Budgeting your vacation

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Vacations can be expensive. But if you have a plan and money saved up, vacations can run smoothly.

Summer is just around the corner, and that means people are getting ready to hit the roads, beaches, and theme parks.

With travel prices rising, banks and travel planners are encouraging vacationers to start saving early.

“Depending on where you go to Disney World it gets kind of pricey. Start saving at the beginning of the year and in an interest-bearing account then that would you know help with the cost,” said Cadence Bank branch manager Shelley Clark.

Some banks are seeing customers turn to savings accounts to plan ahead.

“The reason of the savings is to save so if you only dip into it a couple times a year for like Christmas or vacation funds or emergency funds then that’s fine,” said Clark.

Many companies let customers spread the cost out over monthly payments.

“Most people plan several months to a year in advance which gives them the most amount of time for instants like a Disney next year prices come out in June and people will book in June for 2020, so that gives them to the max amount of time to pay on their trip,” said travel planner Kelly McKellar.

Kelly McKellar said it’s important to look at the big picture. How do you plan on traveling? Where are you going to eat? What do you want to do when you get there?

She also said expect the unexpected.

“There are always things that come up along the way, and so you do need to have some extra money on hand to take care of those things. What if your tire blows what are you going to do if you’re delayed and you don’t make your flight on time, or you don’t get to your cruise on time? So travel protection is something else that I encourage my guests to think about,” said McKellar.

If you’re looking for the best rates, the pros said timing can be key.

“Summer is always peak because that’s when school is out, and when school is out during holidays, that’s peak too. So, if you can go during off times of the year it’s a lot cheaper it’s cheaper to go in September October somewhere like to Disney or on a cruise that it would be to go June or July,” said Mckellar.

McKellar said it is good to over plan. It is easy to overspend so plan on more than what you think you will need.