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How to Afford a Summer Vacation When Money is Tight

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Saving for a summer vacation can be difficult when money is tight. Many Canadians admit that they cannot afford it, and many leave vacation days unused. Going on vacation on a tight budget requires careful planning and smart choices to save money and enjoy time off. Here are some simple things to do to cut expenses and keep spending under control.

What Expenses Can You Trim?

Expenses fall in two categories – essential and non-essential. The category of non-essential expenses includes rented appliances, lottery, hairdressing, alcohol, and cigarettes. Essential expenses include things like baby items, car insurance, and property taxes. Non-essential costs are expenses that you can trim, whether dry cleaning, taxis, or pet insurance.

To save money for your summer vacation, you may need to cut down on expenses such as magazine and newspaper subscriptions, club memberships, dining out, and entertainment. Other leisure expenses that may ruin your budget include sports activity and leisure supplies, fine dining events, movie streaming subscriptions, and season passes and tickets.

Some habits are not only unhealthy but can be a real drain on your budget, be it drinking or smoking. Quitting smoking will help you to save a lot of money and get in good shape. There are other ways to save money such as shopping at farmers markets and discount grocery stores, using coupons, and collecting credit card rewards points to redeem for flights, room upgrades, etc.

Create a Spending Plan

The next step is to create a spending plan by looking at your disposable income and expenses. This is also a way to find out whether you need to cut down on expenses to stay on budget and to identify your priorities. The easiest way to create a spending plan is to list all of your monthly expenses, including childcare, grocery shopping, loan and credit card payments, mortgage or rent, and health and auto insurance. Other expenses to list include your phone, electricity, and water bills, car payments, subscriptions, and household maintenance. Make a list of your sources of income to find out what your gross income is. Sources of income include your salary, wages, and bonuses, investment and interest income, and alimony and child support. Once you know how much you earn and spend, you will be able to figure out how much you can save for your summer vacation.

It is also a good idea to divide your expenses into irregular and fixed expenses. The latter include debt payments, bank fees, utility bills, and rent. These are expenses that will not change on a monthly basis and are easy to budget for. The category of irregular expenses includes vehicle maintenance and insurance, health expenses, pest control, school supplies, and weddings and birthdays. In general, irregular expenses come up once or twice a year, and it is important to budget properly and save enough to meet them when they come up. There are also variable expenses such as recreation and sports, work lunches, personal care items, and groceries. This is the category to look into and identify expenses that you can cut back on to save for your holiday.

Go on a “Staycation”

Going on staycation is a cheap option when money is tight. Staying home, relaxing, spending time together, and going on day trips is one way to get a break and save money. What you can do is visit local water and amusement parks, visit science or history museums, and join free events, fairs, and festivals. There are plenty of sports and other outdoor recreational activities to try, be it canoeing, kayaking, tennis, or handball. Another idea is to sign up for a class or course to master some new skill. Depending on where you live, you can take a creative writing course, yoga class, or cooking class. This is also a good time to try a new hobby such as woodworking, sewing, candle making, or ice skating.

Go Camping

Going camping is also a way to spend time together and escape from your daily routine. Just pick a campsite and pack essentials such as utensils and cookware, navigational tools, personal items, sleeping bag, tent, folding chairs, and other camp essentials. Don’t forget to bring entertainment items to maximize fun and spend quality time together. Pack things such as kayaking or biking gear, playing cards, board games, camera, and binoculars.

When choosing a camping site, there are two options to look into – free and private. If your budget is tight, you are probably looking for a public campground where you don’t have to pay a fee. On the downside, public campgrounds may lack cooking facilities, bathrooms, and hookups. If you are more of an adventurous type, however, you may actually enjoy it. Look for areas that are designated as Crown Land. Remember that you are allowed to stay up to 21 days at the site that you choose, and then you have to move your camping equipment and gear at least 100 meters away from where you stayed.

There are plenty of camping sites in Canada’s national parks but you will have to pay a fee. These include the Berg Lake Campground in the Mount Robson Provincial Park, Main Campground in the Alice Lake Provincial Park, and Point Campground in the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Recreational activities abound, from fishing, hiking, and bicycling to swimming and canoeing.

Rent a Cottage for the Weekend

Renting a cottage is also a good idea when money is tight. One option is to rent off-season and not in peak months such as August and July. Many people rent via popular platforms such as CanadaStays and Airbnb, but it pays to contact owners directly and inquire about prices and availability. A third idea is to join a mailing list and check for special offers. Many rental agencies feature such lists and offer good deals on new properties, and it always pays to check for last minute deals.

Staying at new resorts and hotels is another way to save money when going on vacation. Look for newly renovated and constructed resorts and hotels that offer deals to attract customers.

Budgeting for Vacation Expenses

There are other things to do before going on vacation, including budgeting for costs such as public transportation, rental car fees, gas, and train and airfare tickets. Some travel expenses are easy to miss when planning a vacation, for example, vaccinations, foreign transaction fees, emergency expenses, and mobile phone charges. If you already have attractions on your must-see list, you may want to budget for tickets and passes for concerts, museums, and attractions. How much it will cost you to go on vacation also depends on the destination, whether you are staying at a hotel or campsite, whether you are eating out or packing your own food, and other factors. Other travel expenses to include in your budget are exchange rates, travel insurance, visa costs, baggage fees, and onboard food and beverage purchases.

If you are unsure how much it will cost you, you may use a vacation calculator to create a travel budget. You just need to enter details such as number of children and adults, number of travel days and lodging, number of fun days, and amount of money saved for the trip. You also need to enter details such as number of miles, cost per gallon, and your car’s miles per gallon rating. If you are travelling abroad, you can use a calculator that displays travel costs at your destination of choice.

