How often do you feel like you need a holiday? When was the last one that you had? Can you even remember the last time you got away from it all and enjoyed a wonderful time of relaxation and fun abroad? Wherever you want to go, whatever country you want to visit and whatever activities you want to get up to, you need some money for a family holiday. How much will you need? Where will you find it? How quickly can you actually save up the cash required for the holiday of your dreams? Let's have a look at how to save for a holiday.
How Much Do You Need?
The first thing to do is to look at where you want to go. It could be a safari in South Africa. Perhaps your dream vacation is to see the mountains of New Zealand? Maybe you just wat to visit family but they live abroad and you've never been able to afford the flights? Once you've decided on where you want to go you need to make a list of how much it's going to cost. From the travel which could be train, ship or flight, to the accommodation when you get there. Maybe it's a hotel. Perhaps it's hiring a campervan. It could even be your very own personal villa! Once you've figured out what you're going to have to pay for, search online for some example prices of what you'll be paying for. Search for cheap flights, look at the average cost of a villa with a pool, find the price you'll be paying for activities. This will give you the number you need to save towards. Is it hundreds or pounds? Perhaps it's thousands?
Set A Budget
You need to set yourself a budget for your holiday. Whilst it could be a dream holiday, it's a holiday which you don't want to bankrupt you. You're going to save for this whilst you're living your life. The rent will still need paying for. The kids will still need new clothes as they grow. Set yourself a budget as you save for a holiday. Setting a budget will help you to stick to what you can afford, but also give you a target goal. Whether it's £600 for a week in Spain, or £3000 for a cruise around the med, the monetary goal is something to aim for. Think of your budget as the sign on the side of church when they're trying to fund a new roof. You might be saving gradually for this, working you way towards that total. Know your total, write it down. Put it in flashing neon lights if you need a reminder.
Start A Holiday Fund
Write it on the side of a jam jar and turn that into your holiday fund. Starting a holiday fund is a great way to save for a holiday. Whilst you might not literally use a jam jar, setting up a separate bank account is the same idea. It gives you somewhere to put the money you save. Connect it to your current account and you can easily transfer money between your accounts. Of course, using a bank account rather than a jam jar will mean your money is safe and you'll also earn interest on your savings. You could even have somewhere that the whole family saves into. Maybe a communal pot that everyone can see growing. Spare change at the end of the week gets thrown in the pot, perhaps some leftover birthday money or the coins left in your pocket after a meal out. So maybe you do need a jam jar for coins! Then you can simply bag up them up and take them to the bank!
Automatic Payments Are Fantastic
When did you last set up an automatic payment from your current account to another savings account? When you create sinking funds, automatic payments are perfect for taking the hassle out of shifting your money around. Lots of us find that the time taken to move money around can be a problem. We have enough on during our busy days, we don't want to sit on an evening, logging into banking sites, forgetting our details. When you've set up an automatic payment once, it happens over and over again, without you having to do anything. You decide how much is saved, how often. There are even third party open banking apps which will move your ‘spare change' into a saving account when you buy a coffee. It will simply roundup the transaction to the nearest pound and shift the difference into your savings pot. You'll probably forget that it's doing it, but be pleased that it is when you see how much you save up without realising.
Save For A Holiday
When you make saving a priority, you will be surprised at just how quickly you can save up the amount you need. The goals you write down at the beginning might seem so far out of reach, however when you start saving in small regular amounts, it builds up quickly. You'll also gain interest which is a perfect as it's your money working for you. Set up a specific savings account for you to save for a holiday, use automatic payments and keep that ultimate goal in mind.
Of course there will be times that you can't save or even life events where you might have to dip into your account. Whilst you might not want to, if the car breaks down, you might not have any other choice. However, when you've sorted everything out you'll find your savings build up again and that holiday is within touching distance. You'll soon be sat on a beach, looking at wonderful seascapes or enjoying some downhill skiing action!