Financing a family vacation can be difficult. You know where you want to go but you just don’t know how you’ll get there.
The average American family spends around $2500 per year on a vacation. Readers might guess that vacation spending would be down, with the economic “turndown” and an increase in cost of basic items like groceries and gas, but this isn’t the case. It seems as if consumers are putting more value on their vacation time, and according to the Travel Industry of America’s annual forecast, travel spending in the U.S. will increase 5 percent this year.
I don’t know about you guys, but my family saves up for our annual vacation in a variety of ways.
Save your change. Each of us has our own container where we place our loose change at the end of the day. This is a great way for the kids to save spending money. All those quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies can really add up. Last year we were able to save around $350 in total.
Have a garage or rummage sale. Once a year, my neighbors and I get together for a multi-family garage sale. We are usually able to earn about $400 per family by the end of the day.
Cut back on unnecessary spending. Our family used to eat out at least once per week. We’ve cut the eating out by 25 percent and are able to put aside at least $75 per month towards our family trip. That’s a savings of $900 per year!
Open a vacation savings account. I’m able to have my bank deduct $50 per paycheck and place in a saving account just for vacations. With my contribution alone, that gives our family another $1200 towards our travels.
Use SmartyPig to save. This company allows consumers to open an interest-earning account with a minimal deposit of $25. Your friends and relatives can even deposit money towards the goals you list with the account. Sounds like a simple, smart, savings plan.
So how does the average family finance a vacation? This is where you, our readers come in. Leave us a comment on how you finance your vacation.
