You’ve done it before. You come back from your trips, you drop your bags, and before you can even exhale there’s that knot. The one that shows up right before you open your banking app. The one that makes you want to just wait until things settle before you look at any of it.
The problem was never that you spent money. It’s that you spent without a real plan. And when there’s no plan, your vacation spending feels like something to “figure out” later.
In this episode, I walk through exactly how to build a vacation budget, even if you’ve already planned all of your summer travel. This summer I want you to know what you’re spending before you leave, so you can enjoy every dollar you spend while you’re there and come home ready to keep going instead of spending September cleaning up summer damage.
In this episode you’ll learn…
[00:02:30] Why summer is the season most people fall behind financially
[00:06:10] The real reason you feel stressed after vacation (and how to avoid it)
[00:10:45] The question most people skip when building a trip budget — especially if you have a side job, hourly work, or any income that stops when you do
[00:18:20] Why food, getting ready costs, and the day you come home are the three line items most people forget to budget for
[00:28:50] How to create a simple daily check-in so you stay on track while traveling
Tune into this episode of Money Files to discover how to create a vacation budget that helps you spend intentionally without guilt, stress, or regret afterward.
Are you ready to start asking for help with your finances? Apply to work with me, and let’s start working towards your financial goals.
If you loved this conversation on how to plan your summer spending, check out my episode on the intention tax and how it’s costing you money, EP. 220 The Intention Tax: The Hidden Financial Cost Keeping High Earners Stuck.
Transcript for “The 7 Questions to Answer Before Every Summer Trip (So You Don’t Blow Your Budget)”
Intro: Hi, and welcome to Money Files. I’m Keina Newell from Wealth Over Now. I work everyday with professional women and solopreneurs to help them get out of financial overwhelm and shame so they can experience more flexibility and ease with their finances. Are you ready to gain confidence and learn to manage your finances intentionally? Tune in and grab financial tips that will help you master the way you think about and manage your finances.
Keina: Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Money Files. So I just want you to do a little bit of visualization with me. And I want you to picture yourself coming back from your summer vacations. And maybe it’s a beach trip with your girlfriends. Maybe it’s a family trip you’ve been planning for the last year and it’s finally going to happen. Maybe it’s a solo trip that you booked because you just needed it. You’re like, I booked this back in January because I knew this was the thing that I was going to need this summer. Whatever it is, I want you to picture the moment that you land back home, your bags are in the house, and you go to check your phone.
And in this moment, instead of a knot in your stomach, the one that shows up right before you open that banking app or right before that credit card statement comes in, that you don’t feel that knot. There’s nothing there. There’s no dread. There’s no guilt. There’s no you thinking about, oh my goodness, this is what I did. You don’t have any of that. You just feel normal. And that’s because you knew what you were going to spend before you left on the trip. And you honored and did exactly that.
That’s what we’re going to be talking about today on this episode of Money Files. I want to talk to you about the summer. Specifically, I want to talk to you about how not to blow your budget this summer, even if you already have your trips planned. So regardless of where you are, whether you are budgeting curious or you are a budgeting pro or you are anti-budgeting, wherever you are, I want you to not blow your summer budget. I want you to not come into September of this year wondering what happened to your money while it was warm outside. So if this is you and you can be honest that last September you were like, girl, let me, I don’t even want to tell you about summer 2025. If that is something that you resonate with, then I think you are going to appreciate today’s episode.
I would say summer is the number one season that I see people come back from feeling behind. I also think it’s the number one season where people want to hide from their bank accounts. They want to hide from doing this work with me because they’re like, Keina just let things fall and let everything just settle. And when things settle, girl, I’m going to hit you up in September. The kids will be back in school. I’ll have more time. There are all these reasons that you think you want to work with me later on this year, not right now.
The reason that people feel behind in September is because they go into summer without an actual plan. And when you don’t have a plan, you are always going to have this, I feel behind like just cloud hanging over your head. And a plan doesn’t mean that you thought about something mentally in your head and then it went away overnight while you slept. That’s not a plan. We’re not talking mental plans. We’re talking actual plans. So today I’m going to walk you through exactly how to build what I am calling a vacation budget. I want you to have a plan within your plan so that this summer you can spend intentionally. I want you to enjoy every single moment of your spending. And I want you to come home ready to keep going.
