Here at Maybe A Weekend, I encourage people to get out, see something new, eat the food, drink the drinks, and occasionally disappear onto a cruise ship.
I also encourage paying the electric bill. Coming home to a dark house is a fairly aggressive way to extend the vacation atmosphere.
Fiscal responsibility and adventure can exist together. You can enjoy life while saving for retirement, maintaining a rainy day fund, and keeping your bills paid. It takes planning, trade-offs, and occasionally admitting that wanting an upgrade very badly does not make it a necessity.
Behind the Curtain: It’s Mostly Work and Leftovers
If you judge my life by the photos, you might assume I’m constantly traveling and treating my bank account like an unlimited beverage package.
When I’m not traveling, I’m usually working or at home, spending as little as possible. I cook meals at home and find small, inexpensive activities to pass the time. There are often long breaks between trips when my spending is limited to essentials.
But this isn’t a day-in-the-life blog. Do you really want a twelve-part series about me going to work and reheating dinner?
“Out to Sea” sounds considerably more exciting than “Back to the Microwave.”
Behind that fancy trip are often months—if not years—of saving. The photos show the payoff. They rarely show the packed lunches, skipped purchases, and regular savings transfers that helped make it happen.
Those ordinary stretches help fund the adventures. My camera roll contains sunsets and ships. My actual life contains significantly more work and dishes.
Start With Your Numbers, Not Somebody Else’s Vacation
Everybody’s situation varies. Income, debt, housing, children, health, caregiving, and job stability affect what’s realistic. I’m a single adult with a full-time job and no children. My choices won’t fit every household.
Start with reliable take-home income, then review a few months of actual spending. Include housing, utilities, groceries, transportation, insurance, healthcare, and required debt payments. Add predictable expenses that arrive less often, such as annual renewals and car maintenance.
A $600 annual bill means setting aside $50 a month. It does not mean being personally victimized by the calendar every year.
Then decide what you can put toward emergency savings, retirement, extra debt repayment, and enjoyment. Account for retirement contributions already deducted from your paycheck so you don’t count them twice.
Personally, I haven’t found a budgeting app that fits my needs. I use a spreadsheet and sometimes actual paper to write down my plans. My financial department apparently still supports handwriting.
I also use a calendar app to track due dates. Knowing what you owe and remembering when it’s due are separate skills. “I was mentally on a cruise” has yet to get a bill waived.
Use whatever system you’ll maintain. Check spending regularly and review the plan monthly. If your numbers consistently don’t match reality, adjust the spending or the budget. Imaginary grocery numbers are fiction with receipts.
Protect the Rainy Day Fund
Your rainy day fund is for unexpected necessary expenses or lost income. Keep it separate from travel money, somewhere safe and accessible.
A discounted cruise is not a financial emergency. Emotionally? We can discuss it.
Start with an achievable savings goal and build from there. Several months of essential expenses can be a useful longer-term benchmark, but your target should reflect your circumstances. Unpredictable income or greater household responsibilities may call for a bigger cushion.
Automate manageable transfers if your cash flow allows. If you need the fund, use it—that’s its job—and prioritize rebuilding it afterward.
Predictable costs deserve their own savings categories. Tires eventually wear out. December continues to arrive annually, despite my objections.
Future You Deserves a Budget, Too
Retirement shouldn’t depend entirely on whatever remains after dinner, shopping, and a persuasive travel advertisement.
If your employer offers a retirement match, understand the requirements and vesting rules, and aim to capture it when feasible. Automate sustainable contributions, review investment choices and fees, and consider increasing contributions when your finances improve.
There isn’t one percentage that works for everyone. Age, existing savings, retirement goals, and expected expenses matter. Get qualified help when you need a personal plan.
Also, an upcoming vacation and your emergency fund shouldn’t depend on investments rising at exactly the right moment. Markets do not coordinate their schedules with your PTO request.
Future me needs groceries. Present me wants a lobster roll. Both deserve consideration.
Balance Doesn’t Have to Be 50/50
Your balance might be 50/50, 60/40, or 90/10.
These are possible splits of money available after essentials and required payments, with savings needs accounted for—not instructions to spend half your paycheck on vacation.
Maybe you divide available money equally between financial goals and fun. Maybe you put 90% toward rebuilding savings or paying down expensive debt and leave 10% for enjoyment.
With $400 available, a 60/40 split means $240 toward financial goals and $160 toward fun. Whether those amounts are appropriate depends on your needs. A ratio alone cannot tell you whether you’re saving enough.
If nothing is left after essentials, no clever percentage fixes that. A spreadsheet cannot manufacture disposable income. Focus on stability and affordable ways to enjoy yourself.
