6 Easy Things You Can Do to Make Your Overseas Vacation Dream Come True

Taking an exciting vacation to Europe, Africa, Asia, The South Pacific or the Caribbean comes with a hefty price tag ... but it's worth every penny! So are all the trials and tribulations of saving to make your vacation dream become a reality. Here are 6 simple ways you can help accumulate the money you'll need ... all it takes is a little work and a lot of discipline.

Create a Vacation Account

The first thing to do to get you on your way is to create a vacation savings account that you will use for the sole purpose of saving for the international vacation of your dreams. Open the account at a bank where you have no other accounts and do not get a debit card with the account or open any other accounts with that bank. Just make sure the bank is conveniently located near your home or office so you can make regular deposits.

This helps assure you keep the money in the vacation account and don't transfer it to another account or withdraw from it at an ATM and use the money for some other reason. Very few people ever return money to savings that they "borrowed" for some other purpose ... regardless of how good their intentions were when they withdrew the money.

Once you've done this, budget a regular amount from every paycheck that will go into your vacation savings account. Be realistic and only commit to saving what you can honestly afford. Leaving yourself cash-strapped because you deposited "too much" will not help you succeed.

Ask For Cash Gifts For Birthday, Anniversary and Christmas

Tell your family and friends very honestly that you are looking to save for a vacation overseas you've been looking forward to for a long time. They could help make your dream come true by giving you a cash gift for Christmas, your birthday and anniversary or other special occasion rather than clothing, a book or some other merchandise.

How you approach them is very important. People give gifts not only to make you happy, but to give them some joy and happiness as well. Saying that by giving you cash they will help your lifelong dream come true will give them the satisfaction they deserve. It might also motivate them to give you a little more money because they know how important this trip is to you.

If you feel funny asking people to do this, you can tell them the gift is the wrong style or size and you'd like to exchange it but you'll need a receipt.

Get A Second Part-Time Job or Do Freelance Work

Finding even a small second job can help provide extra money to save for that vacation. Even if it's only for 8 hours on Saturday at $10 per hour that's $80 per week ... or about $65 each week after taxes. This adds up to a little over $3000 a year you can deposit into your vacation savings account.

If your regular job workload or responsibilities at home make a regular second job impossible, try working a second job just during the Christmas shopping season. Even if you only work enough to clear$1000 for the season, you're still $1000 closer to your dream vacation.

If you're in a business where you can do freelance projects for other clients, in addition to your full time job, take on a little freelance work and put what you earn in the vacation savings account

Work Overtime (If You Get Paid Extra For It)

A little overtime goes a long way. If you have a job where you can earn additional money by working overtime, work the overtime and deposit the amount of your overtime earnings into your vacation account. if you can earn $25 per hour working overtime and work 5 hours of overtime every week, that's and extra $125 gross per week ... or about $100 weekly after taxes. That adds up to about $5000 extra (net) you've saved for your vacation.

Save all Tax Refunds and Bonuses

When people get a tax refund or bonus check, their natural instinct for immediate gratification, so they spend a big chunk of the one-time payment on dinner or new clothes. When "windfall" revenue like this comes your way, bank it in the vacation savings account immediately rather than spend it on something else.

Hold a Yard Sale or Two During the Year

Everybody has stuff in their homes that someone else is looking for at a garage or yard sale. Hold one or two of these events and you could make $200 or $300 or more. Take this money and save it in the vacation savings account too.

Finding or making extra money isn't that difficult. Making the commitment to set up a regular savings program and not using the money for anything else is the hard part. Just remember... you can do it. All you have to do is try!

Bon voyage.