Summer Vacation Out of Reach

Follow These 3 Simple Strategies for Smart Savings

While the weather outside is frightful, the thought of a summer vacation is so delightful!

With freezing temperatures hitting downstate Illinois early this year, you may already be thinking of warm beaches, exciting amusement parks or the dream trip you’ve always wanted to take. But if you really want to turn that dream into a reality, you’d better start saving. And if the idea of shelling out hundreds of dollars to get some R&R seems impossible, don’t give up hope just yet.

Steve Brumleve, Relationship Banker and Team Leader at Town and Country Bank, offers some smart saving strategies you can begin now. 

• Open a specific vacation savings account. Set up an automatic funds transfer so a certain amount goes into the account each month. And then don’t touch it. “Even if you can only afford $25 a month, that’s $300 a year in savings,” Brumleve says. “As you become a more habitual saver, that amount can be upped.”
• Use your credit card. That is - if you can pay it off monthly. “Many credit cards offer points for volume usage,” Brumleve says. “Use that card to pay for everyday expenses such as gas and groceries. The points can often be used toward airline tickets, entertainment purchases and hotel stays. Use that as the building blocks of your vacation. Just make sure to pay the card off every month so you’re not getting hit with unnecessary interest charges.”
• Use the tools available to you. Town and Country Bank offers a free Online Financial Management tool that allows you to sync bills and purchases all in one place. “Knowing what’s coming in and going out will help you take control of your finances and lead to better choices,” Brumleve says. “The amount you should set aside monthly depends entirely on how much you can afford to save. And that amount may vary month to month. But eventually you will develop a pattern of saving which will continue to build. And before long, the dream of a vacation will not be so out of reach.

When it comes to vacation, be sure your finances allow for the fun. Most vacations are not worth going into debt. So if your finances aren’t quite where they need to be this summer, plan for the following one. The key is just taking the first step to open the account. Town and Country offers several different savings account options that can help. To learn more, visit one of our locations or give our team a call at 1-866-787-3100.