Statistics can be misleading, especially when they relate to an economy that is contradictory in its nature. Recent holiday spending figures reflect this trend, as while in-store sales have fallen considerably in recent times, online expenditure has continued to grow at a considerable pace.
- Travel Money – Sommer Vacation Saving Tipsretro traveler / Travel Photos / CC BY-NC-ND
Retail e-commerce spending for the 2012 season soared by 14%, reaching a cumulative total of $42.3billion. The figures, released by comScore, also suggested that CyberMonday saw the heaviest online spending with $1.46 billion committed by citizens through the course of booking their summer vacation.
Saving Money for your Summer Vacation: 3 Budgeting Tips
While the way in which consumers book their vacation may be changing, however, the need to save money remains as important as ever. With this in mind, what practical steps can you take towards booking an affordable trip abroad? Consider the following: –
Carefully Select your Location, Accommodation and Method of Travel: For most households, a summer vacation is about spending time together and enjoying a break from the stress of everyday life. Location is therefore not usually the most important consideration, and this allows you to target suitable resorts that do not stretch your budget. Exercising choice is a wonderful way of keeping booking costs down, while it can also be applied when you search for accommodation and make logistical plans. While this can be a time consuming exercise, if you start early enough then you will have ample opportunity to conduct thorough research.
Make your Money Work for you and Generate Considerable Interest: Saving money successfully entails far more than simply placing your disposable income into an account. In order to accrue the maximum rates of interest and remuneration, it is important to carefully research account types and identify the very best banks for savings. This is a crucial step towards ensuring that your money works for you once it is invested, as otherwise you are wasting a tremendous opportunity to maximize any disposable income that you have access to.
Create an Itinerary and Relevant Budget: Whenever you are saving towards a specific goal or target, the key is to determine the precise amount that you are likely to need. To do this, it is important to create a flexible itinerary that covers the entire duration of your vacation, as this should help you to calculate the estimated cost of travel and affiliated expenses. Not only will this approach enable you to save the exact amount of capital that you are likely to need, but it will also provide a barrier to overspending and irresponsible financial behavior.
The Last Word
If you are looking to save money when booking a summer vacation, then your ability to plan is crucial. Taking the time to identify money saving locations and travel arrangements is the ideal place to start, while planning an itinerary and investing your disposable income wisely will also have a considerable impact. More importantly, however, planning also creates a wider range of vacation options, and capacity to exercise choice is your most effective weapon when looking to make financial savings.
