Budgeting Series: Tips On Creating A Realistic Budget For Your next Business Trip
Budgeting might not be your favorite part in the whole travel experience but it is essential. Think about it like this, while it might seem easier to just get up, hop on a flight, attend your conference, do a little sightseeing and come home, if you don’t budget, you run the risk of overspending, running out of money and worrying all through the trip.
So, to help you out, here are some tips you could use to create a budget for your next trip.
Create a run down of the whole trip: You don’t have to be super detailed but just run through the days in general, how you’ll get there, what you’ll eat, where you’ll sleep, how you’ll move around and other key activities you would like to do before you leave. This will help you pinpoint areas you need to allocate funds to and help give you an overview of what to expect.
Do Your Research: Another word that doesn’t sound like fun but can impact how much you enjoy your trip is research. Before you start booking or paying for things, start off by doing some google searches about the city you’re visiting and the location of the main reason you’ll be there. For instance, if you’re travelling to attend a conference, it’ll be good to know where the venue is so you can search for accommodation close by, this could help you save on transportation and give you a little extra money to splurge on something else like a ticket to a nice museum! Doing your research can also reveal important things like the best(or closest) airport to land in (if the city has multiple), weather expectations (which will help with your packing) and activities you could do to enjoy your free time!
Identify big ticket items: If you want to go as detailed as budgeting exactly how much you will spend on each cup of coffee, that’s up to you (and no judgement here) but as a rule of thumb, big ticket items like the flight ticket and accommodation need to be identified and have an appropriate amount of the funds allocated to it first before you budget for the other items on your list.
Automate the process: Don’t try to create your budget just in your head, that has an at least 90% chance of failing. Writing things down has its appeal but if you would like a more seamless process, the best way to go is to automate as much of the process as possible. Using a budgeting application/software will help you keep everything organized and saved in one place so if you find yourself visiting the same destination again, you already have a template!
Miscellaneous: Miscellaneous isn’t for sneaking in ways to splurge, it is actually valuable to have some money set aside for unexpected circumstances because no matter how much you plan, you can’t plan for those. This will ensure you aren’t left stranded and have funds to take care of things that might come up unexpectedly during the course of your trip.
So, now that you have some tips that will help you, we hope the process of creating a travel budget becomes easier the next time you need to do it. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions!
