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5 Easy Ways To Save Money When Planning Your Next Vacation

A vacation is meant to fill you with a sense of adventure and the opportunity for a little R&R. If the planning process is too stressful because of the amount of work involved in finding ways to stick to your budget, you might just throw in the towel and stay home. But it just so happens that there are plenty of ways to save money when you plan your next trip. Here are a few you’ll definitely want to add to your play book.

Use travel rewards. If you have yet to sign up for a credit card that offers you reward points for every purchase, then now is a good time to get started, and there is no shortage of programs that will help you pay for travel. You can also sign up for memberships with vendors like airlines, hotel chains, or rental car agencies that you prefer, gaining rewards with every trip. In some cases your reward points can be used to pay off travel expenses you place on a credit card, while others allow you to input your account number at the time of purchase for immediate savings on your travel bookings.

February 9, 2014

Travel & Entertainment

5 Budget Friendly Travel Ideas For 2014

Just because you have a small budget, it doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the vacation of a lifetime. Indeed, there are a plethora of destinations and locations where you can have great fun – without doing too much financial damage. With a little creativity and resourcefulness, you can go almost anywhere and do anything. Not only that, but you can visit some of those amazing cities that you’ve always wanted to visit – without paying a fortune for hotel and lodging costs. How is this done? Well, there are a lot of ways to bend traditional travel customs to fit your budget – you just have to think outside the box. Here are five budget friendly travel ideas for 2014.

Take a cruise. When it comes down to it, most of us don’t have the budget to fly around the world and stay at fancy resorts. However, there are many budget cruise lines out there that allow you to purchase all-inclusive packages. These packages include your stay on the cruise ship – plus meals and entertainment. The best part is that you can get a taste of multiple different locations and cities on one cruise.

February 4, 2014

Travel & Entertainment

5 Tips For Preparing A Huge Holiday Feast On A Budget

Unless your family has some kind of policy about rotating the location of holiday gatherings each year, you could find yourself hosting annually, especially if you’re (A) a good cook, (B) you have the biggest house, or (C) you agree to it. And this not only requires a lot of work on your part to get your home in ship shape and produce an appealing meal for all of your loved ones, but it could also have a significant impact on your budget. This can cause no shortage of problems during the stressful holiday season when spending is high anyway. So even if you enjoy putting together the holiday meal and playing host annually, you may be looking for a few good ways to save some money and stick to your budget this year. Here are some tips that should help you to prepare your huge holiday feast without breaking the bank.

Delegate. The absolute easiest way to save money when hosting a huge family gathering is to turn it into a potluck. You should plan to make the main dish, but you might want to instruct your brother to bring the mashed potatoes, your sister to bring her green bean casserole, and your mom and dad to make pies. It helps if different people have signature dishes that they love to share, so you might want to ask if you don’t know. Keep in mind that most people are willing to pitch in if you don’t make it too hard for them, so give them some latitude to bring what they want instead of dictating the menu. Those that aren’t particularly keen on cooking can always bring drinks or pick up an appetizer platter at the market, just for example. Overall, you should end up saving a lot of money by this method.

January 7, 2014

Travel & Entertainment

5 Frugal Christmas Party Planning Tips

One of the best things about Christmas is that it comes with its own traditions. For some of us, it’s going snow skiing or ice skating. For others, it’s going Christmas caroling or attending the Nutcracker at a local venue. And then, still for others, it’s throwing an annual Christmas party.

If you happen to be someone who falls into that third category but this year, you’re looking for some tips on how you can throw a party that will be a hit without breaking your budget, we’ve enclosed our top five frugal Christmas party planning tips below:

Plan your party. Sometimes, we end up spending more money than we would like simply because we didn’t make the time to create a plan for our party. But the sooner than you know the amount of people you want to invite, the kind of theme you’d like to have and the type of food and drinks that you’d like to serve, that can help you to stay focused once you head out to the stores.

December 5, 2013

Travel & Entertainment

5 Tips On How To Plan An Impromptu Trip On A Budget

Sometimes, the stress of travel planning takes all the fun out of the real vacation. You can spend months of planning for a trip that only lasts a few days, so when the trip finally happens, it’s not as great as you thought it’d be. Say goodbye to the pressure of planning and try an impromptu getaway the next time you need a break.

Have Travel Funds Set Aside

Start a spur-of-the-moment travel fund and keep some money set aside for just this occasion. It’s not as easy to pinch pennies and stick to a strict budget when you’re taking an unplanned trip. When you have a comfortable chunk of cash available for just this purpose, you can splurge a little when a great museum, interesting restaurant, or fun festival catches your eye.

August 23, 2013

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