You don’t have to be told twice — spring break can be pricey.
Between the housing, food, drinks, activities and, for some of us, the shopping, spring break trips can add up real fast.
While these trips can be so much fun, you don’t want to end up spending the second half of the semester staying home because you’re straight up out of money.
To prevent this from happening, there are a few things you can do to make certain you end up with some money to spare after your fun week of no classes and no responsibilities.
Don’t get drinks at dinner
Believe me, it’s not worth it. Whether you’re a soda kind of person or an avid beer drinker, just get a water.
Soft drinks and alcoholic drinks can tack on anywhere from $5 – 15 in extras that you don’t need.
Don’t get me wrong, you can still drink your soda and your mixed drink, it’s just in your best interest to buy a whole bag of margarita mix or a six pack for $4 to last you the week as opposed to spending $8 on one drink with dinner.
Pick one meal to eat out per day
Let’s think about this — a pack of six bagels is $3, bread is $2 and turkey is $5. That right there is $10 total, and you’ve got breakfast and lunch for the week.
Be smart when going out to eat. Don’t eat all three of your meals out because you’ll end up spending close to $30 per day when you could just spend $10.
Going out to eat with friends is more about the food for sure, but you can limit how much you spend by packing a sandwich to-go and eat on the beach with your friends instead of piling more onto your bill.
Carpool
This one may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many friends of mine have taken seperate cars on the same spring break trip.
Don’t waste your spring break cash on gas. Instead, split that gas money with your buddies, and use the rest to get some sunscreen or those bagels and sandwich fixings I mentioned earlier.
You can have a great time on spring break without blowing through all of your money.
It does require a little planning, so just keep focused, and try not to make any impulsive buying decisions.
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