With the warmer summer weather now blessedly with us, it’s time to think about vacation travel plans.

Save with SPP had a glance around the Interweb to seek out some money-saving travel tips.

The folks at MoneySense suggest choosing “an affordable destination.” Places where a Canadian dollar can go farther include “Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam,” the article continues.

Traveller Danica Nelson tells MoneySense that “in Vietnam, I could stay in a five-star hotel for as little as $55 Canadian per night.

“In Da Nang, you could get the freshest seafood available and a beer for $5 Canadian, or a banh mi sandwich for about $1 Canadian,” she adds.

Other tips from MoneySense include using a travel credit card “since you may be able to get cheaper pricing on flights, hotels and rental cars through your credit card’s rewards program,” and switching to only carry-on luggage.

“Switching out your suitcase for a carry-on bag can help you save money and time at the airport,” MoneySense reports.

The Money Talks News blog (27 Tips for Saving Money on Your Summer Vacation) offers up a few more ideas.

One idea our late parents always preferred was to try and visit friends and family in other provinces and countries. The blog notes that this will save you on accommodation. “For their hospitality, offer to help around the house while you’re there, consider taking them out to a nice dinner and bring them some gifts as a thank you,” the blog adds.

Younger travellers might find staying at hostels is far cheaper than booking a hotel, the blog notes.

“The low cost of lodging through a hostel is a trade-off: You’ll share your sleeping quarters and bathroom with strangers, and the accommodations certainly aren’t five-star. For instance, you might have to pack your own towel,” the blog reports.

“But if you don’t mind a thin mattress and lack of privacy, hostels can be an easy way to save money on travel. And you just may make some friends,” the blog adds.

A final tip from Money Talks News is this – to “use public transportation” at your travel venue.

“Before renting a car for an international trip, research the country’s train, bus and even ferry network,” the blog advises. “You may be able to get around for all or most of your trip using more affordable means of transportation — and just rent cars for day trips off the beaten path.”

The Penny Hoarder blog presents a few more ideas.

First, the blog suggests, you should save up for your vacation over time.

“First, you’ll need to estimate how much your vacation will cost. Add up everything. Airfare and lodging might set you back the most, but don’t forget about food, activities and souvenirs,” the blog tells us.

“Next, you’ll take that (perhaps overwhelming) total and divide it by the number of months left until you plan to take your trip. Now you’ll know how much money you need to set aside every month to afford your upcoming vacation,” the blog adds.

This is great advice, the idea of prepaying for a vacation. Nothing is worse than going away for a week or two and then coming back to a basketful of bills.

Other tips from the blog – try to book holidays during “shoulder season,” the period between peak travel and the off-season. As an example, the blog notes, “October is a less busy travel month, so you’ll often see better deals.”

The blog advises people to watch out for the cost of meals while travelling. Consider “packing a snack from home” or “visiting a grocery store” while away.

We can add a similar thought from recent experience. Friends advised us to pack some zip-loc bags before our cruise. Why? So that we could make sandwiches at the buffet and then enjoy them on the shore excursions, where lunch breaks were often not provided.

Similarly, we brought some magnetic hooks to add to our clothing storage needs, got some adapters so we could charge our phones in Europe, and got the missus a purse that could be worn like a backpack. We had inflatable head cushions for the long plane rides – they packed up much easier once deflated.

Travelling in retirement will be easier and more affordable if you are able to sock away some retirement savings in the here and now. If you are saving on your own, a great resource is the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. You can arrange for pre-authorized contributions from your bank account on payday (so you don’t miss the money) or can set up SPP as a “bill” to pay from your online bank. You can even contribute by credit card.

Once SPP receives your contributions, they are invested in a professionally managed, low-cost pooled fund. And when it is time to start The Big Vacation that follows work, you’ll be able to collect your savings as income through such means as receiving a monthly lifetime annuity payment, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!

Here’s how to chop that grocery bill down to size

Inflation is said to be slowing down, but the high cost of groceries is still a hot topic at the golf course and around the table after line dancing class.

Save with SPP decided to scour the Interweb to find out what others are doing to cut their food costs.

At The Penny Hoarder blog, one suggestion is to “create a grocery budget.”

“The first step to saving money on food is to think like a Boy Scout (i.e., “Be Prepared”). Setting up a monthly or weekly grocery budget will help you stay on track and keep your spending in check,” the blog suggests.

We like this one – instead of grumbling that everything on your list costs more, you bring a set amount of money, say $100, and come home with that amount of groceries. Interesting!

Other ideas from this blog are to develop a meal plan – so that you know exactly what you need to buy, item by item – and the classic advice to clip/save/find coupons and make good use of them.

The Daily Hive offers up some additional thoughts.

Skip pre-cut fruit and veggies, the blog advises. “Since there’s an added labour cost to these items, it’s often cheaper to buy the larger item and cut it up yourself, especially if it’s a low-cost product like squash or watermelon,” the blog adds.

A second thought – don’t just plan your meals, plan your snacks too, the blog suggests.

“One top trick to see lower grocery receipts is to plan your meals and snacks for the week,” The Daily Hive reports.

“By crafting each meal ahead of time, you know exactly what to shop for and can avoid unnecessary or impulsive buys,” the blog continues.

A USA Today article via Yahoo! provides a few more ideas.

“Shop your pantry” before going out to buy ingredients for meals – maybe you have some of the things already, the newspaper advises.

“Use your grocery store’s app to carefully plan your shopping trip from the comfort of your own home and check all available coupons. Utilizing your grocery store’s app is one of the best ways to stay on budget and save time when you shop,” the article adds.

Another idea from USA Today is to buy things that are in season. “When purchasing produce, choose produce that’s in-season. Out-of-season produce tends to be more expensive than its in-season counterparts,” the newspaper notes.

The Victoria Times-Colonist provides a few more tips.

One interesting idea is to avoid going to the grocery store altogether. Huh?

“If you tend to wander off your grocery list because every time you go to the store you buy things you don’t need, shopping online and picking up curbside is a good workaround,” the article suggests. This can also save time if you are buying groceries from multiple locations, the article adds.

As well, a sort of further idea to the “grocery budget” plan is to keep your previous grocery bills so that you can “track what you are already spending,” the article reports.

“Start by reviewing how much you have spent on the last few times you’ve gone grocery shopping,” states David Brindley, deputy editor for AARP Bulletin, in the article.

“If you don’t keep receipts from past grocery runs, try looking at your bank account statement and adding up the grocery charges. Once you know how much you spend on groceries, set a goal, for example, staying within a specific budget or reducing your spending,” he adds.

These are all good ideas. If there’s a common theme, it is to spend more consciously on groceries rather than just tossing stuff into the shopping cart and then complaining about the cost.

A couple of things we’ve learned to do to save on shopping is to work with a fairly empty fridge – don’t pile it full to the brim. Why? If you can see everything in your fridge, you won’t buy the same things twice, or throw out stuff that’s been shoved to the back behind something else and has gone “off.”

Having an extra stream of income will also help out your grocery shopping in retirement. If you aren’t covered by a retirement program at your workplace, have a look at the Saskatchewan Pension Plan. With SPP, you decide how much you want to save, and we do the rest – investing your savings over time in a low-cost, professionally managed pooled fund. You can make contributions in many ways – through pre-authorized contributions from your bank account, via online banking (SPP can be set up as a bill), by credit card or by mailing us a cheque.

Get SPP working for you today!

Join the Wealthcare Revolution – follow SPP on Facebook!