Good Evening! Today was a very successful Saturday for me (look at my last post!). I’m winding down my work week tomorrow and I’m looking forward to some downtime. Never fear, I’m laying the groundwork for some of my 2015 goals for all of you to see!
2015 Money Goal Plan of Action #2
One of my goals this year was:
- Pay for my spring weeklong vacation in cash (a.k.a. no credit cards allowed)
Right now, I’m thinking this will be pretty simple. I was able to do this last year, so it’s a repeat goal. I’m expecting the following numbers to fall into line just like last year. So, I’ll lay it out:
- Earmark a percentage of tax refund into travel account: If my refund is pretty equal to what it was last year, this puts me well on my way to be prepared for this trip. Please note that I said A PERCENTAGE of my refund for the trip, I will also save some of my tax refund. Once I actually DO my taxes, I’ll be able to pinpoint the exact percentages. I won’t go *too* crazy.
- Deposit my yearly bonus into travel account: Again, pending no changes from last year’s amount, I’m fairly certain this will be a sure thing. Cross your fingers! 🙂
- Earmarking side gig profits: One of my side gigs will start back up again on February 1 (maybe sooner, but we’ll see) and I’m planning to set aside 1/3 of the profits from that. The other 2/3 will go to tax and savings.
- Deposit birthday money: Yes, my birthday falls right before my trip. I always ask for cash instead of gifts, so naturally, this will all go into the travel account.
- Traveling as frugally as possible: Now that I’ve listed WHERE the funds will come from, I also plan to stretch that money as far as possible. I was very lucky with some of the following items on this list last year and I’m hoping I’ll be able to do the same this year:
- Taking the cheapest flight and packing only one bag to avoid fees.
- Staying on my best friend’s couch and not paying for a hotel (but I will leave a thank you gift).
- Using some of my professional affiliations for free admittance to events and popular attractions (which often includes meals & drinks).
- Using Groupon/Living Social/Amazon Local to my advantage early.
- Walking & public transportation.
- Since I’m staying in someone’s home, it’s easy for me to make a grocery store run for a few light meal staples so that I don’t have to overspend on food while I’m traveling.
Just posting all of these ideas gets me all giggly! I’m very excited to take my trip in April and I’m definitely excited to NOT go into debt for it!
What are your favorite frugal traveling tips – particularly in large cities?
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