Only six months to save for your December family holiday!

Booking holidays late in the year often means paying higher rates for travelling and accommodation, making holidays a pricey affair. There is a solution, however, which doesn’t include incurring debt or banking on your bonus to cover the costs, but rather planning early and working towards the perfect holiday at the end of the year.

Eunice Sibiya, Head of FNB Consumer Education says: “We often forget to factor our holidays into our budgets throughout the year which results in us having to tap into debt, or rely on a big bonus in order to make holiday payments and, at worst, postpone or not go on a well deserved holiday when the end of the year comes around.”

With six months to go until the end of the year, now is the time to start planning.

“As with any other savings goal, it is a good idea to open a separate savings or investments account specifically for this goal, and deposit money every month,” says Sibiya. This is a great way of ensuring that you always have funds available for when that holiday or flight special pops up in your e-mail inbox.”

When deciding on a savings vehicle for you holiday, remember to assess how quickly you would need access to your money.

“Due to the nature of planning a holiday, it is often a good idea to take a two pronged approach,” advises Sibiya.

Depending on the amount of time that you have to save, you can split the money to an immediate access account as well as a fixed deposit account that releases the rest of your funds in time for your trip. By so doing you will have easy access to funds in the event that special travel offers pop up, whilst you will still earn a higher interest on the funds in the fixed deposit.

Investing interest to reach your goals faster

Investing a portion of interest earned on other savings accounts into your travel savings accounts could be a way in which to reach holiday savings goals faster if you have limited time to save. Before doing so however, it is crucial to ensure that there will be adequate funds available for other expenses and possible unforeseen circumstances and emergencies.

When opening an account, remember that some accounts will not allow continual deposits and that penalty fees on early or exceeded number of withdrawals can quickly chip away at any savings made.

A few other tips for saving for a holiday in six month’s time are;

Making the most of travelling in a group

The perk of travelling in a group is that you can plan, budget and save together. Consider having one savings account between all of the travellers into which savings are deposited for accommodation and travelling costs that can be split equally between the whole group. Because it will be complicated if everyone deposits their own amounts as and when they please, stick to a set amount per person per month and put one person in charge of the account.

Look for areas where you can save

Every rand counts so if you need to save that bit extra, re-evaluate your monthly spending and look for areas in which you can cut down in both the short and long term. Short term areas of saving could be unnecessary expenses such as that extra cappuccino every morning or take-away lunch. For long term savings investigate your monthly mobile and data bills, what you spend on bank charges as well as your insurance premium (quote) as these fees can often be restructured and consequently reduced.

“Remember that a holiday remains a luxury and that it should never come at the expense of your everyday living or emergency savings. If you are unable to save up in time for your holiday, rather consider postponing until you are able fund it primarily by saving up,” concludes Sibiya