How to Save Money on Your Next Holiday

Saving money when on holiday is of paramount importance, particularly when traveling on a budget. But figuring how to do this can be a daunting and sometimes almost impossible. You definitely need someone to advise you on workable travel tips and tricks on how to save money while traveling—advise on how and where to get the best deals.

Here are seven tips that will help you meet your savings goals.

1. Do all your shopping online

You will need many new items for your trip. Vacation clothes are some of the most important items. Before embarking on your journey, therefore, it is important that you do some online shopping in order to take advantage of the many great deals and discounts that online shops for clothes and other fashion items. If you have scheduled some sort of important meeting during you stay, make sure to buy the suit you need and go well prepared. There are multiple online stores that offer these kinds of clothes and they have available shipping options in every destination around the world.

Shopping online also helps you save by providing you with price comparison tools that enable you to effortlessly find the best value for your money. And before buying anything, you can always check out the online reviews so as to get a clear understanding of the quality and durability of the item you intend to buy. Lastly, online stores have seamless return policies so you will be able to get a replacement in case you dislike the items delivered to you. That eliminates the need for an extra shopping budget.

2. Have a budget

A firm budget will prevent you from overspending. Ensure that you set a hard upper-limit and, even when tempted to buy an item you don’t need, vow not to exceed that limit. Of course, your budget needs to be flexible enough to accommodate unforeseen emergencies, but it should prioritize the key requirements for your trip. Things such as accommodation, food, sightseeing, and transportation should take the lion's share of the budget, with the incidental costs taking as a minimal percentage as possible.

3. Book a vacation rental

A vacation rental will significantly reduce your accommodation costs. It gives you a complete house—several bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a garden. Some vacation rentals are actually nicer than your family home and they are in close proximity to the attraction sites you’ll be visiting. The good news is that these rentals are cheaper than hotel rooms, which makes them unimaginably cheap when you are vacationing with your family. When you visit Florida, for example, you can easily find a vacation rental that has five star amenities such as a hot-water bath and a swimming pool.

4. Eat out less

The more you eat, the bigger your feeding budget will be. A single dinner at a fancy tourist restaurant will cost you $100 or more per head. If you have a family of five, that is over $500 in one sitting. If, on the other hand, you buy your own groceries and other food items and you prep them in your vacation rental’s kitchen, you will save more than half of that money. You can commit to eating out only twice or thrice for the entire holiday. You know, just to have the culinary experience of your host city. However, when you go back on your house, you can always make changes in your kitchen, that maybe these vacation rental’s kitchen have inspire you.

5. Use public transportation

Public transportation is both safer and cheaper for tourists. Most developed economies have impeccable public transit systems that can help you cut down on your commuting costs without compromising your convenience or safety. If you factor in the cost of gas, parking fees, car maintenance, and other expenses that come with renting a car, you will see a lot of sense in using public transportation

6. Travel in the off season

Traveling in Europe during summer can be very expensive, the same as traveling in the Caribbean during winter. These are peak seasons and everyone is scrabbling for air tickets and accommodation. If you want to save your money and at the same time avoid the madness that comes with overcrowding, just plan your trip during the off season. The quiet and slow seasons can help you save more than 50% of your budget. Don’t be surprised if you find a four or five star hotel offering accommodation services for as little as $1,000 per night, down from $3,000 per night during peak seasons.

7. Fly cheap

There are many budget airlines that will offer incredibly good flying deals. You just need to know where to find them. The only disadvantage you will have to deal with when flying a budget airline is that most of them fly into small airports on the outskirts of major cities, which can necessitate expensive taxi rides back to the city. It is, therefore, important to pre-book an airport transfer with a reliable airport transport company to ensure seamless movement to and from the airport. If you can manage to carry your own food and snacks (most budget airlines allow it), you will eliminate the need for overpriced meals on the plane. Also, avoid excess luggage as that might increase your ticket costs.