A budget is always a good idea, and let me tell you why. People avoid budgets because they think it will restrict them from doing the things they want, but in reality, a budget actually gives you the freedom to spend the money you have. When you use a budget, you know exactly how much you have to spend, allowing you to spend that money guilt-free.
You can apply a budget to every area of your life, even your travel adventures. By using a printable budget worksheet to track your spending, you will get to do and experience everything you want without constantly fretting about your credit card bill when you get home.
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Laying out a travel budget should start early in the planning process. I even suggest working from two separate travel budget worksheet printables. Use one budget worksheet to track your savings as you plan your trip, and then take a separate budget worksheet with you to track your spending as you go.
Are you ready to plan your next vacation? Let me explain how you can have the best trip of your life by doing a little financial pre-planning.
Reasons to Love a Travel Budget
If you are on the fence about creating a travel budget before you book your trip, let me persuade you to start one.
Guilt-Free Spending
After saving up and setting aside money for your trip, you get to spend it however you choose. What you have saved is what you get to spend, allowing you the absolute pleasure of guilt-free spending. You’ve already done the hard work of saving, planning, and executing travel, and now you get to spend every penny you’ve saved without a second thought.
Want to splurge on business class? If your budget can accommodate it, go for it. Want to book your dream hotel? If it fits into the budget, that is perfectly fine. Now, most of us will have to make some choices about where to indulge, but choosing what will delight you the most is really fun when you have the money to do it.
Ability to Prioritize
When you travel, you will be bombarded with opportunities for new and exciting things to experience. As you plan your trip and how you will budget, you’ll earmark money for the things you want to do the most. These things will be a priority in your budget. Once you’ve chosen your top choices, you get to fill in the gaps with what is left over.
By having a plan, you won’t blow through your travel funds on the first half of your trip, and you’ll avoid getting sucked into costly and gimmicky tourist traps. You may find yourself surprised by how much you love the free and low-cost activities that you find to allow room for your prioritized spending.
Stay Organized
Traveling can be overwhelming. With so many things to do and see, it is easy to get distracted. When you have a travel budget, you’ve likely made choices in advance about how you want to spend your money, allowing you a greater opportunity to stay on task and organized. You won’t waste valuable time and money getting sidetracked.
A well-organized printable will also help you to see where you stand with your budget. If you didn’t spend as much money on meals as you anticipated, you have a little more wiggle room in your souvenir section.
Also, note that your budget does not own you; you own your budget. You get to adjust it as you go. Within your budget, there is room for flexibility, and you can change your mind. But your budget will slow you down before you spend impulsively and give you time to think through if you actually want to change course and how you will shuffle your funds to make it work.
Travel Budget Categories
So, how exactly do you start a budget? First, you determine how much you have to spend, and then you will download a travel budget worksheet. You’ll think through everything you need to spend and write it all down. Here are some common things people write into their travel budget.
Travel Prep
Inevitably, you will need to buy some things before you leave. Your travel budget should include items like seasonally appropriate clothing, passports or visas, new luggage, or backpacks.
Transportation
Plane tickets, train rides, rental cars, and taxis will all take up some of your cash. Think about all of the money you will spend just getting around, and factor it into your budget from the start.
Lodging
Lodging can be a large piece of the travel budget pie. Knowing how much money you have to spend will help you strike the balance of finding the amenities that are important to you without blowing your entire budget on hotels.
Meals
Food can easily sneak attack a travel budget. Three meals a day for an entire family can add up quickly. Make sure to think about how much you have to spend in advance. Do you want to prioritize a spendy meal? Can you save by booking lodging that offers complimentary breakfast?
Attractions
You obviously travel to see the sights and visit local attractions. Decide what you would like to do the most and see what else you can fit into the remainder of your budget.
Souvenirs
Inevitably, you will want to bring something home to remember your travels. Decide how much of your budget you’d like to allocate to shopping while you are there, and stick to it.
Once you’ve worked out how to spend your hard-earned money, you get to do the fun part: go spend it. Happy travels!
