157 – Summer Vacation Financial Tips and Tricks

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Summer Vacation Financial Tips and Tricks

Check out these ways to help you save money on your next vacation.

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Bob and Shawn break out some of their favorite financial advice when it comes to traveling. Summer is right around the corner, which means a vacation is in the works for most of us. Vacations can end up stressful and take a huge toll on a wallet.

However, if you plan ahead correctly, then it doesn’t have to be as heavy on your finances as you might have expected. From booking a place with a kitchen to staying local, Christian Financial Advisors provides some great and easy ways to help you save money on your next summer vacation – or just any vacation!

Mentioned In This Episode

Intro:
Welcome to Christian Financial Perspectives, where you’re invited to gain insight, wisdom, and knowledge about how Christians integrate their faith, life, and finances with a biblical worldview. Here’s your Christian Financial advisors host, Bob Barber and his co-host, Shawn Peters.

Shawn:
Welcome back to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. Thank you so much for joining us. Whether you’re listening on one of the podcast directories or you’re watching us live on YouTube, thank you so much for being here. And if you have not subscribed, which Bob, I don’t know why, but we’re still at 80%,

Bob:
You get onto people about subscribing.

Shawn:
So we would love it if you would hit that subscribe button.

Bob:
I subscribed.

Shawn:
Well, good. Yeah, that’s good. But yeah, we’d love if you’d hit that subscribe button so you can know as soon as we post our next episode. But it really helps both the channel, but also helps other people who are looking for videos on financial related topics from a Christian perspective. So with that, we have a really serious episode for you today. No, I’m just kidding.

Bob:
it’s like…

Shawn:
It’s a little more lighthearted. With us being right in the middle of May now, we thought it would be good to do an episode on summer vacation planning, because people don’t necessarily think of that as financial, but depending on what you’re doing, it definitely might want some planning. And we just thought it’d be a good topic to cover. So, Bob, you wanna give us a little intro?

Bob:
Yeah. I don’t know about you, Shawn, but I’ve spent some big dollars on vacations with my family, especially. So I think this is definitely a financial topic.

Shawn:
And I, myself, I don’t know if there’s any other young parents out there, but I have a four year old and a one year old, and my wife and I are very firmly getting our school of hard knocks on kids can be expensive.

Bob:
That’s the truth.

Shawn:
But you don’t have to spend a ton of money to have a good vacation.

Bob:
That’s right.

Shawn:
You just gotta do a little planning and think about it.

Bob:
A lot of people are thinking vacation. What Vacation? I’m like, I need to work, work, work. Well, you know what, there’s a scripture about that, and working is good. Working’s in the Bible over 500 times, but in Proverbs 23:4, it says, “Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich, be wise enough to know when to quit” or to take that vacation. It’s smart to take vacations and it’s good for your family and good for you. Or we call it, I like to call it a sabbatical. It’s the same, is another way to call it that. So as we think about the summer family vacation planning in the financial side of it, I think it’s good to decide on what your budget’s gonna be. Right now is that budget gonna be $1,500 or is it gonna be $5,000 and whatever that budget is, Shawn, you take that budget and this is the way I’ve done it for many years.
We take that budget. Let’s say we’re gonna go on a 10 day vacation, pretty long one. And if it’s $5,000, that’s $500 a day. Okay. Or if it’s $2,000, that’s $200 a day. So you divide that by the number of days, and that right there lets you know this is what I can spend per day for accommodations, for food entertainment, whatever you’re gonna spend your money on. Okay. And I think that’s very important, but the one thing is I want people to really understand it. It doesn’t have to have to be an expensive vacation to be a fun one.

Shawn:
That’s right. That’s right. My wife and I went on our babymoon, me and Jenna, we went to Hawaii, which seemed, oh, it’s super expensive. Well, couple things because we planned ahead, we were able to get fairly affordable flights, for one. And then the other thing is that we stayed at places that we had access within the place we were staying, like an Airbnb or something like that, or like a condo that you can rent, that had a full kitchen. So for us, we just went to wherever the the locals went, we went and got some groceries and packed us some lunches and stuff. We went out to the beach if we were gonna be hiking around and it saved a ton. Like, there are definitely ways and the benefit to that is it kept our budget under the dollar amount we wanted to stay at for the day while still being able to go somewhere really fun and nice. So, you don’t have to go out to eat for every single meal. And you don’t have to necessarily go to the really expensive places or hotels like you can still…

Bob:
You don’t have to necessarily go to Hawaii, Shawn, because one of the greatest vacations I can remember in just the last couple of years is when we all went to Garner State Park here in Texas and how beautiful that was. And all the camping. And that was a fun, fun time. And that was a very inexpensive vacation. So vacations are about family. And it’s about being together away from work. And I don’t, I never, you should never go into debt to go on a vacation. That’s just crazy.

Shawn:
Because now whatever benefit you might have gotten from that vacation, now you have the added stress of additional debt to pay that off. And I’m pretty sure when you weigh the pros and cons of that, the debt and the anxiety and the stress from that is not gonna be worth it.

