4. Save Money on Food
Food tends to be one of the most expensive parts of a trip. Even if you save little bits here and there, it adds up.
On the way to your AirBnB, pick up some bagels, avocados and eggs to make for breakfast. Grab some sandwich stuff for lunch and pasta ingredients for dinner and cook at home! I personally LOVE food and I know that eating out on vacation is a treat, so even if you only commit to making breakfast each morning rather than eating out, you can save about $15-$20 per day.
For hotels, we always purchase drinks, water bottles, snacks and other things so that we don’t end up paying hotel prices!
5. Set a Budget Before You Leave
We like to set a total budget of money with an amount attributed to each category. This way, it’s much easier to stay focused and you don’t get caught up in that “YOLO” mindset and spend $30 on nachos or $200 for a massage.
You will leave your house knowing exactly how much you have set aside for each category (ex: food, drinks, activities, etc.) and are less likely to exceed that budget.
6. Create a Travel Savings Account
It’s nice to have the peace of mind on vacation knowing that you’re honoring God with your money and have taken care of everything in your home before you’ve left.
As I mentioned, ensuring that you have sufficient money to cover the entire trip beforehand is essential for staying out of debt on your next trip.
- Keep A Separate Travel Bank Account
When you see money in your account, it’s easy to view it as expendable. We keep a separate bank account that doesn’t have an attached debit card and isn’t easily accessible.
The money comes out only after our priorities are paid off: First is tithing and generous giving, then bills, emergency savings (based on Dave Ramsey’s budget), our children’s college and future savings, miscellaneous spending needs and THEN travel.
7. Honor God with Every Decision
I just want to touch on the fact that as Christians, it is okay to enjoy these things, but our hearts need to always align with His will for us which we can find in His word.
Matthew 7:24-27 says, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
We have to ask ourselves: Who is our rock? Is it God? Is it our time? Our jobs? Our savings account? Our credit cards? We have to understand that we should not be worshiping our money because our rock is God. Our rock is not money.
We are called to be wise and to make wise decisions. We are called to give our money to Christ in acknowledgment that it is all His. We have to remember that anything material is from our Creator. And everything that we do with that money is for His glory.
Our minds should stay set on him. When we travel, we should still be honoring God with that time and with that money.
For example, Jesse and I pray for open doors when we travel. We ask God to allow us to see lives changed in His name and to take us somewhere where we can speak into someone’s life. He is always faithful to bring people into our path. Not only do we get to enjoy the trip to the fullest because we are pouring into our marriage, but we also enjoy it because we get to share truth and hope with people who we come across.
Set your mind on Heaven, set your sights on Christ.
I hope that these travel tips have been helpful for you guys!
What are some of your favorite affordable travel tips? Share them with us in the comments below!
With Grace,
Lindsey
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This post originally appeared at sparrowsandlily.com, published with permission.
