Start Saving For Your Summer Beach Trip

Spring and summer aren’t that far away and there is no time like the present to start saving up for that beach trip you’ve been dreaming about all summer. Here are some things you can do to make the trip more financially feasible.

1. Travel With Friends

The more friends you can get to go on this trip with you, the cheaper it will be for everyone. It’s much easier to afford a good room in one of those beautiful Laguna Beach hotels if there are four of you sharing it instead of trying to pay for it yourself. If you drive instead of fly you can also split the cost of gas, which—depending on how far you have to drive—could wind up being much cheaper than flying or taking a train. 

Bonus Tip: traveling with friends also keeps you safer. It just makes sense to follow the buddy system when you are in a new place!

2. Start Saving Now

Start putting a couple bucks in a jar every day. If you save two dollars every day between February 1 and June 15, you’ll have saved up $268.  If you put aside $20 a week, you’ll have $380 for vacation. That’s not a bad amount to have on hand for meals, etc.

If you want to save up even more, here is another thing you can do. In addition to putting $20 into that jar every week, dump in whatever change or cash you have on hand in your pockets at the end of the day. You’ll be amazed at how much you can save up if you take the spare stuff out of your pockets and wallet each day.

If you don’t trust that jar to stay safe, use the bank. Transfer $20 every Friday from your checking to your savings account. Then, at the end of every week take whatever cash and change you’ve collected in the jar and deposit that into the savings account as well. This way you don’t have to worry about a bunch of money walking off and leaving you broke.

3. Be Thrifty

You can start practicing thriftiness now. Buy generic groceries instead of name brand. Skip buying new clothes except for maybe a new bathing suit to take on your trip. Borrow books from the library instead of buying them. Basically, cut any spending that isn’t necessary for your survival. 

On your trip, stock up on groceries to keep in your hotel room.  Sure you’ll probably want to go out for most meals but buying stuff to snack on at a grocery store will save you a ton of money that would have otherwise been spent on overpriced stuff out of vending machines or in hotel gift shops.

These are just three ways that you can make sure that your vacation is a fantastic and affordable one. There are plenty of other things you can do to save up for your summer vacation—you just have to get creative!