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Check-in I Our Guide

5

tips for planning a vacation budget

Hotels, restaurants, museum visits and shopping hauls can quickly turn your family holiday into a pricey affair – not to mention all the hidden costs that often get overlooked. Here are a few ways to help you avoid those classic tourist traps / By Moshe Kimhi

- but not much else. Digital accounts and reloadable cards are much better alternatives for tracking and safety purposes. 04 Don’t settle for bad service. As it’s often said, time is money, and even more so when you’re on holiday. So when you’re planning your next trip, make sure not to settle for bad service that makes you wait endlessly for everything. We live in a digital age, so there’s no reason why certain services such as money transfer services, can’t be provided on the spot. There are numerous technological solutions out there nowadays. Check your options in advance. 05 Plan for possible unexpected emergencies. “It won’t happen to me” is the kind of attitude that can lead to lots of avoidable expenses. Make sure your travel insurance covers you in case of an emergency such as the need for sudden medical treatment, or an emergency rescue. You can also set aside a sum of money you only plan to use in an emergency, but whatever you do, make sure you plan for such an occurrence, and look up the relevant points of contact that provide the assistance you may come to require, before you set off on your trip.

01 Look out for hidden costs. Hidden costs can include unnecessarily paying intermediaries for certain services or opting for pricier service providers for no reason. We can sometimes let these things slip by us because we’re too tired or busy to pay attention, but these costs can be avoided. Whenever you book a hotel, transfer money etc., compare prices, do market surveys, and choose the most cost-effective option. It may take a little more time and attention, but you’ll end up saving a considerable amount of money. 02 Plan ahead. Budget planning may not sound like the most exciting activity in the world, but it is essential if you don’t want to end up submerged in extra costs. Plan a daily budget according to the activities set

for each day and put aside a sum of money in anticipation of anything unexpected. Planning ahead allows you to keep track of how much money you have left at each moment. It’s easy to get tempted into spending huge sums of money when you’re shopping abroad, but remember that as fun as shopping may be, your money needs to last you the whole duration of your vacation. 03 Avoid walking around with cash in your pocket. Just as you wouldn’t usually walk around with huge wads of cash at home, avoid doing so when abroad as well. There are three main disadvantages to cash: it’s easy to lose, easy to rob, and makes it difficult to track how much you’re spending and when. Cash comes in handy when paying for snacks, light groceries, or for tipping

Moshe Kimhi is founder and CEO of Neema, a global payments network providing 24/7 money transfer services from any bank account, anywhere in the world.

10 ATMOSPHERE MAY 2023