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In this post, I’m going to dive into my favorite tips for how to save money for vacation on a tight budget.

When we had a newborn in the house, I often dreamed about hot sand, ocean waves, and salty air. Unfortunately, with four kids we don’t get to the beach nearly as much as I want even now.

I can’t wait for our kids to get older so we can start taking a beach vacation every year! Do me a favor, and take a vacation for me!

Here are tips on how to save money for vacation on a tight budget.

How to save money for vacation on a tight budget

There are affiliate links in this post, this means if you click on a link, I might receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

Open a vacation savings account

If you have the perfect vacation spot picked out already, set-up an online savings account that gets you a higher percentage rate.

Let the interest rate work for you while you are saving! Also, you’ll be less tempted to touch the money. Don’t withdraw any funds until you’ve reached your savings goal. If you go to Bankrate.com you can find different savings accounts with their interest rates.

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Get ready to flash your cash

If it’s too tempting to dip into a savings account, save up cash instead. You can track your savings goals with the Budget Binder Starter pack.

Tips for stocking up cash:

• Keep your loose change in a vacation shadow box
• Take out $20 in cash each month and add it to your stock pile
• Sell stuff you don’t use anymore online and put the earnings in the box
• Get a side hustle and make a little extra cash
• Go through old baby clothes and sell a grocery bag full for $20 a bag

Set it, forget it, & let it grow

Once you’ve opened an account to save money in for vacation, then set-up an auto transfer at the beginning of each paycheck. Set it. Forget it. And let it grow. Don’t look at it for a few months and admire all your hard work.

Earn Credit Card Points

I don’t dive deep into this, but this is a travel hack we have used for years. Once we got all of our spending under control, we started using our credit card to buy everything. We earned points through our regular purchases, and we are able to get many perks and travel points throughout the year. I won’t dive into this too much but there are a ton of free resources out there.

Personally, we love the Chase Sapphire Rewards card because they have the best travel benefits that transfer to many different brands, in my opinion. It’s definitely worth doing your own research, of course! If you use my referral link, I will get bonus points so I appreciate your help.

Sacrifice Chipotle

You save so much money by not eating out. Find some new recipes to make on All Recipes and eat-in. I saved so much money when I started bringing my lunch everyday to work rather than ordering Jimmy Johns once a week. You can sacrifice that Chipotle if you keep in mind how great it will feel to lay on the beach in financial peace!

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Make your money work for you

This is the secret to stop living paycheck to paycheck. I’ve already mentioned that you should open a savings account just to save money for vacation. That savings account is earning interest and paying YOU rather than you paying interest on a credit card that is carrying a balance.

If you always pay your credit cards every month, think about getting a travel credit card or high rewards card. Again, make your hard earned money work for you.

Your regular spending habits could earn you benefits on these high reward cards. Financial experts don’t recommend this if you have trouble paying off your credit cards every month though. Know yourself!

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We love the American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card. You earn 6% back on all groceries, 3% back for gas, and 1% back on everything else. If you sign-up using my link and you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months, you get a $250 credit. We love to buy gift cards at the grocery store for both 6% back and 4x fuel points at our local Kroger. Apply today and make your money work for you.

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Skip the drinks

A quick tip that saves a lot of money when eating out is to skip the drinks. Drinks cost $2-$3 for a soda and upwards of $5 or more at fancy coffee shops. If you need a soda, buy some in bulk from the grocery store and make your coffee at home.

Use the library

I LOVE to read. But I typically don’t read books more than once. I’ve taken to looking for books at our local library. I also use their FREE service with my library card to listen to audio books on the Hoopla app. See if your library offers this service too!

Live below your means

I love this article from Money Crashers. It talks about 25 tips to save money on utilities, groceries, activities, and entertainment, car and transportation, eating out, clothing.

These are great ways to save money for a vacation on a tight budget. But the biggest mentality to remember is to live below your means.

Find the margin in your budget and don’t spend all the money that comes in each month. The best way to do this is by keeping track of your budget.

Set-up a Budget

If you have no idea where your money is going every month, then the first place to start is setting up a budget.

But you already knew that. So what’s getting in the way?

Too much time to set-up a budget?

Too hard to stick to a budget?

Don’t like the idea of “restricting” what you buy?

I know. I’ve been there, mama! But here’s the thing. You can have sooooo much more financial freedom with just a simple budget worksheet.

I’ve done most of the work for you on this Budget Binder Starter Pack. Now, all you have to do is grab it!

The blank budget worksheet printables and Excel spreadsheets will have you budgeting like a pro in no time.

You won’t be “restricting” your buying but rather meeting savings goals like that trip to Disney Land you want to take next year!

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