back into my husband’s bank account. The rest of the attractions and food and gas were paid in cash. I do understand that some experiences and vacations that you book you are unable to pay with cash i.e. the hotel. but as long as you have the cash saved, you can replace it right back in your account like nothing was ever spent.

Traveling and budgeting does not have to be a daunting task. But with a little bit of discussion and planning you will be on your way of paying cash for any vacation you would like! Even the ones you have always dreamed of. 🙂