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Need a Vacation but Don’t Have Money? Try These Tips!

Updated: Aug 11, 2020



There comes a time in life when you just need to get away from regular life to rejuvenate. But, if you don’t seem to have any extra money, it’s just not possible. If that’s your situation, stay optimistic and read on.

While your situation may seem impossible, in many cases there are things you can do to either save money for a vacation or get away without spending much money. Here are some tips to get you started:

How to Save Money for a Vacation:

  • Pick up a side job or look for a way to make extra money online.

  • Sell things you don’t need anymore.

  • Eat out less. Then, every time you deny the temptation to eat out, transfer that amount of money into your savings account.

  • If you use cash, put the money you save on cutting expenses in an envelope. You can also put the change from every purchase into a vacation savings jar at the end of each day.

  • Cut household utility bills like cable; use an antennae and cheaper streaming service

  • Open a special savings account that offers better interest rates for limited withdrawal periods.

  • Set up an auto-transfer from your checking account to your savings account for each paycheck.

  • Decide where and when you want to go and then find out how much it will cost. Then divide the total by the number of months before your trip date to find out how much you need to save each month.

Tips to Save Money on a Vacation:

  • Do research in advance to find the lowest prices; hotel rates, carfares and airfares are much less expensive on the off season.

  • Stay in an Airbnb rather than a traditional hotel.

  • If you stay in an Airbnb, bring food to cook or shop when you get there.

  • Travel with friends or family so you can share a rental car or the Airbnb cost.For road trips, pack a cooler with a picnic lunch rather than eating fast food.

  • Get a travel rewards credit card and use the points to stay at hotel nearby.

  • Consider camping at a state park; borrow camping supplies from a friend or family.

If even these items are not possible right now, here are some ideas to take a break with very little money.

  • Take a day trip to a state park nearby. Pack a picnic lunch and enjoy the day hiking or swimming.

  • Visit a local historical site like the Alamo or the trail of missions nearby.

  • Go swimming or tubing in one of the rivers in New Braunfels or San Marcos.

  • Try geocaching, a real-world, outdoor treasure-hunting game. (Participants use a phone app to navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.)

There are many more tips that could be shared but hopefully you have found this a good starting point. We wish you the best on your savings goals and vacation plans!

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