managing money(cash) on vacation

[Bethany10]

Because it's Friday, I have a random question for everyone.

How do you manage your allocated funds while staying in Orlando/Visiting the parks?

Envelope system? (leaving the cash in the safe in the room? which immediately means I've got 50 reminders on my phone not to forget it)

What about when there's more than one persons cash in there? (2 kids, each have their own spending money) I trust them both (tween and teen), but things get lost and I don't want them carrying the entire allotment with them at once.

I don't want to put it all on a gift card either, we hope to do more than just the parks so I don't want to get stuck with a GC we can't use but we need/want to make a purchase.

This is true for meals as well. I have a budget for meals broken down per day, so conceivably we could do the envelope system for that, but again what do you do with the upcoming days envelopes? store them in the safe?

We're a big cash only family. I'm a natural spender and it's really easy for me to go overboard when handing over a card. I prefer cash in hand to regulate myself.

I suspect we're going to wind up using a mix of cash, gift cards, and debit but I'm curious how others handle it.

 

[skylock]

Right now, I use one of those calculators on my phone that keeps a running total. It is not ideal, but it works and it is easy.

I have used my credit card app, but that just seemed clunky.

When I used cash only, I did the envelope system because a visual of the cash I had kept me from making impulsive buys.

I decided how much money I could spend, roughly figured out meals each day, then added extra for extras.

I keep the envelopes in the safe and take out the one I was using for that day.

At the end of the day, anything left went into the next days envelope. With that system I usually came home with at least some money left over.

Another thing I found is you have to include your traveling days in your budget.

One year I barely had enough cash to pay for the gas home, but I did better after that time.

All this to say, you will have to find the system that works best for you. The first one you go with may not be it, but you will figure it out.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I use a "list" app and make notes as we go. Ahead of time, I plan a pretty detailed budget ($15pp for lunch, $Xpp for dinner, $ypp for souvenirs), and I reconcile each night. I don't like carrying a lot of cash, so I've either kept a running total (digitally) for DD of her purchases or given her a gift card. With us, it works extremely well to write down everything we might want to choose as souvenirs then making the actual purchases on the last day.

 

[pattyw]

I make spreadsheets after each trip so I know what we've spent in the past on hotel, food, gas, souvenirs. It helps to plan for future trips. I make a spreadsheet for the current trip in advance where I budget the expenses and bring it with me so I keep myself in line! I don't like to carry a lot of cash. I'll use the hotel ATM's as my bank reimburses us the fees. Also, I use my debit card which is like paying with cash.

 

[Bethany10]

With us, it works extremely well to write down everything we might want to choose as souvenirs then making the actual purchases on the last day.

I'm really hoping to do this or take a photo, especially with my youngest who is a spender (like mom). We'll be down there for a whole week, so plenty of time to circle back and make a purchase as we wind down our trip.

I'm going to throw in a small notebook to my park bag and track things there too, that will help me keep a running total.

 

[skylock]

I prepay for tickets and hotel so that is not figured into my budget.

The only things I roughly figure is meals, gas, trinkets, and a little extra for something that catches my eye.

 

[bumbershoot]

Since I’m going through a divorce and money is funky right now, I’m using the “you need a budget” app and website to learn how to manage my money. My son is at a huge long-planned dance thing this week in SoCal, and I budgeted for two days at Universal Hollywood before it started.

I put the budget for that into a few categories in the app and updated ot as I spent. You can do it even if you’re using cash or gift cards.

At the end of the day, anything left went into the next days envelope. With that system I usually came home with at least some money left over.

Yep.

Another thing I found is you have to include your traveling days in your budget.

YES. And if you’re flying, those days can be more expensive than when you’re there because of airport pricing.

We'll be down there for a whole week, so plenty of time to circle back and make a purchase as we wind down our trip.

Unless you are THE most disciplined person in the world, I urge you to do the opposite. After many trips where we fully forgot to go back, and the adult-who-urged-people-to-wait-and-buy-at-the-end was blamed, I now urge buying as you go because you can return items while you’re still there.

And things do go out of stock, so disappointments can happen.

 

[slpeters]

I guess I've always considered so much of the expense of any vacation to come down to hotel, airfare and the major attractions (in this case park tickets) that I don't really sweat it after that. I know about how much I expect things to cost and keep sort of rough track of when there are splurges (and I'll have anticipated a few of those). I guess we're just kind of frugal people--we usually end up spending a little less than anticipated. As far as really knowing how much we spent we're credit card people (I can go weeks without touching cash, my husband it's more like months) so every dime is recorded.

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

We've used the envelope system quite well. We are our own travel agents and preplan well in advance and this has also included pulling up the menus and rough calculated each day and as has been suggested this includes travel days. If we drive we also calculate gas. We use google maps and decide how many hours to drive and pick our stops. Every 4 hours we stop for gas and snack or food LOL. The kids get a budget as well. This may be something like we are 3 days at the parks and give you 20 dollars each day so use it how you want. They also have their own cash they can do what they want with. We also have a housekeeping envelope but we also prepay our vacation. If I can't afford it we hold off a year so basically by the time we check in we only have expenses. We are on our way next week and park and resort, airfare, transient hotels and long term parking, rental car, all tickets to all parks all paid. This time we budgeted the same but decided on gift cards instead of envelopes because we decided not to use the meal plan but still want the meals prepaid. 1 card per day and see how that goes.

 

[keishashadow]

Typically, for travel, we use CC for rewards, then pay off when the bill comes due. Always take at least one backup one along as fraud alerts can shut down a card

Know of those who purchase a Visa/MC/AMEX GC vs specific U/WDW GCs. That way only one needs to be carried. Always take pic of the numbers JIK it’s lost. I’d always have some sort of back up form of payment though, debit card, etc.

My kids & now GD know beforehand how much they have to spend. Naturally, we go over lol, but giving them the facts ahead of time helps to let them learn how to start to budget & choose wisely

I have a envelope of ancient traveler’s checks that always makes whatever trip plus X amount of cash. Find we rarely use it other than for tips and 1st & last day expenses.

 

[robl45]

Its funny I asked this same thing a few days back and got one or two responses. At any rate, I don't carry cash just for the inconvenience of it and for me its easier to spend cash. But I have a budget and I found a nice app called trabee pocket that is free and I believe on Iphone as well as android. It lets you specify the dates of your trip and the budget for the trip. Each time you spend, you can add it right in the app and know if you are over or under the budget.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We just charge to our room key at UA and magic bands at WDW.

For food we eat breakfast in the room and plan our table service reservations before we go based on menu prices. After that we don't think about it when are there.

We only take a small amount of cash for tipping.

I find that now the kids are teens they are really not interested in souvenirs. If they want a shirt I don't mind buying that as long as it's not too expensive as they always need clothes.
I'm always mindful of the exchange rate so really stop and think any purchases of souvenirs.