(Not Your Average) Trip Budgeting 101

I’ve thought a lot about how I would approach the topic of trip budgeting, mostly because it is a beast of a topic, but also because there are so many “how-to” articles already out there and I don’t want to give the same old spiel. This won’t be your typical “put away X amount each month” kind of advice. I’ll share what worked for me and give you the honest run-down of how I managed to afford a 10 day European adventure with zero savings to start. 

Single-hood has its advantages. As a young independent single woman, I started my trip planning with a built in advantage – my income supports me alone. I understand that this is not true for many people who are nevertheless ferociously bitten by the travel bug. And it’s also not a requirement to achieve your dreams of traveling the world. But in my case, it helped me to be able to afford the length and type of trip that I took. For those with family obligations, longer prep times or shorter trips can make up the difference.

Tax refunds are for splurging. A huge part of my travel budgeting came from my annual tax refund. Everyone has different factors that affect how much they will receive each spring (or by the second week of February if you’re on top of things!), but most of us get something back. Use this lump sum to your advantage when planning your trip. If you’re not getting a refund, set up your filing status at work to reflect fewer exemptions. You’re essentially building your vacation fund in between tax days.

It’s all about who you know. Knowing someone with connections is not only great for a job hunt, it pays off for travel too. I am blessed to be able to call some wonderful (and wonderfully connected) people my friends. I know professional musicians, amazingly in-demand photographers, savvy business networking gurus, and a successful manager at a well-known hotel chain. While we didn’t actually stay in their hotels on our trip, we were still able to reap the benefits of their employee rewards program. Thanks to my connected friend's generosity, we were able to take a day trip, go on a riverboat cruise, and take advantage of free and discounted site-seeing opportunities at no charge to us!

This next part is a bit controversial, so I’ll only briefly put it out there – Your IRA or other investment accounts can be tapped into…for a price. It’s always advised not to touch these accounts, but at the end of the day it’s your money and your decision. If you have a lifelong dream to go on safari in the Australian Outback or to journey to the Holy Lands, what you allow to stand in your way is up to you. This is obviously not a piggy bank for your yearly vacation – it’s more of a “cannot miss this once in a lifetime opportunity” option.

Credit cards, preferably with rewards, are the safest way to book reservations and spend money overseas. This is not to say that your credit card limit should be your trip budget, but it’s okay to use it now and pay it down later. This is a major reason why I spend a long time planning an international trip and why I spread out my adventures (currently to every other year). Once you’re back home, it’s time to regroup financially by paying down the credit cards you used and building your savings accounts back up. And on that note…

It truly is helpful to attempt to put away some cash every month. If you examine where your non-bill paying money is spent each paycheck, you’ll probably find that it mostly goes to eating out and buying random articles of clothing just because they are on sale. If you can manage to cut back on just those two things, you might be surprised at how much money you can save toward your dream vacation.

So there you have it – a little unconventional, but a tried and tested way to get out see the world. If some of these options seem out of your reach, there are many other ways to get there. Plan out one part at a time – the plane tickets, the apartment/hotel booking, the food budget. Believe me when I say the sacrifice will be worth it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Please share below.