Holidays can be cheap and cheerful
How much do you spend on vacations during the year? I’m all about getting a good deal on a vacation. I can’t relax if we’re racking up the credit card on our family holiday, a lot of other families feel the same way. TD Canada Trust commissioned a poll asking Calgarians about their ideal vacation style, and their survey found that one in five say it doesn’t matter where they go as long as they get a good deal.
Here are some tips for enjoying more affordable holidays.
Make a plan. Have a family meeting to hear about everyone’s dream vacation — you might find the kids have been pining for a family camping trip instead of the weeklong resort extravaganza you thought they wanted.
Travel off season. Consider travelling on the shoulder of a season and/or taking the kids out of school for a few days— travelling for a week in high season on school break is a sure way to spend hundreds or thousands more at the same resort or hotel.
Book last minute. Sell-offs are a great way to get a hard-to-beat deal on a trip somewhere, but you have to be ready to go at the drop of a hat. Book the time off, but don’t decide where to go until the best deals are available — usually two to three weeks before the departure.
Cash in your rewards. If you collect rewards program points through a credit card or other points program, cash them in for a vacation or part of a vacation, such as excursion tickets or gift cards for restaurants in the area you’re travelling to. You may also get a discount on services such as car rentals just for being a cardholder. For the most flexibility, see if you can redeem your miles for gift cards to a travel agency that offers sell-off vacation packages.
Consider a less expensive vacation than you may have experienced in the past. Amy Corkett blogs at upmommycreek.com, and says they cut corners on the accommodation. “We don’t splurge on hotel rooms. We spend so little time in the room anyway that a basic room suits us. We also camp if possible instead of using hotels.”
Save up and pay cash. Once you know what you want to do for your vacation, start saving now. Estimate how much it will cost and set a plan for how you’re going to save the money based on how long you have to save up. Set up a vacation fund and use the “out of sight, out of mind” strategy—the power of automatic transfers from your pay. “Speak to your bank about setting up an automatic transfer of a portion of your paycheque every week to a high interest savings account. That way you can save your money before you get a chance to see it — or even think about spending it,” says Shawnnette Fraser, Manager of Customer Experience, TD Canada Trust. “You may also consider ‘invisibly’ bolstering your efforts to save by setting up a transfer to this account with each debit purchase. Programs like TD’s Simply Save will automatically transfer a set amount up to $5 to savings each time you use your card.”