It’s time for another helpful budgeting tip! Happy Tuesday! Have you been thinking about going on a trip of some kind? Whether it’s a quick weekend getaway or a longer vacation, money is always part of the equation. Which brings me to this week’s tip:

Always budget for trips. You will be so much less stressed when you actually get there knowing that you can afford to do the things you want to do. Just last night, we were talking about going on a beach trip for a few days this year and originally we wanted to go this month (April) but we hosted Easter dinner at our house and are saving up for a few other things too. So, we decided it would be better to go in October instead, when the weather is still gorgeous in Florida and warm enough usually for an enjoyable time on the Gulf Coast!

So, now I can start putting away the desired amount of money each paycheck until we go on our awesome beach trip. Wherever it is you decide to go and for however long, figure out how much you can afford to set aside each paycheck and start doing it. The sooner you start saving ahead of time, the less you will need to put away each paycheck too. If you need $1,000 to go on vacation, and you only have a month to save for it, that’s way too stressful. I would be all worked up trying to figure out how to make that work and would probably decide to just not go. So don’t put yourself in that situation.

I will probably set aside $50 every 2 weeks until October. That’s doable for me right now and will give me a nice chunk of money to use come October! I will have to plan ahead and use my Budget Notebook to sort it all out like I usually do, but it should be pretty simple. Give this process a shot before your next trip, and you’ll see how much more you enjoy the moment when you get there! Ahhh…peace of mind. My favorite 🙂