By Leo Tavares
The long-awaited break is finally approaching. Professors are slamming you with projects, exams, and essays. The assignment that you put off for weeks is nearing its due date. After two long nights of cramming, you finish. Time for a well-deserved break. You have an amazing week traveling with friends.
You look at your bank’s balance upon arrival back home to find Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Spotify fighting over the last $10 in your checking account at the end of the month.
I myself have fallen victim to overspending during traveling. Before you hop on that road trip with friends or book a flight to your dream vacation, allow me to put some food for thought!
Be Realistic
Though it might be self-intuitive, don’t spend money you don’t have! I don’t mean to be the downfall of your best life in Dubai but planning within your means of spending is essential for your long-term well-being. The desire to venture the world for new experiences and saving enough money for a rainy day can be a perpetual tug of war. Take a look at the Smart About Money Financial Road Map and ensure that the trip won’t be an obstacle towards your financial milestones! *****
Plan Early
The spontaneity of booking that awesome last-minute trip with your friends can be exhilarating in the spur of the moment but it comes at a cost – literally. Trips planned within 7 weeks to 3 months can find a significant decrease on the price of the plane ticket. Use this down time to assess where you will be residing during the trip, whether it be a hotel, Airbnb, or with family/friends. Timing plays a big role as well. January is known to be one of the cheapest months to travel in – keep in mind for those looking for winter break trips!
Questions to ask yourself include…
- How many friends are you going with?
- Who might be handling the bills that you can’t split? (Nobody likes chasing people around on Venmo or Cash App!)
- How many days can I afford to spend there?
- Will I/we be buying food out every day?
- What might travel costs look like?
Budgeting will be the name of the game here. Take moment to add up all the expected costs, always assuming an upper limit rather than lower for cushion incase prices are above what you had anticipated.
Take Advantage of The Platforms You Shop With
The same way you should use student discounts for purchases, be sure to take advantage of bundled trips. Plane ticket outlets will often offer bundled prices when you purchase other services alongside the ticket as a member (at no additional cost). In my experience, I was offered a 20% discount on the price of my hotel per night when I bought it with Travelocity. Dig around and see where you can get the best of deals; tis the beauty of the Internet.
Beware Of Exchange Rates
What is the real cost of your dollar? We all want to enter a beautiful landscape with a single print of a green George Washington and have the purchasing power of a million dollars. Unfortunately, rates will vary by country. The dollar worth 3,743 Columbian Pesos is also only worth 0.783 Pounds in the United Kingdom. Consider countries where the cost of living might be particularly low to get a true bang for your buck, highlighting domains that have a high exchange rate against the dollar. (Foreign currency/$)
Activities and Transportation
What you do during your time of leisure is what will truly make or break your bank account. Take an hour or two to research the activities that can make highlights of your trip and how far they all are. In doing so, you can determine the best modality of transportation in the given country. Constantly using Uber can get stack up on you before you know it. If possible, think about renting a car if you plan on traveling deep into the country. I recently rented one for the first time in Puerto Rico and it made some farther travels at a much cheaper rate than that of Uber/Lyft.