Financial planners recommend saving for a vacation before you need it, but many people still don’t have the extra money. A financial advisor explains how cutting these monthly expenses could pay for a family trip or retirement.
The “average cost of holiday for family of 4” is a number that can help you plan your vacation. It will also show you how much money it would take to pay for the trip.
There’s the family trip that we’ve all been fantasizing about. But how can you afford it with sky-high daycare fees, rising petrol prices, rising food costs, and a never-ending pile of bills? What if I told you that a family trip to the beach or another place might be within your grasp by making just three simple adjustments to your daily spending habits? This is the path to take.
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We’re talking about a significant sum of money here.
The average cost of a four-person family vacation in the United States is $4,580. While that four-figure sum may seem out of reach, you can really save that much money — and more — by making just three modifications to your monthly spending. A ideal family trip to Maui is closer than you think if you apply mindful spending to just three areas of your life.
And, although I’ll be using typical spending estimates throughout this piece, I want to show you with actual statistics that you can find money for a family holiday in your existing budget. It’s all about cutting down on these three expenses so you can put money toward a much-needed family trip.
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Three main areas of interest
I understand. It’s no fun eliminating all the joy from your everyday life and trying 50 life adjustments in order to afford a one-week vacation. Selling your automobile or relocating to a lower-cost-of-living place is also unrealistic. And the truth is that you don’t need to make such drastic life adjustments in order to visit the destinations you wish to see. You may save $4,580 – and more – by making simple adjustments in three areas of expenditure.
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How to Afford a Family Vacation on $5,856 of Your Own Money
In America, the average monthly expenditure for a family of four is $7,095, or $85,139 a year. That implies a $4,580 trip would account for 5% of a family’s yearly budget. So, by concentrating on altering three recurrent costs, you can really save $5,856 for a family trip that won’t leave you feeling deprived the rest of the year.
While many publications recommend that individuals start side businesses or find other methods to supplement their income, this isn’t feasible for everyone. In this post, I’ll teach you how to take a family trip using the money you already have. I’ve also done the arithmetic to illustrate how effective certain expenditure swaps may be over the course of 356 days!
While your numbers may vary, the notion of clever buying and attentive spending is the same effective tool you can use to save money on the things you currently make.
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1. Shop for groceries at a different supermarket to save $3,207 each year.
It should come as no surprise that one of the top three costs for every family is food (with housing and transportation being the other two). Americans spend a lot of money on meals at home, whether they have hungry adolescents or smaller children.
A family of four with two preschool-aged children spends roughly $890 per month, or $10,680 per year, on food at home, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, while families with older children spend $1,062 per month, or $12,744 per year.
You don’t need to go back to a college diet of ramen and PB&Js to afford a Mexico beach vacation. It can be as simple as buying your food at a different store.
Switching from a largely private-label shop (Aldi or Lidl) or Walmart Grocery to a primarily private-label store (Aldi or Lidl) or Walmart Grocery will save you a lot of money… thousands of dollars! In reality:
- According to a research by Cheapism, Aldi is the cheapest grocery store in America, saving you 42 percent on your shopping cost.
- If you’re currently purchasing the generic brand at your current grocery shop, moving to Aldi will save you 20% on your food cost.
- Yes, there are claims that by just changing your grocery store, you may save anywhere from $2,548 to $5,352 per year by shopping at Aldi.
- While there are now over 2,000 Aldi shops across 36 states, if you don’t live near one, you can still save a lot of money by shopping for food at Walmart, which is now the country’s largest grocery retailer.
- According to a research, shopping for food at Walmart may save customers 13.5 percent on their yearly grocery spend, or $1,720 over the course of a year.
Given that the majority of individuals will fall somewhere in the center of these three alternatives, the average yearly savings from these three options is $3,207 on your food expenditure.
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2. Switch from cable to streaming to save $1,409 per year.
It’s time to ditch cable in favor of more cost-effective streaming TV and movie options.
The average cable cost in America is $217.42 per month, or $2,609.04 per year, according to DecisionData.org. If you were charitable and decreased your TV budget to $100 each month, you’d save an average of $117.42 every month, or $1,409.04 per year. To give you an idea of how far $100 a month can go you, you could have Hulu with Live TV and a Netflix subscription for $100 a month. Not bad at all!
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3. Look for more cost-effective entertainment to save $1,240 each year.
While the epidemic has been unpleasant in many ways, it has also reminded us that there are many other ways to enjoy fun. And many of them are either free or extremely low-cost!
According to a recent Harris Poll poll, 82 percent of Americans understand that having a good time does not need spending money. Their financial accounts grew as a result.
The typical American family spends $2,482 on entertainment each year. A family of four will spend $50 on AMC movie tickets alone, not including snacks or drinks!
I’m not saying you shouldn’t have fun, but reducing this amount in half might save you $1,240 over the course of a year.
Make a list of free things you’re interested in first, and then go through your list before spending money on entertainment. Whether it’s visiting museums on free days or borrowing entry tickets from your library, travelling to county, state, or regional parks for free outdoor fun, or hosting movie and board game evenings at home, spending quality time with your family doesn’t have to be expensive.
This 50 percent method still leaves you with $1,240 per year for those must-see movies in cinemas, golf rounds at low-cost public golf courses, unique events or concerts that come to town that you don’t want to miss, and family amusement park tickets.
It’s all about being purposeful with your spending and saving for the things that matter the most to you, in my opinion. That would be when Frozen or KidzBopKids came to town at our home!
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The goal is to motivate people.
While I utilized averages to get these figures, I think the purpose of the exercise was to open your eyes. It is feasible to locate funds for your next family holiday in your bank account. It’s about finding methods to spend money on the things that matter to you, in my opinion.
Yes, I care about feeding my family properly, but if I can do it while saving thousands of dollars a year, you can bet I’ll test out a new grocery shop.
Even if you don’t accomplish everything in this post, you may still consider it a triumph if you saved $1,000 for an inexpensive family vacation that you can drive to instead of flying to.
MediaFeed.org syndicated this story, which first published on Planner at Heart.
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The “how much to spend on anniversary trip” is a question that many people ask. The answer depends on the person’s lifestyle and budget, but if you want to save money for vacation, cutting these monthly expenses could pay for a family vacation.
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