Before I give you that framework, I want to name what actually happens. Because it’s not that people don’t care about their money in the summer. It’s that summer feels like a break. The days are long, the sun is out, and you want to enjoy this season of your life. And for a lot of us, that means that we feel extended with our finances because there are so many things that we want to do. So during the summer, outside is fully open, and you stop looking at your accounts as closely as maybe you were when it was cold outside. You might even start talking to yourself, it’s the summertime or we’re on vacation. So you justify things that you wouldn’t normally spend on. And then there’s the other stuff that sneaks up, like the flight that you forgot you still need to pay for, or the clothes you bought to get ready for the trip. There’s the Ubers that you might be using more frequently, whether it’s because you want to go across town and you don’t want to deal with parking, or you are going to the airport.
I actually have a client right now, they will actually be on the trip and have come back from the trip by the time you guys hear this episode. But I have a client right now and they’re getting ready. It’s a couple, they’re getting ready to go to Turkey, and they are going on a trip for 10 days. And as we started mapping out the trip budget, one of the things we had to look at was their income. And the wife has a second job and that job actually pays hourly. So she doesn’t have like PTO. It’s basically if you work, you get paid. If you don’t work, you don’t get paid. So with 10 days away, that meant that there was going to be 10 days that she’s not earning money from that income stream, or at least 10 opportunities that she had to earn money that she’s not earning money from that income stream.
So that was something that we had to consider as they were going into this trip. And we had to consider as we were looking at their budget, we wanted to just like, it wasn’t just about let’s make sure you have money for the trip. It was also let’s think about your income. And so that wasn’t a reason for them not to go because they are absolutely going, but it was a number that we needed to make sure that we planned around and we didn’t get caught and feel a surprise when their check, when they come back was shorter than we maybe had anticipated.
So those are the things that your vacation budget should do. It should get everything in your head out and on to paper so nothing feels like a surprise for you. I want to say this before we go any further. You do not have to be perfect with your finances to do this. I’m going to repeat that. You do not have to be perfect with your finances to do this. Any amount of pre-thinking, especially that comes from your head to paper or your head to an Excel spreadsheet or a head to a note on your phone, that right there is going to help you come back clearer than if you do no planning and you just decide that you’re going to figure it out when you come back.
So doing this type of planning is one of the best entry points into budgeting for people because you’re always going to feel like you’re in the middle of something when you start budgeting because that’s just truth. You have a life, and so you’re going to be in the middle of your life when you decide to budget. So we want to be able to pick up exactly where you are. You could be in the middle of paying off debt. You could be in the middle of rebuilding. You could be in the middle of just figuring it out, and that’s okay. It doesn’t mean that we don’t get to give ourselves opportunity to be better with our money in different areas of our life.
And in this case, it’s in vacationing. We can plan for one trip, and if we’re planning for that one trip, it is going to impact other areas of our finances. It’s going to impact our ability to save. It’s going to be able to impact our ability to pay down debt. It’s going to impact our ability to pay all of our bills on time or put them all on auto pay because of the fact that we’re taking the time to look at something that is happening within our entire financial system. So let’s think about and build your summer vacation budget.
I’m going to give you a series of questions that I want you to think about, and I would really encourage you to press pause or write all these questions down and come back to them and actually write it out. If you have a partner, you can go back and forth with your partner and ask them to answer the questions so you can brain dump everything that might come up for you. So the first thing I want you to consider is, is my income going to be impacted by my trip? This might be one that most people skip because you might be salaried, but just making sure, do I have enough PTO? If you are someone who, if you don’t work, you don’t get paid, then this is definitely going to be something that impacts you. But if you, like thinking about, do I have side income? Do I have a second job? Am I doing any hourly work? Am I self-employed?
So if you are taking time away, that might mean that there are some types of income changes. So you want to get that number on paper before anything else. So you can also think about how am I going to, basically, you kind of want to include that as a trip expense almost because if you are going to go on a five-day trip and in those five days you would have made $1,000. And that $1,000 is important for you to be able to live, we want to make sure that we’re paying attention to that.
Question number two is, what have I already paid for and what do I still need to pay for? Even if you’ve already paid for your flights, you paid for your hotels, I want you to just write that down because sometimes we think we’ve paid for something and then we haven’t actually. So just keep a very clean and running list for this. I’ve had clients who, like I said, thought that they paid for something and then they haven’t. So that can get them caught in a little bit of a pickle. But I want you to make sure that you have that full picture and then list out the things that are still coming. Like your airport parking or maybe you’re going to Uber there. Is there a car rental? Do you need one on the other end when you get to your destination? Or are you driving, it’s a road trip, but you’re going to rent a car? Write these things down and get really nitpicky about some of the logistical things.
