Your Vacation Savings Plan

You work hard for your money. You deserve at least one great vacation a year. But maybe you feel like you aren’t able to budget for much more than the occasional day trip.
Think of your vacation fund as a necessity for your mental well-being. The fun and relaxation can boost your morale for months—even having the vacation to look forward to can make your work days go faster. Here are a few simple tips to carve out a healthy vacation budget without pinching pennies.

1. Cut down on frivolous spending. Let’s take packing a lunch as an example. If you buy your lunch daily, you’ll likely spend $10 a day. If you pack your lunch, you can easily get that figure down to under $5. Saving $5 each weekday doesn’t sound like much, but at the end of 50 weeks, you’ll save $1,250. 

2. Take advantage of your discounts. Whenever you rent a car, book a hotel room, or dine out, check to see what discounts are available to you (use your AAA Member card, for example).  Saving 5% here, 10% there, adds up by the end of the year, and that’s money you can put toward your vacation.

3. Start a vacation savings account. When it comes to spending, out of sight is out of mind. Open a separate savings account dedicated specifically to your vacation fund. Decide what you need to save for your vacation, divide that by the number of paychecks you’ll receive between now and then, and move that much into your vacation savings account each payday.

4. Choose your goal from the outset. There are two basic methods to determine your vacation budget:
a. Set a dollar amount based on your yearly savings plan and income, and choose a destination based on your budget.
b. Choose your destination, and set a dollar amount based on researched potential costs and save to that dollar figure. 

5. Look into off-season destinations. Don’t pigeonhole yourself into thinking your vacation has to be in mid-summer. Your vacation won’t be any less fun if it happens in October. Also, most destinations have an off-season that may still be a wonderful time to visit and involve fewer crowds and shorter lines.

If you’re ready to open a vacation savings account, Discover offers preferred rates to AAA Members. To learn more about AAA savings, money market and CD accounts by Discover, visit AAA.com/Deposits.

The content of this article is for informational purposes only. AAA does not guarantee any particular outcome.