How To Save for An Overseas Holiday Every Year Without Really Trying

Isn’t it nice to have something to really look forward to later in the year?

Everyone loves holidays (who doesn’t!) – and it is a time where you want to do it nice…. You know, nice wine, nice room, good view of the beach… A couple of spa treatments – going all out!

But if you don’t have a spare $5K laying around – never fear!  I’ll show you how to painlessly save for that holiday – without trying!!!!

Put a Holiday on Lay-by:

Yep you can do that!  Many of the popular travel companies now will let you pay it off all year – and provided the holiday is paid off at least two weeks out – you can book the holiday and start putting some cash down – just like you usually do at Christmas or for birthdays!  Lay-by is a terrific way to save up for anything – and much better than putting things on a credit cart where you incur interest charges!

Websites that allow you to Lay-by your Holiday include:

• Layaway Travel
• Travel Pay
• Easy Save Holidays

Put Those Savings Away!

Every time you save some money (e.g. you cut the kids hair yourself), put that money into a separate account.  Your holiday savings account.  If you find that hard to do – there are Apps that will let you do that easily.

Use Apps That Round Up Your Purchases

This truly a painless way to save (and this is how I save up for a holiday myself!).  Apps such as Acorns link to your bank account, and ever time you make a purchase using your account, the app will round up any cents to the nearest dollar, and will invest that money in the stock market for you!

Sounds neat huh!  You can withdraw the money at any time.

Find all the details on the Acorns Website

The best thing is – you can also set the app to take out $7.50 a day instead of buying a fancy coffee and you can see your savings grow!

Try the $5 Note Challenge

Go to your local cheap shop and buy a really large money tin (that you can’t open!).  Every single $5 note that touches your hands MUST go into that money box!  This neat little trick has been around for years and years, but it really does work!  Then six weeks out from when you want to take your holiday, crack the tin, and only use that money for the holiday (so whatever it adds up to – that is your maximum budget!).  Good incentive for sneaking maybe a tenner in there occasionally as well!

Do the $50 Week Shopping Challenge

It works so well, we have a whole book dedicated to the challenge – and yes it can be done and no you won’t starve!  Put the extra cash into your ‘Holiday Account’ and start dreaming of somewhere exotic!

One Gift Only Christmas

The only problem with having a holiday at Christmas time is that you are paying a premium… BUT you do get to avoid crazy Mothers and Mothers in Law!  So instead of spending big on the family, introduce a ‘One Gift Only’ policy (and none for the grown ups) – and make the holiday the big Christmas Gift.  After all, everyone loves a good holiday – imagine waking up on Christmas Day somewhere exotic… with a tanned pool boy called ‘Raoul’………. “Fetch me a Margarita, Raoul!!”

So if you need a holiday – start thinking about saving for it right now!  Stuff the Christmas fund, isn’t a holiday a much better option??