Bob:
I don’t think so. Definitely not. So, one of the things you might wanna think about when it comes to vacation, maybe you have a limited budget. Maybe your budget’s just $200 or $300. Well, maybe you should consider a staycation. That’s what we call a staycation, where you find all kinds of fun things to do within a 1 to 50 mile radius around where you live. I mean, we live in Central Texas in between Austin and San Antonio, and there is so much to do. Within an hour of here, all the stuff in San Antonio, all the Missions, there’s the Six Flags amusement park, if you want to go to that. Right here in our own town, you can go tubing on the rivers.

Shawn:
There’s this really small waterpark that some people know about that, oh, sorry. I believe it’s one of the largest waterparks in the world.

Bob:
In the world. Yeah. It’s called Schlitterbahn.

Shawn:
That’s a huge savings because if you’re staying within that 50 mile radius to find things to do, you can pretty much do something different each day. You still stay at home each night. So, it completely cuts out that extra cost for lodging, and you can have a great time together as a family.

Bob:
That’s exactly right. And there’s so many inexpensive things to do in a local area, or even if you’re going far off. Rachael and I have really come to love hiking and walking nature trails. And around here in Texas, there’s just multiple state parks. But state parks are around the nation.

Shawn:
Oh yeah. Well, and of course there’s national parks, too.

Bob:
Right. Exactly. Overnight camping trips are not very expensive, but even camping out in your own backyard, did you ever do that before?

Shawn:
Yeah, I did that with with some friends when I was younger. But that, yeah, that could actually be really fun. That could be fun, especially if your kids are younger. I know when they’re teenagers, they don’t want anything to do with you. At least, so I’ve been told but when they’re younger, you could definitely do a camping trip in your backyard.

Bob:
Yeah, that’s right.

Shawn:
And the added benefit is once the kids go to sleep, y’all can go sleep inside in the regular bed.

Bob:
Or just going fishing in a local lake or pond, river or bay that might be around you. I mean, that’s very inexpensive. Like I said, water tubing just sitting on the beach enjoying a campfire. You could do even make your own little campfire in your backyard and make…

Shawn:
Follow all your local fire codes.

Bob:
Of course. Of course. We don’t want you burning down a forest. Okay. but in making things like s’mores and barbecuing and having watermelon, that’s a big thing here in Texas. We like to have watermelon during the summer. Maybe that’s a tradition across the nation. I don’t know.

Shawn:
I had watermelon growing up too. So we can’t claim that as a strictly Texan thing.

Bob:
Exactly. So one of the things when you’re planning for that summer vacation is really thinking about those accommodations, like you said, like when y’all went to Hawaii. You might wanna spend a little bit more to get a place with a small kitchen in it.

Shawn:
That’s right.

Bob:
Because you’re gonna save so much money on eating out. Eating out is just so expensive. Plus, you don’t have to mess with the crowds.

Shawn:
Yeah. And then you’re spending more time waiting around for food, too. Whereas for us, we made breakfast at, at the place we were staying right there in the kitchen, and then we would pack some snacks and sandwiches and other stuff to have for lunch as well, which was great because then we got to spend more time out and about not waiting for food. We didn’t have to spend as much on the food. We could actually spend more time enjoying the vacation and not sitting in a restaurant, which you can do anywhere. And then a lot of times, for the evening, we may not want to make something. So, we’ll grab something out and about in at night. But yeah, that definitely makes a big difference.

Bob:
Okay. So we’ve talked about that staycation, we’ve talked about budgeting. So there are the big trips, right?

Shawn:
Like you said, gotta cover the big trips.

Bob:
The Hawaii trips, there’s the trips to Disney for later.

Shawn:
Or insert your local theme park, whether it’s Disney or Six Flags or whatever it is.

Bob:
But budgeting for these times is the most important thing you gotta remember. And you really wanna try to stay away, I’ve noticed this, stay away from weekends. Weekends, especially in the summer, the prices will double around major holidays too.

Shawn:
Well, what do they call that? Surge pricing. Don’t go then.

Bob:
Then we’ve had some vacation properties as you know and we don’t even stay in them, like July 4th. You can nearly get triple what you’re getting normally. So we just, we don’t even go, we’re like, this doesn’t make sense for us to stay in our own place on July the fourth or Memorial Day.

Shawn:
Well, especially if it’s somewhere that gets super crowded. Because even if you have your own place to stay, do you really want to go there to fight the crowds when everyone is trying to go there? It’s just not worth it.

