The world is your Oyster! How to Save for Travel & Adventures!

Often times, when we were together on our Thursday Night Girl’s Night, we would talk about traveling some place warm and sunny.  Or traveling for a long weekend getaway. Or a short weekend getaway. Or just get away. Because we’d go mad if we didn’t and a woman’s sanity is a tender thing.

But I digress . . .

So, we’d sigh about all the places we wanted to go, or all the things we wanted to do, but then return home and not do them.  Because yanno, for the most part, we weren’t necessarily doers.  We were dreamers.

How to Save for Travel

But one Thursday night, amid martini’s and wine and vodka sodas, a plan was hatched.  Why don’t we Venmo to someone in our group, small affordable amounts each week – whatever we could afford that particular week.  If it was $5 or $50, we would Venmo money into one account to start building a little nest-egg.  Mad-money. Brilliant! OMG – we were now doers! Not just dreamers!

So, we all agreed to try and save for travel and chose Kathleen to be our treasurer.  We sent her money that night and have continued to do so.  Some of us send a small amount every week, while others contribute a larger amount once a month.  Regardless, we’re all adding to our little account and it’s what we’ve used to fund our little excursions.  Nantucket, Meredith NH, Fine-dining in an igloo, the Treehouse! These adventures were all funded by our account.  It has made realizing our dreams and adventures, that much more doable.  So how’d we do it, you ask? Well, grab your besties and pay attention, this is how it’s done:

The Details

• Choose a person who will be your treasurer. Someone everyone will Venmo the funds to.
• Keep track of all contributions. We created a spreadsheet for each of us in google sheets that can be accessed by everyone at anytime.
• Budget your plans. Again, we use the spreadsheet for this. It gives us an idea how much our next adventure is going to set us back. It’s the amount we’re saving towards. We budget high so when the actual costs are entered, we all usually have a credit that will carry over to our next trip.
• Get a Venmo debit card. This makes paying for things so much easier. No reimbursements needed. Just divide the amount evenly and deduct it from each person’s spreadsheet.
• Plan your trip!
• Repeat!

It’s amazing going away and not worrying about how much money you’ll need or if you’re going to be short.  Creating this little travel-kitty has enabled us to do things we never would have. Because we’re dreamers AND doers now. 😉

– Darlene