There may be times when you have to forego many desires and wants when you are in debt just to pay off your monthly bills. It is during these times when compromising with the quality of life becomes a major factor and probably the last thing in your mind would be having the pleasure and luxury of a trip. Most people who are neck deep in debt think it is better to pay the bills first and then go for a trip, which sadly never happens.
Well, things need not be like that always. If you look at your finance and money management in a different way, there are ways in which you can consider travelling while being in debt.
Areas to evaluate financial situation
Start with evaluating your financial situation. There are four areas which you should consider for this evaluation which will help you a great deal to take a well-informed decision whether you should travel in debt or not.
First, you must take a look at your debt situation and analyze it. Make a list of your debts and include the a few specific points such as:
- The kind
- The type
- The amount outstanding
- The rate of interest
- The monthly bills
- Its amount and dates and much more.
After you have taken these things into consideration, you should now focus on the time taken to pay off your debts. This will help you to find out whether or not your sacrifice is worthy enough and will help you to win back your stable financial position within a couple of years. After all, the decision to travel while being in debt should not have any negative impact on your financial security in the short and long terms on the whole.
Getting prepared
After you have considered your debt situation, it is time to mend your financial condition a bit so that you are well prepared to pack your bags and put on your travelling shoes.
In order to save some money for your trip, you should make your plans early and try to save money for that matter. To somewhat stabilize your financial condition a bit you should:
- Make changes to your old spending habits
- Prioritize your wants and stick to your needs only
- Make sure that you stay current on all of the monthly bills
- Curtail a few areas of spending and create an emergency fund and
- Use your credit card responsibly.
This will help you to make a specific plan to pay off your debts before considering traveling so that you do not pile up more debts in the process. Therefore, you must make sure that you have adequate cash in hand to travel in debt and not take on further credit.
Evaluate the opportunity
Life has its own atrocities and requirements and there may be situations or unavoidable circumstances where you may have to travel in spite of being in debt. In addition to that, it may also be an opportunity of a lifetime which may make your travel in debt. Therefore consider the opportunity first to take the best decision considering your financial health.
However, you have to be honest with your decision and certainly make any excuse to create an opportunity. It is required that you justify your decision constantly. Make sure that you have enough logic and reason to travel in debt.
Therefore, weigh all of the pros and cons of it so that you are not crushed under the burden of debt when you come back home and have to spend all of your time later to go through debt consolidation and debt settlement reviews to choose the best option to come out of your dire situation.
The rules to follow
Here are a few things you can do to travel in debt and not face the wrath of it while you come back. These ways will help you to enjoy your trip while in debt.
- If you are in a budget, you can plan for free attractions in a tourist destination. This will save you from fast accumulating of debt at home. You can have the same pleasure if you use a public transport rather that hiring and exotic car rental. Walk down to the nearby sites that are free or budget attraction.
- Research well about the place you want to visit with more focus on cheaper modes of transportation, free or budget lodging, cheap eateries and also find out the best route to cover all the places you want to visit. This will save you a lot of money which you can channelize towards your debt payments.
- Learn more about the place by mixing more with the local people. You will know about their culture and tradition, food habits and history without having to spend much money for it. Visit the websites or the tourist information center of the city to find out whether or not you can get any city passes to enter into some places where admission fees are charged. There are lots of such places such as museums, parks, markets, trekkers’ routes, and wildlife centers that will give you immense travel pleasure.
- When you are traveling on budget, one this that you should never overlook is your health insurance at any cost. This will be of great help in case of an emergency especially if you are travelling to some other country. International health insurance is very important as it can save you from being in debt to being bankrupt because domestic healthcare will not be of much help while travelling abroad.
Lastly, make sure that you have a separate free savings bank account set with the cash in hand.
Surprising as it may seem to you, you can also earn some money when you travel which will help you to pay your debts. You can rent your home while you are away or if you work from home you can continue working while travelling for some hours at least so that you do not lose on any payment.
