Imagine this: you are recently married and planning for your honeymoon. You are on a budget, due to previous financial difficulties, but despite that, you want to go on a delightful honeymoon. You want to spend some quality time with each other, before going back to the grind of real life.
If you are in the same boat and wondering how you can set up a honeymoon on a budget, you are in the right place. We have some easy-to-apply budget tips listed in the article below so you can save money on your honeymoon.
1. Use a Honeymoon Registry
You don’t necessarily have to use your gift registry only for gifts. Think about it – with gift registries, you will probably end up with dozens of gifts that you never use. It’s not like you can even regift or sell these unusable gifts, as your relatives are going to hound you about them for years to come.
Avoid all that family drama. Ask your relatives, friends, and wedding attendees to help you with your honeymoon by using a honeymoon registry. The great thing about this is that your relatives can help you have a wonderful honeymoon by paying for fun activities, a hotel room upgrade, plane tickets, airport transfers, and more.
This way you can ensure you spend your honeymoon having a blast, rather than worrying about pinching every penny. Also, it’s ideal for your family and friends who would be happy to buy something for you that you would enjoy and remember for a long time to come.
A toaster might be used a few times and be thrown into a landfill. But the memories of your fabulous honeymoon will linger in your mind for a lifetime.
2. Redeem Credit Card Points and Miles
If you are in financial difficulty because you overused your credit card and are in a bunch of debt due to it, why not use that negative situation to your advantage? Hopefully, you were using a credit card that gives you points or miles or some travel rewards for using it.
There are many great travel credit cards out there for Canadians, like the American Express Cobalt or the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite. Every bank in Canada offers a travel credit card that you could avail yourself of. Banks also have reward points you can garner by using your chequing or savings accounts, like the RBC Rewards points.
All of this to say, it’s high time you began using your credit cards to your advantage, rather than to your detriment. You might have enough points or miles saved up already that you could use these to pay for your honeymoon activities, plane tickets, or hotel.
A lot of travel reward cards also come with some extras that could help make your honeymoon even more special, like:
- Access to a concierge who could help you set up activities or outings or reservations at fancy restaurants
- Automatic enrolment into travel and medical insurance when you purchase an airline ticket through the travel credit card
- Upgrades to better hotel rooms or a higher-quality resort, when you purchase an airline ticket through the card
The great thing about these travel credit cards is that you can earn points for purchases you are going to be making anyway, like groceries, transit, gas, cellphone bills, and other entertainment-related buys. Make sure to swipe your credit card as often as you can (vs. your debit card) to accumulate those points, and you might even end up paying for your entire honeymoon with points!
3. Check Online Coupon Sites
There are lots of online coupon sites like Groupon, LivingSocial, and more, that are always offering discounts and extravagant deals on a variety of items out there. When you know that the dates for your honeymoon are set in stone, then make sure to peruse through a bunch of these coupon sites daily for any deals that you could use.
They come up with new deals every day, so enroll with these coupon sites for a daily email that compiles all the deals related to items you are interested in, so you can stay in the loop.
You can get enormous deals through these sites on hotel rooms, spa treatments, vacations in the tropics, and more. You could even enroll yourself into some fun activities that you would never have been able to afford otherwise, by buying a coupon for it.
Also, don’t forget to comparison shop whenever you are purchasing anything related to your honeymoon. This is how to save money on whatever you are looking to purchase.
Stay alert and browse frequently for deals and coupons online and offline. Also, when you find a good deal, don’t delay and buy it instantly.
4. Don’t Eat at the Hotel
You don’t want to be like all the other honeymooners who spend all their time at the hotel and don’t get in the culture and subtle nuances of the place they are visiting. No matter if you go to Europe for your honeymoon or Bali or the Caribbeans, make sure to explore the area you are in.
Go out and interact with the locals, not only by having conversations with them but also by trying out the local cuisine. The hotel restaurants might be convenient, but they are not going to give you the full feeling of visiting another country.
It’s not a big deal to occasionally indulge yourself by having a meal at your hotel’s or resort’s restaurant. After all, you do want to pamper yourself a bit – it’s your honeymoon!
But try to eat one meal a day at a nearby local restaurant. This will allow you to get into the adventurous spirit, and explore the world outside your hotel or resort. You might even end up conversing with some locals and going out for a night about town with them.
These are stories from your honeymoon that you will end up telling your grandchildren when they ask you what you were like when you were younger and much more sprightly.
Make sure you take precautions if you do go out to eat at local restaurants:
- Do not eat or drink anything that hasn’t been washed properly with fresh water
- Eat only cooked foods and avoid anything raw, like salads, or fruit, because you don’t know how it’s been washed or if it has been washed at all
- Avoid traveller’s sickness by staying vigilant and healing any symptoms of it right away
- Go where the locals go, do not go to a local food stall or restaurant that looks empty or that the locals avoid – follow local wisdom, they always know better
With these tips in mind, you are ready to expand the horizons of your honeymoon even further and save money to boot.
5. Be Vocal about Being on Your Honeymoon
You might be embarrassed or be shying away from the spotlight (very Canadian of you) when it comes to bragging about your honeymoon, but we say get over it! The more people you can tell that it’s your honeymoon, the easier it will be to get additional deals.
Your taxi driver might be inclined to give you a special deal if you tell him/her that it’s your honeymoon. Or the airline check-in counter might end up upgrading you if they have space for it, but only if you tell them that you are on your honeymoon.
There is a certain camaraderie and joy that awakens among people when they see two people very much in love, embarking upon the beginning of their life together. Why not take advantage of these good vibes and get yourself some deals in the process?
If you keep mum, then you are not going to be privy to such upgrades and deals, so why do that to yourself?
It’s a win-win situation – they feel good when they are kind and helping you out and you feel good by receiving their grace. What could be better than this?
Budget Tips Are Only Useful if Applied
Knowledge is power, but only if applied to enhance your life. That’s why it’s paramount that you use the budget tips mentioned above to get the most enchanting honeymoon for you and your partner.
Do not feel shy or unworthy. This honeymoon is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime deal for you, so why not do it in the best manner possible.
If you are a little bit short on paying for your honeymoon and interested in getting a quick loan to tide you over, apply for it at 24Cash today. We will give you the cash you need without any credit checks or investigations. The loan request takes 3 easy steps, can be completed in 5 minutes, and you can do it from the comfort of your home.