How To Save Money on Vacation

Table of Contents

• Save on Airfare
• Avoid expensive roaming fees
• Book Accommodations With a Kitchen
• Explore Street Food
• Pack Snacks
• Travel During the Off Season
• Pack Everything at Home
• Avoid Impulse Buys
• Monitor Exchange Rates

Are you interested in finding out how to save money on your next vacation? Good, because it turns out many people are taking vacations they can't afford. A survey from LearnVest found that 74 percent of people have racked up debt to pay for their vacation. On average, the people in the survey spent $1,108 more than they should have spent. The survey also found that people spend about 10 percent of their annual income on vacations — some people spend 15 percent.

Why fork out more money on a vacation than you should? Splurge now, and you could end up regretting it later. The trick is to both enjoy yourself on vacation and enjoy your savings later on. To this end, here are some great ways to avoid debt and get the most out of your trip.

Save on Airfare

One sure-fire way to spend less on plane tickets is to buy them at the right time. Demand for seats increases as flight-time approaches. But how early should you buy your tickets? According to Rick Seaney from FareCompare, you should buy about 5 months ahead of time for overseas flights and 3 months for domestic ones. If you're planning a holiday flight, buy them as early as possible.

Additionally, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday are less popular fly days, meaning you'll spend less to fly on those days. According to Seaney, you could save anywhere from 10 to 40 percent compared to flights on Monday, Friday, and Sunday. For overseas travel, Monday through Thursday flights cost less.

Even better: the "golden time" to buy tickets is 3 p.m. on Tuesday, EST. By then, airlines have had a chance to check out each other's sale prices, and they adjust their sales to compete. Don't buy tickets as a group — instead, buy them individually. If you buy as a group, the airline will charge you the highest price for all tickets, even if some of the seats are going for a sale price.

Avoid expensive roaming fees

You will likely need to be connected to the internet and use data when you are overseas. Staying connected is staying ahead in today's digital age and world. Whether it's paying your bills on time, or checking on your financial investments, or simply staying connected with your friends and family over social media (after all, you will be posting your trip pictures!), you will need mobile data.

The standard way to stay connected would be to rely on your mobile data. But this can get expensive as roaming charges can stack up to several hundreds and cause an unpleasant surprise when you get back home. But there is a much better way - an eSIM, short for embedded SIM.

If your phone supports an eSIM, you would want to buy an eSIM plan for data usage overseas. You will be surprised at how much money you will save by making this simple choice.

There are numerous differences between physical SIMs and eSIMs, and device support varies, so make sure to do your research so you can make the best possible choices.

Book Accommodations With a Kitchen

Eating out on vacation is a part of the allure, but travelers often take it as a matter of course that they should eat out for every meal.

A vacation rental or a hotel room with a kitchen will help you save on food expenses. If you don't mind cooking some meals, the money you don't spend on expensive restaurants can go toward other activities.

Just how much could you save? According to ValuePenguin, which specializes in financial data, for an international vacation lasting 12 nights you'll spend an average of $378 on restaurant food. To cook your own food, you'll spend $42.

Explore Street Food

Street food is a fantastic, inexpensive meal option while you're on vacation. Street vendors don't have to spend as much on a permanent, brick-and-mortar location, so they're able to pass the savings on to you.

Look for street food near colleges and districts that aren't as touristy. Vendors in tourist districts are notoriously expensive. College kids and city denizens are all about getting the best deals, so the street food vendors nearby have to charge less to compete.

Pack Snacks

There's something about vacationing that gives you an appetite, especially if you're taking a walking tour, visiting museums, or biking around. You'll be tempted to buy random snacks, but it's best for your budget to bring your own. Take granola bars and protein bars, trail mix and dried fruit, or any of your other favorite healthy options. Don't bring junk food — it's nothing but empty calories and will leave you feeling more drained than sustained.

Travel During the Off Season

Every tourist destination has a popular season when the weather's accommodating and the events are popping. Yet the off season can be rewarding for multiple reasons. Plane tickets and lodging will usually cost less. Smaller crowds can mean less wait time. Prices for tourist activities will be lower as businesses compete amidst lessened demand. What's more, weather isn't always predictable. During the off season, you might still experience blue skies and sunshine — without the crowds.

Pack Everything at Home

You can't predict emergencies, but you can plan ahead and pack everything you might need. Items like sunscreen are going to cost a lot more at shops near your hotel than they will at a department store in your hometown. Travel toothpaste, clothing for a variety of weather conditions, cameras and other kinds of travel tech — you know where to find them for low prices at home or on the internet, and they're going to cost more if you buy them on the spot in a tourist town.

Avoid Impulse Buys

Vacation impulse buys often take the form of souvenirs. Instead of buying impulse souvenirs, take pictures. Think about what that impulse item will truly be worth to you once you get home and have no practical use for it. Souvenirs that clutter the shelf and the closet are a waste of space and money.

Put some thought into purchases before you make them. Can you get any actual use out of the item at home? T-shirts, hats and other clothing items often make for good souvenirs because you can use them. Leave the bric-a-brac and tchotchkes for the birds.

Monitor Exchange Rates

You never know when you'll need to send money to a loved one or friend back home while you're on vacation, especially in the event that something unexpected comes up. To do so, you have to pay the exchange rate for a remittance (money transfer), and exchange rates are always changing.

It's wise to monitor remittance exchange rates so you can get the best rate possible. If the money transfer isn't an emergency and you don't need to do it right away, monitoring exchange rates allows you to make the transfer when it's best for your wallet.

Your options for the transfer include wiring it through a financial institution or making an online payment. Online payments adhere to either a fixed or non-fixed (indicative) exchange rate. Sometimes a non-fixed rate can be better because you end up paying less when the transfer is completed, due to market factors. Monitoring the exchange through RemitFinder and getting automatic notifications allows you to take advantage of great rates through trusted financial institutions right when they pop up.

Saving money on your next vacation doesn't have to be excruciating. It's as simple as buying plane tickets at the right time, planning ahead for things you need, going to less touristy areas, and traveling during the off season. If you need to send money home for whatever reason, remember to look for the best exchange rates. Put these simple tips to use, and you're less likely to go into debt while having a blast on your vacation.