The next section in my Vacation Binder is dedicated to Personal Information and Budget.
Personal Information
One year, when I was on vacation, I lost my credit card. I was at a restaurant and we looked all over but couldn’t find it. I hadn’t written down the phone numbers for my credit cards and at the time had no way of calling and reporting it missing. When I got back to the hotel, I was able to look up the number and have a new card sent to me. Fortunately, there were not any unwanted charges!
Now, when I travel, I keep a list certain personal information such as credit card phone numbers, insurance information and contacts. I type a list and keep it in my Vacation Binder. Here is what I include:
- Credit Card Toll Free Numbers
- Health and Car Information and Telephone Numbers
- Cell Phone Carrier Customer Service Numbers
- Phone Number of Neighbors, Pet Service, etc.
Budget
Too often we don’t worry about how much we spend on vacation until we get the credit card bills! Unfortunately, this can led to unwanted stress and financial worry. Preparing a Vacation Budget can help alleviate this stress and keep the costs of a vacation at a reasonable amount. I try and keep my budget simple. First, I put down all the big expenses, including airfare, car rental, hotels and amusement park tickets. Then I total just this section. This gives me an idea of what I will be spending at a MINIMUM. Next, I decided what I want to spend on top of that for food, entertainment, shopping, etc. I break this down to a daily spending amount. For instance, if I am going to be on vacation for one week and I don’t want to spend more than $1,000 on the “extras” than I know that I have about $142.00 to spend each day. I then make a budget sheet for this extra spending. At the top I have three columns: Item, Amount and Total. In the first column I try to keep track of the items that I buy. In the second column, I right the amount. In the third column, I keep a total so by the end of the day, I know if I have exceeded my spending limit or are below the limit. Any money not used is carried over to the next day. I usually know ahead of time if I am going to spend more money on certain days due to different activities. This allows me to spend less other days. Here is an example:
You can see how each date’s budget changes as the costs are subtracted and the new daily budget amount is added. This simple budget will give you a basic idea of how your money is being spent. If you would like a copy of this document, you can download it here: travel-splash-budget.
If you like online tools, BudgetYourTrip.com is a great tool that can help you budget your entire vacation. Signup is free and you can even browse other user’s budgets to give you an idea of the costs of different vacations.
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