How much to spend on your summer vacation

BY FAZAAD BACCHUS

It’s a mere two weeks before school closes and one of the most important thoughts on most individual’s minds is where to take a vacation. Well, I am no expert at vacation planning but certainly, have a few points that you should consider when it comes to finances and vacation planning.  Everyone needs to make the best use of their vacation time and money spent. It would be nice to travel to far off lands, strange places and experience different customs and these are perhaps the most memorable vacations that you can take, but they can also be quite expensive.

We sometimes make mistakes when planning our vacation because we overextend ourselves. Take for example an all-inclusive trip to the Dominican Republic or Cuba may cost each person an average of $1,000, but a trip to Europe or Asia is likely to be far more expensive. Airfare alone could run you $1,500 and hotels are far more expensive and by the time you are through you could have spent over $3,000 in total.

Your home country is also another option for vacation but will cost much more, there are expensive airfares and most important “handout money”. After all, you are the foreigner with US or Canadian dollars and are expected to be the spender. This is not something you can get away from lest you want to appear cheap.

You may find that it is sometimes better budget wise to plan a road trip vacation; the gas will not be as expensive as the airfare for a combined family trip and you will not have to rent a car while there. You may choose the option of staying in an Airbnb which has a kitchen facility so that you don’t have to be eating out all the time. Breakfast is an expensive meal when eaten out but can be so cheap when you are preparing it. And finally, on vacation choices, you may choose to have a stay-cation. It’s where you stay at home but plan activities during the day, this way you save on hotel cost, don’t have to rent a car, can pack sandwiches or lunches and still can have a wonderful time.

So why are we looking at these choices? One answer … Money. If there isn’t sufficient money you have to make wise choices as to where you will travel. One of the most common mistakes we make is when we borrow to fund our vacation with a loan or credit card loan. The feeling of a good vacation can be quickly eroded when we start making those repayments. Just imagine the interest payable on a credit card is as much as 22% annually, so you can imagine the how long it will take you to pay it off especially if you are making minimum payments.

Yes, we all know it’s very easy to swipe or tap the card or pay for your vacation online, but the repayments can be tough. It’s also not a good idea to use your line of credit to fund your vacation as this again is another loan, albeit cheaper than a credit card, it can still be tough paying back, so plan well for your summer vacation.