It is that time of year again when we begin to plan for our summer holidays, whether abroad or in our home countries. These are the fun times in life that will create all those memories you will hold so dear for the years to come.
However, in this age of austerity, they can easily come in over budget as we get carried away with the perfect holiday dream.
So, to make sure that your holiday is perfect and within budget, here are some top tips for planning the perfect family holiday.
Start by becoming ‘one’ with your finances.
More and more of us are turning to credit in order to finance our holidays. As long as you are careful then this is a valid option for you, but caution must be taken to make sure that you don’t run into trouble. To begin with, you need to know how your credit history is looking and whether there are any red flags raised. Obtaining a copy of your free credit score is easy to do and it will give you more than a preview of your credit, but a full walk through of your finances. Once you have all the information, you can make an informed choice about your finances for the future.
Do your research.
You may have picked the perfect location for your family holiday, but this may take up the majority of your budget. This is where you are going to have to do your homework to make sure that you can still have the holiday of your dreams.
Look for hotels that are slightly out of the centre of where you will be staying or local restaurants that offer you more for your money. Before you book anything there are two things you will need to know; firstly, you need the exchange rate for your chosen country; this will help you plan a daily holiday budget. Secondly, you will need access to the internet to begin hunting down those hidden treasures.
Self Catering or All Inclusive?
One of the most expensive parts to any holiday is the eating out. You will need to feed your family 3 times a day, which can be a very expensive feat wherever you go.
There are two options that make this slightly cheaper to do and can be more fun, starting with self-catering, which is ever growing in popularity.
The main issue with self-catering is that many of us simply don’t want to cook whilst on holiday, but consider the fact that shopping in the supermarket for a week’s holiday will cost you far less than eating out three times a day. Maybe by choosing self catering you can eat out once a day, or have a couple of special meals in a restaurant. Either way you will be saving money.
The other option is to choose an all inclusive holiday. You will be paying for all/some of your meals when you book your hotel and this sometimes includes kids clubs and entertainment. This is also worth looking into as it can give you some alone time from the kids to read a book or spend quality time with your spouse.
Most importantly, don’t forget to have fun.
Once you have your budget in place, you have picked a location and you are ready to go, then please remember to have fun. If you want to spend a bit more of your budget on a day trip to a theme park, then why not? All you will need to do is make sure that you save money from the days before it to cover the cost.
