And not a moment too soon! I’ve been working on building up my travel fund since I finished working on my emergency fund in May. Overall I’ve saved $7,500 in this account, and spent $1,800, for a current balance of $5,700. Phew! That’s a lot of saving. Unlike my emergency fund, which got a lot of help from tax returns and my New Brunswick Tuition Rebate, I saved this money in my travel fund the old fashioned way: one dollar at a time.
On average I budgeted to save between $500 and $625 per month to come from my full time income, and then I also added in whatever freelance income I could come up with, and my husband contributed whenever he had some spare cash too. I started saving in January, but I didn’t really ramp it up until my emergency fund was full.
Saving and Spending Money
Now comes the fun part – spending it! This is the first time I’ve set a big saving goal with the aim to spend the money at the end. When I was paying off my debt, I just paid it off. There wasn’t really any big end game, no big reward at the end, other than eliminating a monthly payment. Then I started saving for retirement, again, with no plan to spend the money I was saving. Finally, my emergency fund, I definitely had no plans to spend that money! No, this is the first time I’ve ever saved a large amount of money, and then spent it. It’s actually kind of bittersweet, because I know spending that money is going to decrease my net worth, which I’ve really enjoyed watching go up!
What I’m Spending My Travel Fund On
When I say my travel fund was topped up just in the nick of time, I meant it. Tonight I’m leaving for New Orleans to go to FinCon, and I’ll be spending a pretty significant chunk of cash on that trip. I’m extremely, extremely excited for this vacation. I’m travelling with my husband and his sister and her husband, and between personal finance blogging sessions, we’ll be sightseeing as much as possible. I’ll be gone all this week so expect things to be quiet on the blog for the next few days.
Once I get back from New Orleans, it’ll be time to start seriously thinking about my trip to Paris in December. We already have our flights booked, but haven’t yet booked accommodations or planned out our days. That trip is going to be about 10 days, and I’ll be doing absolutely no work during that time, blog or otherwise. I can’t wait!
But one trip at a time, first New Orleans, then Paris. So exciting!
What’re My Savings Goals Now?
Now that my emergency fund and my travel fund are fully funded, it’s time to shift my focus to another savings goal. But what will it be? A house downpayment? More school? I’ve got something in mind, but I’m not quite ready to share it with you guys just yet. So far I’ve got about $500 set aside for this new goal, and hopefully when I get back I’ll be in more of a position to share the details with you.
Until then, wish me luck on my trip and have a great week!