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Travel Articles
Avoid After Vacation Stress
by Ida Byrd-Hill
Have you ever gone on a vacation and had a marvelous time
only to feel stress later as you overspent????? Well,
you are not alone. Many of us get so wrapped up in perfecting
our tan or getting the rest we need that we do not even
want to think about how much we will be spending. ”Very
few people, no matter what their net worth and the level
of their intelligence and financial savvy, do any kind
of budgeting for trips,” said Gary Buffone, a psychologist
and director of the Family Business Center, in Jacksonville,
Fla. as quoted in an article on www.cbs.marketwatch.com
It stands to reason you take a vacation to relieve stress.
Why would any sane person ruin the euphoria of a vacation
with the mundane task of budgeting?
The average family takes 2.6 trips annually according
to YPB&R/Yankelovich National Travel & Leisure
Monitor as quote by. The average cost for domestic vacations
is $1000 with the average cost for international vacations
exceeding $3500.
If the average family takes 1.6 domestic vacations and
1 international vacation annually then they are spending
at least $5000 on vacations a year. The cliché
“Pay now or Pay later!” takes on a new meaning
as you are paying by credit card later. When you add the
interest, the cost to pay off these vacations grows to
$9148.62. (Assumes 18% interest over 4 years) Add those
cost over 4 years of vacations, the credit card debt becomes
astronomical. It is easy to see why the average American
family has a lot of credit card debt. The easiest way
to eliminate this credit card debt is to not create the
debt at all or create a system to pay it off before you
create it. Most people do neither creating stress after
the vacation.
Budgeting makes most people revolt is it seems so complicated.
Who wants to take the time to perform the mathematical
calculations? No one. Ida Byrd-Hill, a 10 year veteran
financial advisor has created a self calculating Vacation
Budget Form. The form completes all the calculations after
you input basic information such a plan/train/ cruise
ticket prices, number of nights and number of persons
going on vacation. The form makes it easier to save for
vacations as you will know the true cost of the vacation
and whether you need to save some more money or allocate
a larger portion on your credit cards. The best part you
do not have to do complicated computations. The form is
found at www.livinginstyleonline.com. Livinginstyleonline.com
is a luxury lifestyle magazine and luxury discount shopping
marketplace where the motto is “you can live the
good life without breaking the bank!!!!!!
Not that the budgeting is in place, a family can dream
and research pricing for their next vacation. There are
some many travel websites on the web. Choosing one site
to purchase your vacation creates a new stress. How can
a family be sure they are getting the best deal? Each
site says they have the best prices. Comparison shopping
is the key. However to move from website to website is
cumbersome. If you leave one site to go to another your
information is wiped out or worse yet your deal is seized
by another traveler. Livinginstyleonline.com has made
a family’s life easier by providing 26 of the top
travel discount websites, such as Travelocity, Expedia,
Orbitz, Hotwire, Last Minute Travel, Travel Worm, Sky
Auction, Hotel Planner, Vacation Outlet, Ubid and many
others in the travel section of their marketplace. One
can open windows of these sites and compare them at a
click of the mouse rather than toggle all over the internet.
This comparison feature allows you to find the best price
for your vacation on the web with little stress. Come
visit livinginstyleonline.com often as the travel website
list is continually growing. Avoid after vacation stress
by saving money on your next vacation, visit www.livinginstyleonline.com.
About the Author
Ida B. Byrd-Hill was the President of The Harvard Group
Wealth Management L.L.C. for 10 years. She created investment
portfolios, insurance plans and residential/ commercial
financing. She has provided financial seminars for the
UAW/ Daimler Chrysler. She has served as guest columnist
for the Michigan Front Page for 2 years and a speaker
for the Better Investing television show hosted by David
Chilton, author of The Wealthy Barber. |
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