Think through your budget before you travel
You don’t want to worry about money when you’re on vacation. Going out to eat, admission to the thermal baths, ice cream on the beach. You don’t want to do without it because it no longer fits into the budget. But in order to spend a really nice holiday, you should always keep in mind how much you want and can spend so that you don’t throw yourself into expenses during the rest of the year.
For this, the budget should be planned before the start of the holiday trip. Flights or train journeys, hotels or holiday apartments have already been paid for in advance, but you should also keep an eye on the running costs during your holiday. A not inconsiderable part of the savings often goes for fuel costs, local activities and food – you don’t treat yourself to anything else. But how do you actually know what part of your total budget you can squander on your vacation?
Save vacation pay with the 50-30-20 rule
The 50-30-20 rule can give you a clue. Here, 50 percent of the monthly income is set aside for fixed costs such as rent, ancillary costs or the internet. 30 percent are at leisure: concerts, cinema, eating out. You can do whatever you want with it for fun money. According to the rule, the remaining 20 percent should be set aside as savings in case things get tight, or used to pay off current debts.
The vacation budget comes from the second pot, in which 30 percent of the income is collected. Anyone who has already made a rough breakdown should see how much of their budget is available as fun money and how much should be spent on the holiday in total. In order to save holiday pay, you can then consider at which points you would otherwise accept savings in your free time. Would you like to go a month without buying clothes and would you rather cook for yourself than eat out regularly? With small restrictions that you hardly notice, you can quickly save up a decent holiday budget.
How much does a vacation cost on average?
According to GfK figures, in 2017 Germans had an average of 1,020 euros available for their holiday budget. In 2018, the expenditure for a holiday was 1,250 euros, as determined by the Foundation for Future Questions.
By the way, far from everyone can afford a vacation. Almost every seventh German (14.5 percent) could not afford to go away for at least a week in 2018. Especially single parents and single people are affected by the phenomenon. However, this has already improved in recent years: in 2013 it was still more than one in five people who could not afford a longer break from home. The EU average was still the same in 2018.
Holiday costs dependent on requirements
So if you go on vacation, you first need a certain budget. However, this also depends on your own requirements. Those who prefer to spend their time out on the campsite and cook there themselves will get away cheaper than someone who needs a 5-star all-inclusive hotel for their perfect personal holiday.
But if you think about where you want to go, how much money you want to spend and how much money you have at an early stage, you can start saving in good time. And then do exactly what he feels like doing on vacation.
Editorial office finanzen.net
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