Staying local for a cheap vacation

cheap, or rather financially responsible – if you can’t afford to save for your vacation, you can’t afford to pay it off later.

White points out that there are several savings calculators online that can help you understand what you need to do to save for a vacation.

Let’s say we want to save for a family trip to Disney World with a $10,000 price tag.

If we save $210 a month for four years, we will have $10,080 for the trip. But White explains that if we put that amount on a credit card, with payments of $210 a month at 19 per cent interest, we’re looking at paying off that debt in eight years and two months. Plus, with interest, we’re actually paying off $20,432.

A line of credit at eight-per-cent interest lowers the payback time to four years and 11 months at $210 a month. With interest, the total runs up to $12,188.85.

Now, you may be able to do the trip with your family for much less than $10,000. Even so, the example helps illustrate the trouble you can run into paying for a trip you can’t afford.

And, of course, as already mentioned, my trip to Newfoundland would only cost about $1,500.

I can pay it off, but I choose to be cheap.

But maybe this is also a good opportunity to roam around the Maritimes and knock off a few other items on my bucket list, another term I find annoying.

Mount Carleton Provincial Park in New Brunswick has been on the list for a while. From Moncton, it’s still a lengthy drive – than four hours.

Mount Carleton is the highest point in the Maritimes at 820 metres (2,690 feet) with spectacular views. It’s a full-day hike and not overly difficult.

Also on the list is a road trip balancing rock near Digby, N.S.

Another long jaunt probably requiring a stop in Halifax to visit friends on the way. But still, a cool piece of Maritime geography that I’ve always wanted to visit but never had the time.

So, not the original plan.

But then again, Gros Morne isn’t going anywhere.

There’s always next summer. And, by then, I’ll have more saved that will reduce the impact on my credit card. terrence.mceachern@theguardian.pe.ca a little more to