Is it too late to save for a winter holiday?

It’s tempting as the weather gets worse to go on a holiday to somewhere warm. But for many of us, this ends up being on the card rather than in cash.

This is not ideal as you will then spend ages paying it back and I can tell you from experience that the feeling after a trip you paid for in cash is much better than one where you had to borrow for the trip. If you come back from a trip you paid for in cash, all you have is good memories and less money, and you can start on the next goal straight away. But if you borrow, then you have the feeling of wondering what the damage is, and working out how long to pay it back, as the memories fade, the debt stays. This also reduces your ability to plan other events, unless you just stick to a cycle of borrowing.

So can you save for a trip now? Yes, it just depends on how much you want to spend and how far away the trip is.

Lets look at some scenarios below:It’s tempting as the weather gets worse to go on a holiday to somewhere warm. But for many of us, this ends up being on the card rather than in cash.

This is not ideal as you will then spend ages paying it back and I can tell you from experience that the feeling after a trip you paid for in cash is much better than one where you had to borrow for the trip. If you come back from a trip you paid for in cash, all you have is good memories and less money, and you can start on the next goal straight away. But if you borrow, then you have the feeling of wondering what the damage is, and working out how long to pay it back, as the memories fade, the debt stays. This also reduces your ability to plan other events, unless you just stick to a cycle of borrowing.

So can you save for a trip now? Yes, it just depends on how much you want to spend and how far away the trip is. 

Lets look at some scenarios below:

The table shows how you have to save per fortnight based on how much you need and how soon. As you can see if you need 5K in 3 months it’s going to be tough. It might be you have to forgo this years trip, but by saving for next years, you will enjoy it much more, than having to pay back debt.