Question three is, how am I going to eat and what does that actually cost? Food, I think, is one of the most underestimated line items when we’re thinking about a trip, especially if it’s like, oh, well, Keina, I’m staying local. Or, well, Keina, we’re going to New York City, but we’re probably only going to eat one big meal. And so those things might be true, but we still want to walk ourselves through the food aspect because I think oftentimes it is underestimated, especially if you’re a foodie and you want to try different things. Just kind of walking yourself through, like how do I envision myself eating for the day? Maybe I’m going to eat at all the local food trips as we walk around the city or we’re restaurant hopping and just kind of being able to put a picture of yourself and what that looks like.
So I think your eating habits change on travel. So be honest with that. Think about how many meals a day, what kinds of restaurants for how many days, and give yourself a number, even if it’s a rough number, so you can think about how you’re going to pay for food. And I oftentimes tell my clients, like you won’t be buying groceries while you’re gone, especially if you are gone for a week. So you might be conservative with your grocery shopping the week before, and then your grocery shopping money becomes food money while you’re on this trip. So just you can do things like that, but it’s only through pre-planning that you get to that point.
Next is how am I spending my time while I’m there? So are you going to museums? Are there Broadway shows, excursions, spa days, cooking classes? Like whatever it is, what are you planning to do? How much are the things that you’re planning to do? Don’t get caught telling yourself, oh, we’re not going to do that much. We’re just like going to a show, and then we might go to get a massage. Like put a number beside it. You’ll be surprised at how much you’re going to spend. So list out those activities that you are likely to do and give it a rough estimate for the cost. Be honest with yourself.
Question five is what’s my getting ready budget? And the getting ready budget is the things that you are going to do before you ever step foot in the car to drive to wherever you’re going or before you hop on a plane. So it might be you getting your hair done. I know oftentimes I’ll get my hair braided before I go on a trip because I don’t want to have to mess with it, which is an additional cost. Or you’re getting your nails done. Maybe you have a wax appointment. Maybe you’re getting new swimsuits. Maybe if you’re going on a hiking trip, you need to update some of your hiking gear. You need new hiking boots. So think through that. It could even just be a life thing. You’re like, I’m a different size than I was last summer and so this summer, I know I’m going to need to add some new pieces.
And think through what is that pre-trip routine going to be? Like, do I already envision what I’m going to pack in my bag? Or do I need to be thinking about spending some extra money? Have I already done my beauty prep for this trip? Or am I going to be spending additional money that maybe falls outside of how I normally am living from week to week?
Question seven is, what is my it happens buffer? So every trip has something, I think, that is unplanned. And it could be that you want to go out to eat to a really nice restaurant. Maybe it’s even a parking ticket. Well, I went to Philly for a weekend with one of my friends and her friend was driving. He got a parking ticket with how we parked on the grass. We were going to a festival. So that would be a part of my it happens buffer because we were like, oh, no, no, no we’re going to pay for the parking ticket. But that was easily, I think it maybe was like a $200 ticket. That wasn’t in my vacation budget or my like, oh, I’m just going away. We literally went away overnight. We stayed one night in a hotel. And I think I spent about $500 going to Philly overnight, in between hotel, this parking ticket, and the food that we ate. So just realizing, even for something short like that, you can spend a couple hundred dollars. And so just giving yourself a buffer for things that could happen.
And last question is, what does coming home cost? And I think that this is the thing that also we might miss. I know when I come home from a trip, especially if I come home late, usually my refrigerator is pretty empty. And it could mean that maybe for a day, day and a half, I might eat out. So just giving myself a little bit of extra money and just thinking about, like I might door dash some food. And I could physically go and buy groceries, but I might buy groceries and pick up food, because you feel tired and you don’t actually want to meal prep when you get back. So just giving yourself some coming home expenses to make sure that you understand how you’re living when you come back home. Because I gave you the example earlier of, you could use your grocery money while you’re on your trip. But also if you’re gone long enough, when you come back, you need to fully restock your house if you’ve ever experienced that. So just being mindful with where your money is going when you’re creating this overall vacation budget.