Bob:
We have so many tourists here in New Braunfels, we call them, we end up calling them terrorists in the summertimes . But they’re not terrorists. They’re tourists. They’re great people. They’re sweet people. But it gets so crowded. It just, I mean, we swell in population by over a hundred thousand. And look for those deals, they’re everywhere to be had and on sites like VRBO, Airbnb, Expedia, direct hotel sites. Another thing, a little trick I’ve done, Shawn, is if you look on the VRBO sites or even Airbnb, they have a lot of layered extra costs on there. Well, if you look real, real close, you can find that property, do a little research, and a lot of times the property managers will actually put their properties on the VRBO websites or the Airbnb where they charge all those extra fees. If you go directly to the property manager or directly to the owner, you can bypass those enormous fees. So many times I’ve gone on, like a VRBO website, and it says $200 a night, and by the time I’m done with all the fees, it’s like $375 a night. I’m like, how did that happen. But by doing some research, I was able to find the actual owner or the property manager, go direct.

Shawn:
Even if you can’t find the owner. One of the things that Jenna and I have noticed when we travel, we’ll go to a place that’s technically a bed and breakfast or just a normal Airbnb. Almost always, they will have contact information or they’ll have a card or you get to meet them in person. They’re like, Hey, by the way, here’s my website. Here’s my information. If y’all want to stay here again, contact me directly, it’ll save you 20-30%. And then now that you’ve got that relationship established, well if that’s a place you really like going, you’ve got a great place to stay. You know it’s nice, and you’ll save quite a bit of money on those fees.

Bob:
The BnBs we’ve stayed in, we can actually, they’ll negotiate as well. Especially if you’re staying over two nights or over three nights, maybe one night you’re not gonna get to negotiate, or two. But if you stay, especially three or longer, many times I’ve gotten 10% or 15% off the price.

Shawn:
I’d like to mention one other thing too, Bob. Okay. So if you’re looking at doing a cruise, because I know a lot of people do that. I will say I like to eat. So I definitely like the idea of the cruise because I can eat as much as I want.

Bob:
So you’re the reason the cruises run out of food.

Shawn:
Yeah. I’m that guy. But on the cruise is one thing that I’ve found is really helpful. And if you’re like, oh, I already knew this, then this isn’t for you, but don’t worry about getting that nice ocean view room. You’re not gonna be in there. Because if it’s a fun cruise, you’re basically gonna sleep in the room and change every so often. Or maybe take the kid to the bathroom, whatever. But you’re hardly ever gonna be in there. Don’t waste money that you could have spent on excursions or fun stuff like when you actually get off the boat or even some of the cruises. I mean, it’s crazy. It’s a floating city with the kind of stuff that you can do actually on the cruise. So, save that money for actually doing something fun. Not on a slightly better view.

Bob:
I don’t know. Now, I like that better view, Shawn. But anyway.

Shawn:
Hey, I’m just saying it’s an option.

Bob:
It is. You’ve got an option. If you’re on a budget.

Shawn:
You’ve got a certain budget,

Bob:
You’ve got a certain budget.

Shawn:
You can either spend more on the room or you can spend more on doing other stuff.

Bob:
That’s right. That’s right. Well, there you go. I’m hoping that all of y’all have a great family vacation or staycation. Shawn, some of the happiest people I see is when I go over here to our park here in New Braunfels, Landa Park, which is like a little Garden of Eden with the springs coming out in the beautiful clear lake. You see they’re having such a great time. And many of them, they live right here. And they’re staying right in their own hometown and they’re having the barbecues and I’m thinking they got it right. They got it down.

Shawn:
Well, ultimately it comes down to it’s the people that you’re with. And if you’re taking your family, just focus on having fun and enjoying your family. And don’t worry about whether or not you’re spending enough or you’re getting this dream vacation. Because at the end of the day, especially for your kids, like the stuff I remember growing up, it wasn’t the expensive things. It was when I got to have quality time with my parents, with my family. That’s what sticks with you. So your kids want to spend time with you more than they just wanted something fancy.

Bob:
That’s correct. You got it. Well, I hope this has been insightful. It’s been a little light today. We didn’t want to get too heavy. We do that every week on the financial topics. We got our next topic, by the way, is coming up is gonna be a lot of fun. Either the next one or the following week is gonna be on teaching your kids good money habits. So yeah, that’s gonna be a real good one, kind of a lighthearted topic, but at the same time, one that you wanna definitely listen to if you have children or even grandchildren.

Shawn:
Yep. Well, hey Bob, we gotta teach the meat and potatoes, but every once in a while we’ll do some chips and queso.

Bob:
That’s right. There you go. Everybody knows what that means when you say South Texas chips and queso.

Shawn:
Chips and salsa, guac, or some spinach dip, whatever it is where you’re at.

Bob:
Yeah. Right.

Shawn:
All right. Well, God bless, thank you so much for joining us and hope to see you next time.

[CONCLUSION]

That’s all for now.

We invite you to listen to all of our past episodes covering many financial topics from a Christian Perspective. To make sure you don’t miss any of Bob’s upcoming episodes you can subscribe to Christian Financial Perspectives on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, or Stitcher. To learn more about integrating your faith with your finances, visit ciswealth.com or call 830-609-6986.

[DISCLOSURES]

Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.