Getting Ready For Your Summer Vacation
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Getting Ready For Your Summer Vacation
It’s time for fun in the sun. But before you pack your bags, set your budget so your great vacation won’t turn into a bad trip
Step 1: Determine how much you can afford. There are three ways you can pay for your vacation – with your savings, using your credit card, or a combination of both. Regardless of how you fund your trip, set a realistic budget, because that will determine your destination, length of stay, and activities.
Step 2: List down all possible expenses. Make four major categories – transportation, accommodations, food, entertainment, and miscellaneous. Make sure to include little things like airport tax, tips, tickets, etc.
Step 3: Estimate the cost per item. It’s easy to find out the cost of most expenses, like airfare, hotel room, tours, and admission tickets. Just check the Web sites of the airline, hotel, amusement parks, tourist attractions, tour operators, and the like. You can also get the typical cost of fares, tips, meals, Internet access, etc. from travel books and sites. As for the rest, just plug in a reasonable estimate.
Step 4: Compute the number of passengers and days. If you’re traveling as a family, you obviously have to multiply many of these expenses by how many you are, including fares, meals, tickets, and tours. For certain items, like food and accommodations, you also need to multiply by the number of days you’ll be on vacation.
Step 5: Make the necessary adjustments. After summing up your initial estimates, you may find yourself over budget. This is when you should make adjustments. Since accommodations take up a third of your total cost, a good way to work within your budget is to cut down your length of your stay or choose a cheaper alternative. You can also lower your expenses further by choosing a different date and time for your departure and arrival. You would also have to shortlist the places you want to see and scale back on expenses you can live without. But don’t cut your budget to the bone; leave some buffer for the unexpected.
| Expense Item | Cost Per Pax | No. of Pax | Cost Per Day | Amount |
| Transportation | ||||
| Airfare | ||||
| Checked baggage fees | ||||
| Airport tax | ||||
| Airport transfers | ||||
| Taxi, bus, and ferry fares | ||||
| Subway and rail tickets | ||||
| Travel insurance | ||||
| Accommodations | ||||
| Hotel room | ||||
| Tips | ||||
| Food | ||||
| Meals | ||||
| Snacks and drinks | ||||
| Entertainment | ||||
| Tours | ||||
| Admission fees | ||||
| Nightlife and entertainment | ||||
| Sports and recreation | ||||
| Miscellaneous | ||||
| Shopping | ||||
| Souvenirs | ||||
| Phone and Internet | ||||
| Medicines | ||||
| Personal care | ||||
| Others | ||||
| Total |
Right! Should plan first before going somewhere. That’s a very good idea and if you’re looking for an inexpensive vacation or trip, going in the beach or a camp is the best. Just list down all the things you need to carry with you and take great care of yourself. In addition, you can also think of another idea of activity this summer, something that you can enjoy and have fun with your close friends and love ones. You can also just stay at home and have fun with your kids cooking and experimenting. Or you can also join an organization that supports and protects our environment. You can also get a summer job if you want. There are many opportunities out there that you can try. =) But whatever your choice, it would be best if you do even a little green activity this summer such as utilizing an eco-friendly stuff, applying the necessary actions to go green.