The spirit of the winter holidays is upon us once again. As the scenery changes outdoors, in the stores, and in community centers, people are gearing up for another season to spend with family and friends.

If you have plans to travel during November and December, it’s a good idea to keep your finances at the top of your mind. After all, nothing puts the brakes on a holiday vacation like going over budget.

Fortunately, keeping tabs on holiday spending can be simple and relatively stress-free. Let’s go over a few tips on how you can keep a pulse on your finances while you’re taking in the sights and sounds of the season.

Create a Holiday Travel Budget

By now, you’ve probably already committed to booking your plane tickets and room at your destination. Now’s a great time to prepare another aspect of your holiday travel budget, which would be what you’ll need to cover during the actual trip.

When you already have an idea of where your money is going, it’s easier to set expectations not only for yourself but for people traveling with you.

Everyday expenses incurred during a vacation might include:

• Souvenirs
• Restaurants and food
• Transit at your destination
• Incidentals, like personal items or toiletries
  

You should also revisit some costs that may not be directly related to your holiday experiences, such as pet care services, baggage fees, or parking and ride fees.

Give educated estimates on how much you expect to pay for these items, and model your holiday budget accordingly.

Taking notes and categorizing your perceived expenses helps to establish a clear spending structure. It also reduces the likelihood of unexpected costs while traveling.

Monitor Holiday Spending To Avoid Post-Trip Blues

Charting out your budget before a trip is one part of the equation. The other part is committing to your plans. After you’ve created a working budget, do your best to stick to your spending limits as you go about your travels.

Understandably, this can be easier said than done. The year-end holidays are a special time for many, and it’s totally possible to be caught up in the excitement of the season.

Of course, too much cheer can lead to the dreaded “holiday hangover,” a period of regret when account statements drop and reality returns from its own vacation.

You can avoid most financial surprises by actively monitoring your spending while you’re away.

One straightforward way to keep track of your budget is to monitor your expenses as you spend. A barebones model for this strategy can be followed in these three steps:

• Write down your total holiday spending limit.
• Record any instance where you spent money.
• Keep a running total of expenses and compare it against your limit.  

Monitoring your spending can be as simple as using a pen and paper or a note-taking app on your phone. You don’t need to keep notes the moment you swipe your card, but it does help to give yourself a progress report at the end of the day to remain mindful of your spending.

You can also use budgeting apps to track your expenses, which helps significantly if you’re trying to maintain spending priorities.

If you want to take your budgeting game to the next level, then try using your credit card instead of cash. Your card’s issuing institution may offer a card controls app that you can use to set spending limits, receive notifications, and access monitoring tools, allowing you to stick as closely to your budget as possible.

Try Setting a Daily Spending Limit

Of course, not all expenses are going to fit into neat buckets, especially while you’re traveling. You can set a daily spending goal to keep your finances as simple as possible to manage.

After setting your travel budget, divide that amount by the total number of days you’ll be away. The resulting number is how much you’ll allow yourself to spend per day.

A daily spend limit allows you to pace yourself, ensuring you don’t overcommit your funds too soon.

Best of all, it adds flexibility to your spending from one day to the next. Whatever you don’t spend during one day, for example, can “roll over” to the next day’s spending limit, and so on.

Setting limits on a per-day basis can help guide your activities, too. For instance, if one day of your trip resulted in a lot of small purchases at food stands and souvenir shops, you can spend the next day or so easing up on spending and opting for simpler activities with family and friends.

Traveling during the holidays will have its fair share of twists, turns, and surprises. When you adopt strong budgeting habits, it will be easier to focus on the festivities instead of worrying about your statements by the New Year’s arrival.

When you have a plan and do your best to stick to it, you can focus on the things that matter. Try out these budgeting tips and see how they can improve your outlook for the holidays.

First Florida helps you plan for a season full of cheer. For more tips on enjoying the holidays sensibly, we recommend visiting our Featured Articles section.