How to plan your travel finances?

Planning a vacation or an outing, more often than not is a frantic task. It becomes a bit hectic, especially when you are stapled with a tight budget. Planning and controlling your travel finance can be an easy task if you are well prepared and supplied by apt instructions along with some useful tips. Here’s some useful advice that can help you plan your travel outing within your desired budget.

Select a destination:

Deciding the destination can be very confusing as people aren’t always sure of where they would like to go. The only answer to this confusion can be a good research. Read about your preferred destination as much as you can. It will not only help you in deciding your destination, but also will help you understand it better.

Plan your transportation:

Decide how you are going to get to the desired destination. Look for all the available options online. Compare fares to choose the best suitable and available option that fits within your budget. Keep an account of all the possible travelling expenses including bus and cab fares.

Unexpected sundry costs & expenses:

Unexpected travel costs such as toll fares, snacks, newspapers, shopping etc. may seem little, but can easily swell up your decided budget. Estimating, deciding and spending wisely can save you a lot of money.

Hotel Bookings:

Hotels can be booked through –

Travel Agent - Most of the Indians residing in towns and small villages prefer travel agents. Travel agents can be easily reachable and provides a sense of security in the mind of the people. They may also charge you more than the expected cost to improve their profit margins.
Hotel Websites - An easy, but an inconvenient way of booking hotels. A hotel website can offer best prices, but many hotels don’t have a website or don't maintain their websites. There is a chance of false booking or no booking in majority of the cases.
Call Centers - The recent boom of call centers has seen an increased populace indulging in on call bookings. On call bookings are great, given you are clear about your travel and have decided where you are going to stay.
Online Booking - The majority of the urban population depends on the online booking portals or Ecommerce websites. Online hotel booking portals are convenient and easy to use. You can also get a good amount of information, reads, reviews on these websites. You might also get great discounts and offers on these portals which can reduce your overall cost significantly.

Planning Meals:

Accommodation with meals: Booking a hotel which offers you accommodation with meal deals can be budget friendly. For eg. A room for two with breakfast and dinner. Such offers help you save on your food cost and reduce your overall spending.
Fixed food budget: Plan your meals and decide on your food budget. This practice will help you keep a check on your expenses.

Advanced bookings = savings

Last minute deals are expensive, so one must try and book his/her travel in advance.
Search for festive offers and deals like New Year deals, Diwali Offers, Holi discounts etc. Such festive deals offer massive discounts and can save you a lot of money.

Unexpected expenses

An emergency budget is a small amount of money for unseen and unexpected accidents and events.
Emergency funds can bail you out from unexpected events such as Accidents, Vehicle breakdown etc.

Keeping a check on Expenses

Prepare Trip Budget: Prepare a trip budget in advance and spend accordingly.
Keep Accounts: If you can, note down all the expenses you make when on a trip or a getaway.
Comparing costs: Compare your real cost with your expected cost. This can be helpful for future references as you get an idea of your total overall expenditure.

Planning finance for a trip requires a good amount of patience and dedication. One must always remember to stick by their plans for achieving the desired result. Keeping a tab on your expenses is never easy, especially when you are travelling to an unknown location. The above mentioned tips can help you plan an enjoyable trip without overspending.

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