So once you have your plan, the only thing left is staying connected to it while you’re actually on the trip. And I’m not asking you to obsess over your budget on vacation, but I do want you to be thinking about how can I have just kind of a two minute check-in with myself once a day or a two minute check-in with me, myself and my partner, where we’re kind of seeing where we are financially based off of how we also said we were going to spend money while we were on this trip. So you could do this in the morning, you could do this in the evening, you could do this in the afternoon, whenever it works, but it’s just giving you a pulse point, especially when you’re going to be out of town for consecutive days.
And you can think about, where are we? Or where am I? What have I spent? And what do I have left? So once again, it can be really rough estimates, but in doing this planning with a client a while back, we got to a number because she was going, she had gone to Mexico, I think she also went to Seattle. And we basically just said like, okay, your goal is like $100 a day. And she could quickly check in on, am I over or under 100? Am I over or under 100? And just asking herself that question gave her a really good dipstick. And she knew like, whether or not she kind of had overage to roll into her next day. But she came back from that trip having underspent what she thought she would spend because we did this work beforehand. So that two minutes checking in is going to help you stay connected to your plan.
So here’s what I want you to do after this episode. I want you to make your summer vacation budget. I want you to use these seven questions that I’ve asked you. I want you to make sure you write things down. It could take you 20 minutes. And while it’s still top of mind, I want you to really be thinking about use these seven questions, write it down. Even if it takes you 20 minutes, just do it today while it’s top of mind. You’ve heard my voice. You probably thought of some ideas of some of the things that you already need to write down and do that. Give yourself that gift.
And if you’re listening to this thinking, I know I should do this. I always know I should do this. And somehow I still end up in September wondering what happened. I just want you to know that is some version of what I call the intention tax, which is another episode that I can link in the comments. It’s like the difference in between what like your intention list. I know I should write a budget for my trip but you don’t execute on it. Because you don’t execute on it. You end up losing thousands of dollars in what I call stuck money because there are so many things on this list. It’s not just the vacation budget. It’s also the canceling of subscriptions. It’s filing your back taxes. Like it’s a lot of other things. Just go listen to that podcast episode. We’ll link it.
But if that’s you, the cost of knowing versus doing is really important for you to recognize. And I want you to know that. And more information isn’t actually going to close that gap for you. The thing that’s actually going to close that gap and help you overcome the intention tax is support. And last week, if you listened to my episode with my client, Lisa, she basically was celebrating after one year of working with me, you know what support can look like for you. And she came to me a year ago wanting to make sure that we could keep her 40th birthday intact, that she could still go on her trip. But she also wanted to make progress on her finances. And in the last year, she’s paid off $15,000 worth of debt. She has $7,000 worth of savings. And in her checking account, she does not expect her checking account to hit zero. In fact, she’s like, the number I expect to see is $7,000 in my checking account at any given time. But she’s stopped paying the intention tax.
And that came from working with me. It didn’t come from saying, I’m going to write this down, and then I’m going to do it later. And so I just want to encourage you that if you’re in that space, you’ve been listening to me, maybe you even just found me and you’re like, Keina, I have so many things on this list that I know I should do. I’ve been looking for someone like you. I just haven’t pulled the trigger. I just want you to know that this is the invitation for you to come to work with me. So if you want that for yourself and you want to actually have like a real plan for this summer, like we can do this work together. I’m not going to take your summer trips away. I’m going to make sure that you come back this summer saying like, Keina, this is the most money that I’ve ever had in my bank account and I got to enjoy myself.
I want you to spend money. I want you to save money and I want you to pay off debt all at the same time. So if that’s something that you are interested in, you’re like, yes, yes, yes. Yes, Keina, that’s me. I would invite you to go to my show notes and you can apply to work with me. We will have an hour long conversation and we’ll talk about, what are your challenges? And then I’ll tell you exactly how I think I can help you and what working together in my five month partnership would look like just for you. And before you go, if you want a deeper dive into what coaching actually looks like, what that sounds like, you can go to episode 186 and I talk about my, what really happens in this five month coaching partnership. I’ve heard Keina, but like what really happens? You can also go to the show notes and listen to that as well. So thank you so much for tuning in. Have a great week. And until next time, I will talk to you later.
Outro: Thank you so much for listening to Money Files. If you’re ready to take the next step to reach your financial goals, head to www.wealthovernow.com/appointment and let’s get started.