Final Words

Going on vacation on a tight budget may look like a challenge but there are plenty of ways to save money to get the most out of your journey. Creating a spending plan and cutting down on expenses will help you to set money aside and see how much you can save to go on vacation. If money is tight, a staycation, long weekend in a cottage, or going camping are ways to spend quality time and enjoy life. Going on vacation is a good way to take a break from daily routine, stress, and work and family responsibilities. A summer vacation not only helps prevent burnout but also helps connect with your inner self. It is also something to look forward to, offering ample opportunities to meet new people, make new friends, and just have fun, relax, travel, explore new places, and try new things. Whether you are going on vacation or taking a city break, spending time away from home will boost your energy so that you return to the office refueled and with a smile.

Top 5 Canadian Travel Credit Cards

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Credit cards with travel perks are truly the best. You can benefit from these if you enjoy traveling, are a frequent flyer, love getting a bargain on something, bonus hunter, or all of the above. Subscribing to one of the best credit cards in Canada will save you a lot of money on airplane tickets, travel insurance, luggage claims, and many other similar things.

Consumers often evaluate credit cards rewards programs based on value offered per point. A good way to measure is to check how may air miles or associated perks each dollar you spend on the card gets you. While value points are important, it’s also important to consider other factors. For example, the annual fee should not cancel out the rewards you earn per point.

The cost per reward should also match the rewards on offer. Once all the fees have been considered, the credit card should offer a number of perks such as insurance coverage, low foreign transaction fees, travel opportunities, and so on. Travel credit cards that combine the best cost per reward with an increased number of perks are the best to subscribe to.

Here is a list of five of travel credit cards in Canada that offer the best value as described above:

1.     American Express® Gold Rewards Card    amex-goldrewards

Amex Gold is really the gold standard for travel credit cards in Canada. Points earned can be used for any travel-related purchase either online or offline. In some cases, you can convert points to frequent flyer programs. The welcome bonus is 25,000. For purchases made for $1,500 or above during the first three months, members get rewards points that can convert to close to $550. The annual fee for the first year is automatically waived, which will save you $150.

The biggest advantage with this card is that you can double your points easily by spending money at gas stations, grocery stores, and pharmacies. Plus, travel-related expenses incurred for road, air, rail, or water transport also counts. In some cases, lodging and tour operator charges paid with the card can earn you points.

An Amex point is equivalent to one cent. That makes the base rewards rate 1% and the bonus rate 2%. These rates can be increased by transferring points to Aeroplan. You will earn points for booking a flight, renting a hotel room, or hiring a rental car. Then, these earned points can be redeemed at full value to pay off any travel expense that shows up on the statement plus taxes and service charges. No extra charges incur when you transfer points for Aeroplan or British Airways AVIOS program.

2.     TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Card

This is an excellent card to start collecting Air Miles with. You don’t have to pay any annual fees for the first year of use and you will receive a welcome bonus of 30,000 miles. You will earn 15,000 miles with the first purchase you make using the card. If you keep the card active for 90 days following approval, you receive 10,000 miles more. You can receive 5,000 miles per authorized card user you add. For the first year, the primary cardholder can get an annual rebate of $120. This is a lot of incentive just for signing up.

Stack up 25,000 points on the TD card and that will be enough to fly from Canada to any city in the United States or Mexico. Each air mile you receive using this card will amount to roughly 1.28 cents per mile for economy tickets. For business class, it would amount to about 2.2 cents per mile. This is definitely a bargain. Earning mile points is not that difficult. The card offers an extra 1.5 points per dollar spent buying gas, groceries, or pharmaceutical items. At this amount, your earn rate will be at about 3.3%.

There are many other cherries on top of this cake, including coverage for travel insurance, trip cancellations, baggage rental, car rental, and flight interruptions, among others.

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3.     MBNA Rewards World Elite MasterCard®mbna-elite_en

There are many incentives offered for signing up, including a sign in bonus of up to $100 and a waiver for first year annual fee. This card does not have a minimum spending requirement. Everything earns a 2% reward rate. This card allows users to redeem cash credit points for anything, which includes your travel-related expenses.

MBNA offers 2 points per dollar spend on all purchases, which is a solid advantage this card has over the others. There are no cap limits on how many points you can earn either. If you are a frequent flyer, you can redeem points for anything travel related. Keep in mind that points can be redeemed against any purchase regardless of whether it’s travel related. So, if you only fly periodically or once every two or three years, this is the best travel credit card to have.

4.     Rogers™ Platinum MasterCard®rogershome-credit-card

Most travel credit cards have a downside: hefty foreign transaction fees. Rogers is actually one of the few travel credit cards to subsidize transaction fees incurred overseas. You can earn a whopping 4% cash back on any foreign purchase. The rewards rate for all other purchases is 1.75%. Points can be redeemed regardless of the type of expense.

There’s no annual fee during the first year, and you will receive a $25 welcoming bonus. Cash rewards can be redeemed once annually, which will include travel expenses. It’s possible to not pay any annual fee at all by pre-authorizing payments. Also keep in mind that Rogers offers one of the best travel insurance policies in Canada with this card.

5.     Desjardins Visa Odyssey Golddesj-odyssee

The travel credit cards mentioned above on this list require hefty monthly income levels. Desjardins travel credit card is one of the most egalitarian offered in Canada. You can get approval without earning a six-figure salary.

This card comes with a solid travel medical insurance policy that will cover you and your family for 60 days straight when out of your province. This is a significantly longer coverage period than the industry average. Also, the policy covers up to $5 million in claims in comparison to others that offer only one or two million. In addition to insurance, there’s car rental, lost baggage, baggage rental, trip delay, flight cancellation, purchase protection, and accident coverage as well.

So, if you are on the hunt for a really good travel credit card, choose one from the above list for the best perks and consumer options.