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Weddings are expensive enough. Now let’s throw in an extravagant trip…
There are a few simple ways you can save for your honeymoon. Don’t forget to download your free honeymoon planner!
Without further ado, let’s get into the ways to save:
BOOK AT THE RIGHT TIME: Booking your flight in advance can save you tons on your airfare. Two and a half months prior to travel is the ideal time to buy. Flights often tend to be priced better during the week [you may have heard that tip to buy on Tuesdays!].
CASH BACK: I do the majority of my shopping online. This allows me to save time and money. I use Ebates to get cash back on purchases. Ebates offers a Chrome plugin and pops up whenever a site offers cash back. Every few months, they will mail you a check or offer a higher value gift card. This is a great way to save money on purchases you’d already be making!
PENNY CHALLENGE: The Penny Challenge is a fun little way to save some money over the course of a year. Set aside one penny the first day, two pennies the second day, and so on. This 52 week challenge will help you set aside $668. For extra savings, have your partner do their own penny challenge. Double the savings!
POSTPONE YOUR HONEYMOON: Weddings are so expensive. Joe and I were planning to go on our honeymoon a couple months after our wedding but have decided to postpone it. This will allow us time to save up and hopefully have more vacation time to use.
CONSIDER A HONEYMOON REGISTRY: There are a number of sites that offer honeymoon registries. Joe and I went with Honeyfund. This allows your guests to gift money towards various honeymoon expenses [i.e. $50 towards airfare, $30 towards a couples massage, etc.].
SET PRIORITIES: Consider what’s important to you for your honeymoon. Does a room with a view matter to you? Could you utilize public transportation or would you be more comfortable taking taxis? What excursions do you care about most?
COMPARE COMPARE COMPARE: There are tons of websites for booking travel, especially at a discount. My starting point is usually Expedia and I will compare rates elsewhere after. You may not always get a better deal but you may get more included in your stay.
CREDIT CARD POINTS: If you can, sign up for a credit card that offers points or miles–Joe and I both signed up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve in January. This card does have an annual fee attached to it ($450) but it also includes a $300 travel credit, up to $100 reimbursement for TSA Pre or Global Entry, extra points from travel & dining, and a bonus for spending $4000 in the first 3 months [currently they are offering 50,000 points for spending $4,000 in the first three months]. I promise this isn’t sponsored [I wish it were!] but this is one of the ways we are affording so many flights this year. I also want to note that we already had a bunch of wedding expenses and needed to spend some money this year anyway. I wouldn’t want anyone to get into debt over trying to get some travel rewards.
FREQUENT FLYER MILES: Sign up for frequent flyer programs and stick with the same airlines [especially if you fly regularly]. I use American Airlines and United [mainly because my dad signed me up for those years ago!].
RESEARCH: Spend some time researching everything you want to do while on your honeymoon. Figure out if there will be any unexpected expenses. Joe and I visited Costa Rica a few years back and were surprised with an exit tax for leaving the country! I like creating a budget and loose itinerary before any trip so I know what to expect.
Where are you planning to go for your honeymoon? Please let me know in the comments!
DOWNLOAD YOUR HONEYMOON PLANNER!
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