I heard from some of you SavEars and was happy to know that many of you start your vacation fund without knowing where you’re going too! If you don’t, I highly recommend it. Since we’re shooting for a May 2020 vacation, if I wait until August to decide where we want to go, THEN start saving, we’ll have lost out on THREE MONTHS of savings. As many of you know, three months can be the difference between an extravagant experience and going on the cheap. It’s all in what you want out of your vacation!
On the vacation planning front, we’re still not sure what we want to do. I contacted Erin, one of Kristin Cooper’s exclusive Destinations in Florida travel agents and found out something amazing. Erin is not only an awesome Disney travel agent, but in her words “anywhere in the world you want to go, I can get you there.” Uhm, excuse me, what? But y’all know me, on top of the other important questions is always- how much does it cost?
Erin’s services are FREE, no matter where you want to go! I honestly thought that was just a Disney thing. I need to calm myself a little, because this just opened up our options! I’ve never done a cruise- but now I have a professional to help me plan that, if we choose. We’ve considered international travel- and she can do that too! I can feel myself relaxing as I consider more complicated trips- I’m not going to have to do this alone. Don’t get me wrong, planning a trip is my joy, but it’s nice to know you have someone in your corner, who is experienced and can give me the best help. I’m hoping to have our trip destination figured out soon.
On the savings front, I’ve got to come down off the “vacation high”. I’ve been lazy in my meal planning, which has led to a lot of “let’s just go grab something.” The quickest way to piddle your money away is to eat out a lot- I’ve found in tracking my budget that I always think we’ve spent less than we have. Ack! It doesn’t help that it’s hot here, so my husband and daughter are always giving me sad eyes to go get a shaved ice, or ice cream cone.
2020 Mystery Trip Goal: $4000
May 25th – June 7th earnings:
$26.20 Secret Shopping
$33.11 Ibotta
$3.00 Pinecone Research
$11.86 Credit Card Rewards
$9.05 Misc Surveys/Tasks
$10 Receipt Pal- Amazon GC*
$5 Bing Rewards-Amazon GC *
$5 Dabbl– Amazon GC*
$1.37 TopCashBack
*Amazon gift cards get squirreled away to pay for gifts, although you can also buy gift cards on Amazon! So these can easily be used to pay for part of our dining out budget as well.
Total earned this week: $104.59
Fund Total from last post: $107.05
Current Fund Total: $211.64
Only $3,681.31 to go!