You see these families and couples going on all of these exotic vacations and you are sitting in your living room scrolling social media, why aren’t you there with them? One, poor life choices, two…oh my gosh just kidding! Lol wouldn’t it be nice though to know their secret?! Like if “why am I not in Cancun with my family or my boo right now” is what you are thinking, keep reading.
Some ideas to start pondering on for you are maybe these families are in a really cool travel club. They could be saving up annually or semi-annually to go on a vacation or two. Did you know if you saved just $3 a day you would have over $1,000? That isn’t a lot to be putting away! It is less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks. You could sell stuff you aren’t using anymore. Maybe they (those friends who you watch take vacations) have started a side business and it has allotted them more freedom than a regular J-O-B could? Ask them next right now! Send them a message on FB or Insta or even crazier call them! If you had a good deal on a vacation wouldn’t you be sharing with everyone how good of price you got? Personally, for me I LOVE finding a good deal on everything. I guess you could call it a weird obsession I have but I do SO MUCH extra research to make sure I am getting the best possible deal on whatever I am buying. Not even joking. One time we were at Macy’s and were shopping for a new bedroom set. We found one we both loved and it was on sale! Well, I looked it up online and guess what, it was $250 less than in store! BAMM! We went to check out and they said it wasn’t applicable and couldn’t match the price. Ok?… If they couldn’t match the price I could literally buy it online and pick it up at their store right then. Didn’t make sense but eventually we got the price matched and saved an additional $250! What normally would’ve been over $1,000 we got for a little over $400. DEAL? OH YES! Guys, I do this for EVERYTHING lol. And guess what, there is an additional $600 I saved and could put towards a vacation. You gotta think outside of the box.
Are there things in your closet right now you aren’t using? YES! C’mon I know all of us ladies have way more clothes than we need. I have over 40 pairs of heels in my closet I haven’t worn in over a year. Now while I could get rid of them…I just can’t yet haha. Don’t let that be you! In todays day and age, there are a BAJILLION ways to sell your old clothes. From online, to apps (this is really trending), to store fronts, a ton. I take all my clothes to a battered women’s shelter. However, if I was looking to make some extra cash I could obviously just set up a profile on an app and viola, I have a means of extra income! My donations are upwards of $400 on average, and I get rid of stuff at least twice a year! Expand that mom brain of yours and buckle down to cleaning out your closet. You may fall victim to the “one day” idea too, I used to as well don’t worry. As a newer mom my main wardrobe consists of things that aren’t too pretty (usually workout clothes or pj’s) because I am not going to wear a really nice outfit that is guaranteed to get some type of bodily fluid on it. Even in a year or so when I CAN start to wear cuter fashionable clothes, all of mine will be out of date! Why the heck keep stuff I am not wearing? My motto is if I haven’t worn it more than once in 6 months, get rid of it.
Join a travel club!
Guys, this is THE BEST option you can probably find out there! We are apart of the #1 travel club in the world and it is how we are able to afford luxury vacations at the lowest price. 5 star all-inclusive in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic was $416 for the ENTIRE week for the BOTH OF US TOTAL! Awesome isn’t it?! As much research I do on finding the absolute best deal out there, I know there isn’t one better than through my travel club. Seriously, they even guarantee it, its insanely amazing! There are a bunch of different ones out there, make sure you are getting your moneys worth. I know with mine every dollar I would put in, I am getting it back in some form of FREE travel so there is no money wasted. EVER. It’s pretty great. Most trips your kids (depending on how many lol) go for free too. Win! If you want more information on the club, go to my CONTACT page and write me a message.
Budget yourself ladies!
Have you ever sat down and calculated your expenses? Your reoccurring bills and the items you spend on non-necessities? Starbucks is not a necessity by the way… so you know. Here is a fun fact for you, if you bought a bag of Starbucks coffee at the grocery store it would last on average a month and cost the same as ONE CUP of coffee from Starbucks itself. WOW! Mind-blown. I usually have at least one cup of coffee a day. If I bought it at a Starbucks location daily it would add up to over $200 a month! See where you can cut costs in your budget and be smarter about your spending. Stop eating out for lunch, you’ll save a ton doing that as well. There are a bunch of apps to keep track of what you are spending and bringing in. You can keep track of how much you are spending, earning, and how much extra you have at the end of the month (or don’t). My favorite is MoneyWisePro. I love using this app. It has great features to keep track of everything in your budget and it is super easy to use. Sit down, write down all of your expenses, add them up, and come up with a total budget of what you NEED (not want). Then on another go through all of your expenses from the last month and calculate everything you spent that wasn’t on the list for your NEEDS budget. There, you will find plenty of extra spending money you can cut out and save for a MUCH NEEDED family vacation.
Put money aside!
Going right along with budgeting, start making it a habit to put money aside either each week or each day. The biggest area people fail to do this is staying consistent with it. First come up with your budget then figure out how much you want to save 
for a family vacation and when you want to go on your family vacation. Once your budget is set and you’ve looked over all those extra expenses, come up with an amount you can CONSISTENTLY put away each day, week, or month leading up to when you want to go on vacation. You can go as far as creating a separate bank account that is specifically for your travel expenses. It is a great way to not dip into your personal account while on vacation too. Another cool thing about the travel club I am in is they automatically set up a travel piggy bank for you annually. For us I don’t even think twice about budgeting or another bank account because they do it all for me without any extra cost out of my pocket. Yes, another win! Saving for a vacation is a great example you can use to show your kids how to save and being responsible with your finances. Get excited about creating a budget! Make sure the whole family is in on it and know WHY you are doing it. If you tell your kids ya’ll are saving to go on a family vacation, do you know how excited they are going to get?! Another way to say no when they ask for every single toy, candy, or anything they can see because they too know that if they get that toy it will take longer to go to… say Disney. You bet they won’t be asking for another toy or candy for a while.
A new thing many new millennials are getting into is some type of home-based business. They are truly becoming a trend and are an EXCELLENT way to make some extra cash on the side for your family vacation. Some people say it isn’t their thing when in reality, you are already doing exactly what you would be doing if you had your own home business. We all tell our family, friends, even strangers about a good deal we find or a product we love. Find something you are passionate about or enjoy talking about and I bet there is a home-based business for you. Maybe even one in travel. That would be awesome wouldn’t it? You can do it for a short amount of time to save up or do it and actually make some decent money on a monthly basis. Upfront costs are usually low and you can make your money back quickly if you put the work in. The key to these businesses is treating it like a business and not a hobby. Hobbies cost you money while businesses make you money. Many people get discouraged from these types of businesses because they don’t know how they work. It is pretty simple, they work if you work. Just like the gym, if you don’t put the work you aren’t going to see any results. My point, side tangent lol, is find something you can do part-time that can supplement the amount you need for a family vacation.
Well there you have it, 4 various ways to get your butts up, out of the house and onto a family vacation! Woohoo! Now my question for you is when are you going to actually do anything I said above? NOW is a great time to start. Remember my post about Goal Setting for Mom Made Simple? Check it out if you haven’t yet and see how EASY it is for you to accomplish your goal of going on a family vacation. Your goals don’t work either if you don’t (tip of the day). So all my mommas do what I said above, write me a message on my contact page if you want more info on the travel club and as always beautiful, cheers! Don’t forget if you haven’t yet, SUBSCRIBE to stay updated!