7 Actionable Payday Habits To Help You Save For Your Holiday

We all know the feeling don’t we? The moment payday arrives and our wage hits our bank accounts. We feel like we can take on the world. It makes working the 9 to 5 worth it, all those hours rewarded with a juicy monthly pay and, if you’re lucky, some money to have some fun with. 

But, if you’re not a natural saver, it’s easy for any disposable income to easily disappear without having anything to show for it. 

And the thing is, if you want to go on holiday or if you want to travel, you need to save. And it can be hard. It can be hard to save for travel, or anything else, without some healthy money managing habits.

So, here are some essential payday habits that will help you save. It’s exactly the approach that’s enabled me to travel to some EPIC destinations (Nepal, Miami, Mallorca, and Australia to name a few…) You’ll be jetting off to that dream destination before you know it…

Read More: How To Travel More With A Full Time Job | 9 Easy Tips To See The World Without Quitting Your 9-5

*Please note that I use Monzo to help me achieve all the below but each of the payday habits to help you save for travel are easily actionable with a notebook, pen and a some organisation.

Read more: Inspiration for your holiday to Mallorca – where to stay, where to eat, and where to go…

Healthy And Actionable Payday Habits To Help You Save For Travel

Be Aware Of What’s Coming In 

Be honest, how often do you look at your payslip? Checking every month is a good habit to get into and it lets you know exactly how much money you will have in your pocket for the next month.

For some people, the amount you’re paid will be the same month in, month out. For others, it may vary slightly which makes it even more important to know how much money you’re going to get paid.

ACTIONABLE TIP 1: Grab a notebook and pen and take a look at your payslip. Make a note of how much money will be getting paid into your bank account this month.

Also Be Aware Of What’s Going Out

Digging into your finances is daunting. But, this is what will really empower you. 

The first step is to write down exactly what fixed bills you have to pay over the month. This might include rent or mortgage, phone bill, car insurance, and your Netflix or Disney+ subscription. 

ACTIONABLE TIP 2: Look at your bank statement from the last month. Write down all your fixed outgoings. If you have bills that go out quarterly or yearly (things like TV license or car insurance) work out the monthly average of these. Add all your fixed outgoings together and minus this from the total of your payslip.

Next, take a look at what other essential things you’ll have to pay for across the month. This will be things like food and petrol or transport costs. Assign a budget to these things and try to stick to this for the month. Overestimate if you can so you’re not going hungry or unable to travel anywhere.

ACTIONABLE TIP 3: Assign an amount to other outgoings. For example £100 per month for groceries, £150 per month for petrol and transport, £25 per month for takeaways.

Take A Look At Your Fun Money

Working out your finances, the money you have left is your disposable income. This is for fun and saving.

Take a look at what commitments you have coming up over the month. Do you have a wedding to attend? A birthday to buy a gift for? A date night at a nice restaurant in town? Do you need any new clothes or household items?

This amount will vary from month to month which doesn’t make this part easy. But the more you get into this routine, the easier assigning money to your fun budget becomes. You’ll also be more mindful of what you’re spending your money on across the month.

ACTIONABLE TIP 4: Again, try and assign a budget for these events. This is a bit harder to assign an amount to and it’s also harder to stick to (it’s always too easy to say yes to that extra Espresso Martini or 3 isn’t it?).

Save Money As Soon As You Get Paid

One of my biggest thrills on payday (I know, sad right?!), is putting a chunk of money away into my savings. I love watching that little pot of money grow. As soon as that money is “locked” away, it’s kind of out of sight out of mind. That money is my budget for travel and nothing else.

Personally, I do this step before assigning a fun budget. But it’s whatever works easiest for you.

Visually Put Your Money Into Pots

Whether you write the amounts down in a note on your phone or use a bank like Monzo, visually putting your budget for travel into a Travel “pot” makes it easy to see how much you’re saving towards your holiday. 

I’ve been using this method for about 2 years and in that time, I’ve been able to save money towards holidays to Thailand, Mallorca, the Lake District, Cornwall and Scotland without sacrificing on my day-to-day spending.

I have pots for day-to-day spending, Petrol, Groceries, Charity, my Car Loan, and Savings. My money for bills is in a separate bank account so I can visually see all my active spending in pots from my Monzo account.

This helps keep motivation high for saving for travel and mentally, your other money is already allocated to other spendings. That means there’s no need to dip into your travel savings for things like food over the month.

ACTIONABLE TIP 6: Set up or write down pots and decide what categories you need. Here’s some ideas: Groceries, petrol, charity, makeup, clothes, holiday, car, date nights, takeaways, phone, stationary… the list is endless!

Set Holiday A Savings Target

This might not need doing every month but having a target to work towards definitely helps. For example, when I was saving to go to Thailand, I knew I had 8 months from booking my flights to departure date. I still had to book hotels and allow for spending money too.

I worked out if I put away £200 a month, I would have more than enough to book some great accommodation and have a good time out there too.

You may never reach your total budget target, (I never reached my £1600 Thailand target). But it means you’re able to book accommodation and excursions gradually, rather than all on one payday.

Before you know it, these healthy payday habits will leave you with a good budget for your holiday. 

ACTIONABLE TIP 7: Research your holiday, and set a savings targets. Work out how much you’ll need to save each month and you’ll easily be able to budget for your travels!

Top tip: Make your budget go even further by researching the best deals, being flexible on your travel dates if possible, and eating local when abroad. 

Within a few months you should be on track to be saving some money towards your next holiday. The best part is, this method is as flexible as you need it to be and you can save as little or as much as you want.

Do you have any other payday habits you use to save for your holiday? Let me know!