6 Frugal Habits To Adopt Now If You’re Trying To Save for a Vacation in 2024

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If you’ve got your eyes on a coveted 2024 travel destination, you’re probably already thinking about how you can save the money you’ll need, not only to pay for getting to your destination but to enjoy it once you’re there. You can try and force yourself to squeeze extra money into savings, or you can adopt new frugal habits that will make saving money just a regular part of your life.

Here are six frugal habits to adopt now if you’re trying to save for a big vacation next year.

Track Your Spending

Ignorance may seem like bliss in the moment, but when it comes to your finances, this is not the case — what you ignore will come back to haunt you badly. The clearer a picture you have of what is coming in and going out, the better you can identify areas of savings.

You can track things manually in a good old-fashioned ledger or in your checkbook, or you can use any number of tracking apps that digitize the process. Tracking simply means subtracting what you spend from what you earn so you can see what is left, which hopefully you can put into a vacation savings account. Finance expert Dave Ramsey’s website recommends a tracker called EveryDollar.

Budgeting Is Non-Negotiable

Tracking your spending is the first step in setting a budget. But budgeting goes further than that. There are several budgeting strategies you can adopt as well. Some include the 50/30/20 method — 50% to needs, 30% to wants, 20% to savings. You can choose the 60% method, where the bulk of your income (60%) goes to bills and essentials and the rest is divided into other key categories. Or you can try reverse budgeting, where you put savings aside first and then figure out your expenses.

Whichever approach you take, if you make a budget non-negotiable and find a system that works, you’ll easily find where there’s money to save for travel.

Practice Patience

If the first thing you do when your paycheck comes in is go out and splurge, or you buy the first item of its kind when shopping instead of comparison shopping, you might be struggling with impatience. Saving money for the long term, and, in fact, building frugal habits requires patience. Going slow, taking the time to reason things out, and resisting impulse buying goes a long way toward helping you save.

This skill also will come in handy when planning your vacation, too. If you find you’re struggling to correct this bad habit, don’t beat yourself up — get help.

Impulsive spending is often tied to our emotions, past and present, and may be rooted in some old patterns or emotions. Whether you can talk to a therapist, a financial advisor or a trusted friend, getting help can end up making you feel better and teaching you a money-saving skill.

Rethink How You Eat

What does eating have to do with saving money for vacation? Quite a lot.

If you dine out frequently or use meal delivery services, you’re probably spending a good chunk of money on food that you could be making for significantly less. From doing things like making meals in big batches for the week and freezing them to buying generic foods and even just cutting back on how often you eat out, you could save a lot of money that could go straight into your vacation fund.

Be Loyal

Loyalty to a particular store, chain or brand often brings rewards and discounts that translate into significant savings. Whether you earn points for every dollar you spend, cash-back rewards, discounts or all of the above, some of your favorite brands and well-known chains — and even your local grocery store — will thank you for your repeat business by helping you save money on the items you buy regularly.

Become Energy Conscious

If you aren’t already, now’s the time to start becoming conscious of your energy usage. Energy rates have increased in most parts of the country due to rising inflation, and there are a number of ways you can bring costs down.

If you’ve got old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs, you’re probably burning an unnecessary amount of electricity. In fact, according to the Department of Energy, lighting may be as much as 15% of your electricity bill.

Switching over to LED bulbs can make a huge difference. Smart thermostats can help you keep your home at an energy-efficient temperature when you’re not home, or at night; and even just sealing up leaks and cracks where air is getting in and out can improve energy efficiency, saving you money you can spend on vacation.

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