Heading to Ireland in 2008 and Saving for Vacations
In the spring of 1998, Shelly and I got married and took a semi-local honeymoon to Duluth, MN. At the time, something more extravagant was completely out of the question. We were young and just starting out.
Of course, that didn't stop us from talking about where we would have gone if we had the money. One place we both agreed on pretty early in that conversation was Ireland. She's got Irish blood and I've just always been interested in the place. That overlap quickly settled into complete agreement and we decided we'd go for our 5 year anniversary.
Well, 2003 came and went and we've still not left the boundaries of these United States together. That's all going to change in 2008. For our *10* year anniversary, we're actually going to make the trip to Ireland. A 5% savings account has been set up specifically for vacations (the first being the Ireland trip) over at Etrade. Automatic transfers have been set up to pull money into the account on a weekly basis. There's almost $600 in the account as we speak.
By the time school lets out (and our exchange student goes home) next spring, we'll have the cash on hand to pay for the trip in its entirety and really enjoy it. That savings account is actually key to this whole thing happening. We've brought up bigger trips on several other occasions, but stayed in the country on shorter trips in part because longer and bigger trips meant tapping into the regular savings account or charging it to a credit card. Both methods were distasteful enough that we didn't go.
Having this account that's designated for travel (and is currently costing less than the cost of lunch each day) is going to provide us with nearly $3000 a year in travel money, guilt free. We're not damaging the rainy day fund, the retirement accounts or our debt load, but can go on nice trips for that kind of money.
Now we just have to figure out an actual plan for the trip from among the huge number of options when traveling to Ireland.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:09 am
That's such a great idea! I want to go on a mediterranean cruise the summer after next, perhaps I should take your approach.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Yeah. Between us, the Etrade account is pulling $55 a week across. Given that a trip to TGIFridays for 2 with drinks or dessert runs $50, it's really not that much.
I didn't mention it, but the travel savings account actually came about from that exact comparison. We figured if we're willing to spend $50 every week for a Saturday night dinner, why not match that and go on a really great vacation every 12-18 months.
We initially thought we'd just make a matching deposit for dinners out, movies, etc. However, it's MUCH easier to have static amounts pulled across regularly than it is to have the discipline to make the matching transfers.
I'm thinking I might actually bump the amount a bit higher now that we've gone a couple of months and it's not too painful.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:54 am
I am doing the EXACT same thing! I am getting married in March of 2008 and for our honeymoon we are going to Ireland. I have the exact same system in place with an ING direct account. Small world…
May 10th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
someday brother….i'm going there too. so you go check it out and let me know where to go and where not to.