Who’s ready for summer to get here so we can go on vacation? Have you been dreaming of where you will go this year? Listen, do not go in debt and spend 10 years paying off that vacation! Let me share with you 7 Genius Ways to Save Money for Vacation! You cannot believe all the ways you can save and you will be successful if you try these! Pick what will work best for you and go for it!
7 Genius Ways to Save Money for Vacation
I am all about making memories with my family! My hope is that we will always look back at our lives and remember all the laughs we shared, all the memories we made, and all the adventures we pursued! Making the most of the vacation is really important to me and I know it is for you! So here are some great ways to save money for vacation!
1.) Have a Garage Sale and Put All the Earnings into Your Vacation Fund
You can make this a lot of fun for the whole family! Encourage everyone to go through their things and pick out items they would like to contribute to the garage sale! I honestly believe they will enjoy the vacation knowing they helped raise money for the trip! Plus, it helps to get rid of extra toys they aren’t playing with anymore!
How to Make Money at Your Garage Sale
So you have decided to have a garage sale? Let’s make sure that you are ready to make the most money and have the best vacation! Here are some ideas that will help you make the most and get the kids involved!
- Consider asking your neighbors, family and friends if they want to join you and have a multi-family yard sale! Think about it, you are more likely to stop if you see a lot of items for sale and foot traffic is what you are wanting!
- You need to advertise to the people in your community that you are having a garage sale! Post it on Facebook, Nextdoor app, or Craigslist! Also, make sure you put out signs around your neighborhood!
- Be organized and ready to go with your items! Put all the toys in one area, an area for clothes, the sporting goods in another. Go and interact with people.
- One really smart idea is to accept cash or credit! Use a PayPal or Venmo app to be able to accept debit/credit cards! You will also want cash on hand to make change!
- Don’t forget to get the kids involved during the garage sale! Let them serve snacks or have a lemonade stand! They will love it and there’s potential to make extra money!
- Now take all the money you make from the Garage Sale and put it towards your vacation!
2.) Start a Vacation savings account with Credit Karma & earn interest
I know that you probably have a savings account but it’s good to shop it around and check interest rates! There is a good chance that you can move your money to a different account and make more interest! Go get a savings account if you don’t have one! You might want to check out my suggestions for the best high-interest savings accounts online!
If you are not familiar with Credit Karma, they are an online personal-finance platform that offers a number of credit monitoring services! They offer you free access to your credit report and even your credit score. But they also offer more than just credit monitoring!
Here’s what I love about saving with Credit Karma!
- I love that I can open an account online and manage that account through the Credit Karma app! I do everything online so this is a must for me!
- They do not have any fees! Your account is 100% free no matter the balance and there is no minimum to open! That’s not the case with every bank.
- Credit Karma currently boasts 1.80% APY that is well above the national average!
- I opened a savings account using Credit Karma and it literally took less than 3 minutes! It was ready for me to transfer money into my savings and start earning interest faster than it takes me to scroll through Instagram!
3.) Invest Your Spare Change with Acorn
Some of you may remember when we would put all our spare change in an empty 5-gallon water jug or a bucket. The idea was all of your spare change from the day could be tossed in the jug and if you collected it over a year you would have saved a few hundred dollars! That is the idea behind Acorn but instead of using a bucket it’s done digitally! Say you are out at a restaurant and the bill is $22.17, with Acorn you can round that up to $23.00 and invest the remaining $0.83!
What makes Acorn so great!
- This is a great way to save for a vacation because it takes what we used to do with spare change but is using our online banking to toss spare change into an account.
- If you are interested in investing that spare change you can do that! You can also add more money each month to the amount that you are investing in! And the fees are really reasonable!
4.) Qapital is a Fun Way to Make Managing Money Easy and Fun!
What’s amazing about living in our time is we have so many options! Saving money does not have to be hard, it just requires that you be intentional about what you are doing. That is what Qapital is doing. They are helping people save, spend, and invest with your goals in mind! “By blending behavioral psychology with technology, Qapital provides people with the tools they need to make managing money easy and fun.”
Here are some of the best parts of Qapital
- They let you name the reason you are saving and then watch as that fund grows! Think of it as a game and the prize is your vacation! You will watch and interact as the fund grows.
- Qapital helps you get to your goal faster with Goals and Rules, two clever ways to supercharge your saving with little effort.
- You can team up with others to reach joint goals! If you are going on vacation with your sister and her family then you can both contribute to the vacation fund!
5.) You Should Try a No Spend Challenge Week!
This one is fun and simple to do! The whole family can get involved and cheer each other on! Basically you take the amount of money you would typically spend on eating out, groceries, etc out of the bank in cash. Similar to the envelope system. Then you try to spend as little as possible on those things than you would normally spend. Then you take the leftover amount and put it in your vacation fund! This can become addictive and competitive within your family! Members can compete to see how much they were able to save!
6.) Take a Side Gig to Save for Vacation
It has become a lot easier to find a Side Gig! We found 7 ways stay at home moms can earn extra money while the kids are in school that will help you think through side job opportunity! Some of the top ways to earn extra money are to shop and deliver groceries through apps like Shipt or Instacart. You can start ironing people’s clothes and earn money. You can do it cheaper than the dry cleaner and there are a lot of people looking for ways to save time by not having to iron clothes. Dad can take a side gig by mowing lawns. If he can mow 3-5 a week there is potential to earn an extra$500-800/a month!
7.) You Have to Get a Budget!
Do you have a family budget? If you don’t have a budget then you MUST get one! You will be shocked at where your money is going and with a budget, you can start putting money that you already have into your vacation fund! There are several apps that you can use to start budgeting but the EveryDollar app is one that a lot of people like! Again, budgeting is not hard, you just have to be intentional about doing it!
Here is why I really love the EveryDollar app!
- The EveryDollar app is free to use and really easy to navigate!
- Once you have the app, you will add your monthly income. What do you expect to make this month?
- Next, you will plan your expenses! They will provide you with a customizable template for budgeting your monthly expenses.
- EveryDollar will help you follow a plan. Each time you spend money, you will create a transaction and track it to your budget!
- You will be able to sync across devices so that you are budgeting from your desktop or phone. That way your budget is always up to date!
These are 7 Genius Ways to Save Money for Vacation but there are so many more ways to save! What are some of the best ways that you have used to save? Leave a comment and let me know!