We know that the holidays can put a strain on your budget, especially when you’re trying to save money so you can travel the world with Contiki! Here are a few tips and tricks (including Contiki’s Easy Pay) to get you on the path to that summer vacation you’ve always wanted – all while getting all those awesome gifts for your friends and family!
What is Contiki Easy Pay?
There’s no better time to ask for a Contiki than during the holidays – and breaking down the costs among your friends and family helps to lighten the load. If you’ve got your eyes set on a particular Contiki trip, such as European Discovery, Italian Espresso, or even one of our Asia or South America trips, you can use Contiki Layaway, a gift registry-type service that allows you to register your Contiki tour online and share with your family and friends to help fund your trip. You can also use this to make payments yourself, allowing you to budget your savings, and make payments over time to pay off your trip. Easy way to break it down – no need to spend all your holiday budget at once!
Learn to Save a Latte
Okay, that title was a stretch. Yet that fancy coffeehouse caffeine addiction that you’re harboring may just be hindering a golden opportunity to get bitten by the travel bug. Think about it: $4.50 for an espresso-based drink, multiplied by 7 days in a week equals $126 that you’re potentially spending on coffee! That’s half a trip deposit right there.
Try trading in your double shot caramel macchiato with two pumps of vanilla soy milk latte concoction and simplify it. Most of the major coffeehouses don’t advertise the prices of their regular coffee drinks, which could be as low as $2 each! Or try making coffee at home and see if you can be your own barista.
Make Ch-Ch-Ch-Change(s)
We’re all guilty for thinking that extra change jingling in our pockets is nothing more than a nuisance. We dump those pennies, nickels, and dimes into tip jars when we get them because no one wants to carry around pocket change – but money is money! Pocket change can add up and even though it may seem childish to keep a piggy bank, you’d be surprised how much cash you can get when you trade in your nickels and dimes. You could have anywhere between $10-15 in a jarful – good enough for a Contiki optional excursion or lunch at a local cafe during your travels.
Deals and Steals and Coupons… Oh My!
Do a little old-fashioned sleuthing through your local newspapers and check out coupons and local deals. Perhaps you go out to eat several times a week and you are seeing all those $10 lunches adding up. Start packing your lunch, or take advantage of food deals (like Subway offering $2 dollor 6-inch Meatball Marina or Cold Cut Combo sandwiches for the month of December!) You can also check out websites like Groupon or LivingSocial to find out ways to cut back on your groceries, save on haircuts, and discover deals that will help put money back IN your wallet. Coupon clipping might sound time-consuming, but think of the cash money rewards you’ll get in return. Where are those scissors?
