Planning for a holiday

Final exams of schools are coming closer and soon after that schools would be closed for 2 long months. Throughout the year you and your family have been busy, and you feel that with the children also having a break, this is the best time to have a holiday. There is another reason as well, not only you have worked had, the children have also worked hard and feel they need to be rewarded and what better reward than to take them for a holiday.

But did you plan for the holiday? Most of us don’t. We wait and say there are many uncertain circumstances. But are they actually uncertain or we have chosen to make them uncertain. The main reason things remain uncertain is because we do not plan. Yes, do get a thrill when things go fine and within budget when things are not planned and we get disappointed when we plan and things don’t go as planned.

We should work on getting the thrill and still avoiding the disappointment. What we usually do is last minute planning. We book our lodging at the last minute and also the tickets at the last minutes. Which hits our budget, leading to cut a on other luxuries and entertainment. We still have time, so let’s see how we can work on making this and every other holiday special.

 The most important thing is make a budget. Usually the planning should start at least a year in advance. I mean budget planning. This way, you start putting certain funds aside every month for a holiday. Once the funds are allocated, a big problem is solved. Now if this money is invested in say a mutual fund using SIP or a recurring deposit with a bank. You would have some extra money which would be a bonus.

Now that you have committed your funds, you wait for the uncertainties to fall into place. Say around 6 months in advance, plan for the destination. The reason is now you would know how much leave you have and also taking into account the other circumstances, it would become easier.

Around 3 months before the holiday, start looking for deals. Another reason to start looking for 3 months in advance is depending on the circumstances you can change your plans as well.

Planned well, seen some deals, around 2 months in advance start booking. But before you book, if you are going abroad, get your visa’s done. If it does not come through or something changes you can change your plans.

Once the Visa is done start bargaining for deals, you will be surprised you could get some good deals over and above what has been publicized, when you talk to the representative.

Once your bookings are done, all that is left is to do your packing. Start making a list of what you might need at least 2 weeks in advance and packing a week in advance. This will help you have all your basic stuff and you do not have to buy or search for basic stuff in a foreign place. Buying basic stuff could also hit you budget, because of costs.

Currently you can start with bookings and not wait till the last minute. But next time plan.