Your split can change as life changes. Balance means making deliberate choices that work for you.
Price the Whole Trip Before Falling in Love With It
Set a spending limit before building your dream itinerary. Otherwise, you may become emotionally committed to a hotel your bank account has never consented to.
Include transportation, lodging, meals, drinks, activities, taxes, tips, baggage, transfers, documentation, and insurance where relevant. Leave a realistic buffer for unexpected costs.
For cruises, the fare is only part of the picture. Living in Arizona, I also budget for getting to the port, flights, transfers, and a hotel before departure. Even a comped cabin doesn’t teleport me to the ship. An unfortunate gap in cruise industry innovation.
Divide your savings goal by the time available. A $1,200 trip in eight months requires $150 a month if you’re starting from zero. If that doesn’t fit, change the price, timing, or destination.
The calculator is providing information. You don’t have to take it personally.
Spend on What You’ll Actually Remember
Pick what matters most and build around it. For me, a boat tour, a memorable meal, or exploring with my camera may matter more than a fancy room I’ll mostly use for sleeping.
A few ways to stretch the budget:
- Compare dates and destinations. Consider the full cost, weather, and available activities. A cheap flight doesn’t help much if everything else is expensive.
- Check the final booking price. Include baggage, cleaning charges, resort fees, taxes, parking, and transfers.
- Consider location. A cheaper room far from everything may cost more once transportation is included.
- Mix special meals with simple ones. Grocery stops, breakfast at your accommodation, and picnics can leave room for the dinner you actually care about.
- Find inexpensive activities. Beaches, parks, walks, viewpoints, and neighborhoods can fill a day beautifully. Check admission costs, and remember that “free” tours may expect tips.
- Set a spending allowance. Include room for a spontaneous stop without turning every impulse into an exception. Give souvenirs their own limit, too.
- Read cancellation and insurance terms. Understand coverage, exclusions, deadlines, and what you could lose before booking.
- Watch the small charges. Check foreign transaction fees, ATM fees, roaming costs, and currency conversion charges before they start collecting souvenirs from your account.
During the trip, check what you’ve spent. If one activity costs more, adjust another category. A budget helps most while there are still choices to make.
Points Are Helpful. Interest Is Less Charming.
Rewards can reduce travel costs when they fit spending you already planned. Compare cash prices, redemption value, taxes, and fees. Don’t buy things you can’t afford just to collect points.
If you use a credit card, have the money set aside and pay the statement balance in full by the due date. Paying on time while carrying a balance can still mean paying interest.
A credit limit is not a travel budget. I’d rather bring home photos than a souvenir balance that keeps charging admission.
Adventure Can Be Close to Home
Sometimes the budget supports a cruise. Sometimes it supports a day trip, a picnic, backyard camping, or a walk with your camera.
A local adventure still counts. You don’t need an international boarding pass to enjoy life, and you don’t need to postpone every enjoyable moment until retirement.
There’s room between “spend everything immediately” and “never have fun again.” That room might contain a lake, a packed lunch, and very little cellular service. Sounds promising.
Check the Advice Before Sending the Money
Always check financial planning advice with trusted, qualified sources—including anything you read here. Knowing where to find a lobster roll does not qualify me to manage your retirement.
Use established educational resources such as Investor.gov and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. For personal guidance, verify a financial professional’s credentials, registration where applicable, disciplinary history, and how they’re paid.
Don’t fall for get-rich-quick schemes. If it sounds too good to be true, there’s probably a reason. Huge guaranteed investment returns with little or no risk, secret systems, and pressure to act immediately are warning signs. Verify independently before handing over money.
Anyone promising instant wealth for three easy payments may be funding their own vacation with yours.
YOLO Is a Reminder, Not a Payment Plan
We aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. But tomorrow’s bills have a surprisingly strong attendance record.
I want to enjoy today while protecting my ability to enjoy the years ahead. Sometimes that means booking the trip. Sometimes it means waiting, saving longer, or choosing a smaller adventure.
Spend with intention. Save with intention. Leave room to live.
Your version might be 50/50, 60/40, or 90/10. Make it work for your circumstances, and adjust when necessary.
Then go enjoy something you can afford. Preferably without requiring future you to spend six months paying for present you’s margaritas.
What are you making room for: a big trip, a weekend escape, or a little local chaos?
—Garrick, Maybe A Weekend
Maybe A Weekend is not a financial adviser. This is general information and personal perspective, not individualized financial advice. Do your own research and seek qualified guidance for your circumstances. Please don’t build your retirement strategy exclusively around a guy making cruise jokes.
Resources
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Building an emergency fund
- Investor.gov: Retirement planning at your first job
- Investor.gov: Red flags of investment fraud
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