Tips on travel budget planning

Note: This is an excerpt from my article on How To Plan A Perfect Vacation ?


1.  Start the travel budget planning at least two and half months before the travel. It gives plenty of time for you to choose the hotel, the mode of transport and leave with enough time to play around with different choices.

2. Start with a rough upper limit of money that you think you are going to spend.

3.  Pick up your itinerary and add a “cost” entry against each item in the itinerary. For all the items you may not get the exact cost, so do some approximations.

4.   Look up the cost for hotel accommodation in your destination and pick a price range which is  suitable for you. Enter this amount in the budget.  The hotel expenses vary from city to city so you cannot blindly put a figure without looking up at the price range.

5. Make a decision about the mode of transport. Is it by flight, train, bus or car? Once the decision is made, look up the cost and add it to the budget. You might need to change the mode of transport depending on the time and money constraints.

6. Set aside the money you are going to spend on shopping and stick to it. Don’t let your shopping eat into your travel budget.

7. While traveling don’t be too stingy or try to save money in every possible way. However, spend money for experiences rather than things. Don’t miss that speed boat riding that you were dreaming about just because it is bit too costly.

8. If you are planning to book flight tickets, choose a day or two before the main holiday starts. The flight charge would be cheaper compared to the holiday.

9. Always try to book the travel tickets in such a way that you reach your destination around the hotel check in time and leave also around the check-in time. It would help you avoid paying for an extra day, while all you use is few hours.

10.  During the travel, note down the money that you spend on each day. Calculate the total expenses after the journey and compare it with your budget.  It would help in the budget planning for the next trip.