Five Easy Ways My Family Saved for an International Trip of a Lifetime

Saving for an international trip does not mean going without the everyday needs. Here are five easy ways to save the bucks needed for the trip of a lifetime.

Allocate a Certain Amount to Savings

Saving just as little as $100.00 per payday can make that trip money grow rapidly. My husband received his paycheck every two weeks, and I received my salary once per month. When we decided on an international trip, we made sure that our paychecks deducted $100.00 each payday. We spoke with our payroll department and found that they could allocate a certain amount to go into a savings account, and we would never even see the money.

Savings on Home Travel Expenses

Needing a substantial amount of money for our international trip we found ways to save on gas locally. Carpooling with other workers was perfect for my gas cost. Having just two more people riding to work made my cost drop by over 50%. My husband found he could carpool with one other employee and cut his cost by half. Since we had a Shell card we put our monthly cost on the card. The difference from what we normally spent per month, and what we owed to the gas card was also placed in the savings account.

A Place for the Saving to be Held

We discussed with our Credit Union the opportunities available for savings accounts. Some banks and credit unions offer unique holiday savings programs. Our credit union offered access to a savings account that would keep our money for a specified time limit. We could not remove the money from the account until the date it expired. That made keeping the money separate and untouchable easier.

Savings on Household Items

It was not often that we made any substantial purchase for our home, even before we were planning on a savings account for the trip. When we needed something we would always go to the respected store and purchase the item. It was not so hard to find ways to go without certain items until we had enough money set aside for the item. By this I mean, a dishwasher, out door grill, deck lights, summer items such as table and chairs, and other large dollar items. Instead, we found ways to make the old either hold out or look like new. A fresh paint job on the table and chairs, a new rack in the dishwasher, a few fuses for the outdoor lights when they did not work, and many other items we could put to good use instead of replacing. This saved us as much as $600.00 during the 3 months of summer prior to our trip.

Booking Early

We saved about $500.00 a person by booking our trip eight months in advance. Choosing to book ourselves instead of using a travel agent made quite a small savings of at least $300.00 in the final ending price. It is not as difficult to book a personal trip on today's world of the Internet. However, care should be taken and be certain to check the sites and their reputations before giving them financial information.

It is essential to know ahead of time the places and types of things that you wish to visit and then set the tone for your tour from there. Booking the flight, B&B's with meals included, as most of your entertainment in advance, will save several hundred dollars in total expenses.

Resources:

Personal Experience
Clackamas Federal Credit Union