Budgeting and Traveling
A lot would think one has to be rich to travel. Not exactly. But you do need the funds to travel. When the travel bug bit me, I knew I had to allocate my income accordingly. Or else I will be booking all the seat sales out there.
There are quite a handful of blogs and forums discussing personal finance management. It is actually quite overwhelming. Despite being an accountant, it took me six months of reading and researching before dipping my toes in investing. I’m not going to discuss that in detail here because that would warrant another blog.
After some tweaking around with my budget, I baked the ultimate budget pie. Let me discuss with you the flavor of each slice:
Donations/Tithes/Charity (10%)
Share this slice to others. A good reminder that money is just borrowed from our Creator. Give some back. I’m still reading on this since my 10% slice is a mixture of tithes and donations to charities. I’ve read that the 10% should be given to the church. But always give with a happy heart.
Savings/Investments (30%)
Keep this slice in the fridge. It is never too early to save for retirement. There are different views on how much to save for retirement. Some can save 10% of their income while some can save up to 50%. I think one should save enough but not too much to miss out the fun in life. After all, we live today and not tomorrow.
Expenses (30%)
Gobble up this slice. This represents my daily expenses for food and transportation. I have a more detailed breakdown of this slice: for wardrobe, shoes, beauty stuff, pampering budget, gadget allocation fund, insurance, entertainment, hobbies and generally fun money.
Travel (30%)
Warm up this slice before eating it. Allocate a portion of your income to travel. To get the best deal out of your money, do research. Cook up your itinerary. Research on the best deals and options for your money. Consider the hidden costs that may arise. Wait for the seat sale. I don’t travel to spend my savings. I save to travel. It would take me weeks-moths to save up for a local destinations and months-years for international destinations.
This budget works well for me. Like any pie, you can tweak its ingredients to create the ultimate recipe to your liking. Have fun budgeting!
There are quite a handful of blogs and forums discussing personal finance management. It is actually quite overwhelming. Despite being an accountant, it took me six months of reading and researching before dipping my toes in investing. I’m not going to discuss that in detail here because that would warrant another blog.
After some tweaking around with my budget, I baked the ultimate budget pie. Let me discuss with you the flavor of each slice:
Donations/Tithes/Charity (10%)
Share this slice to others. A good reminder that money is just borrowed from our Creator. Give some back. I’m still reading on this since my 10% slice is a mixture of tithes and donations to charities. I’ve read that the 10% should be given to the church. But always give with a happy heart.
Savings/Investments (30%)
Keep this slice in the fridge. It is never too early to save for retirement. There are different views on how much to save for retirement. Some can save 10% of their income while some can save up to 50%. I think one should save enough but not too much to miss out the fun in life. After all, we live today and not tomorrow.
Expenses (30%)
Gobble up this slice. This represents my daily expenses for food and transportation. I have a more detailed breakdown of this slice: for wardrobe, shoes, beauty stuff, pampering budget, gadget allocation fund, insurance, entertainment, hobbies and generally fun money.
Travel (30%)
Warm up this slice before eating it. Allocate a portion of your income to travel. To get the best deal out of your money, do research. Cook up your itinerary. Research on the best deals and options for your money. Consider the hidden costs that may arise. Wait for the seat sale. I don’t travel to spend my savings. I save to travel. It would take me weeks-moths to save up for a local destinations and months-years for international destinations.
This budget works well for me. Like any pie, you can tweak its ingredients to create the ultimate recipe to your liking. Have fun budgeting!
Nice ;) just got in here while browsing something on the net.. your blog is cool!.. wishing you happy travels.. will definitely come back for more info.. thanks for sharing your adventures.. feel ko na rin..
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