Your Next Vacation

Save Now and Enjoy or Pay More Later

Vacations are becoming more and more expensive. If a vacation is in your plans, you should consider some basics so you can make it happen. How much is it going to cost? How are you going to pay for it? What steps can you take now so you enjoy your vacation even more—knowing it is paid for?

Estimate Your Costs
The costs will depend on the type of trip you plan. But, probably at a minimum, you'll have to pay for transportation (air and car rental), accommodations (hotel), meals and other activities. Here is a worksheet that you can prepare.

Estimated Vacation Cost Worksheet
Transportation
Airline tickets	Parking or trip to/from airport	Rental Car	Taxis	Other	Totals
$					$
Accommodations
Hotel	Cost per day $ x # days 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21				$
Meals	Cost per day $ x # days 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21				$
Activities
Entertainment/Nightlife	Cost per day $ x # days 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21				$
Tours					$
Shopping					$
Other Activities					$
Other Estimated Costs - including souvenirs					$
Estimated Total					$

Save Now or Pay More Later
One of the best decisions you can make is to save the money you will need before you go. That way, you can enjoy the trip without financial worry. The additional cost of using a credit card for the trip can be significant. Here is a simple chart showing how much you need to save monthly so you will have what you need before the trip.

Amount You Want To Save	Monthly Savings Over 6 Months	Monthly Savings Over 12 Months	Monthly Savings Over 18 Months
$2,500	$414	$205	$136
$5,000	$828	$411	$272
$7,500	$1,242	$616	$408
$10,000	$1,656	$822	$544

You can also create your own savings plan with the calculator below.

Vacation Savings Calculator
Estimated vacation costs	$
What you have saved to date	$
Interest rate you expect to earn	%
How many until your vacation	months
Additional savings needed	$
Monthly savings needed	$

Interest is compounded monthly. This calculator is to be used for estimation purposes only. Tower is not responsible for its accuracy and the results are not guaranteed.

Save to Reduce Credit Card Debt
As tempting as it may be to just charge your vacation on your credit card, the costs of doing so can be significant. Saving $7500 for your vacation before you go instead of paying off $7500 of credit card debt after you return will save you about $840.

The decision is yours, but you may find better ways to spend that $840, like extending the vacation for two extra days.

Start Your Automatic Savings Today
There's no easier way to save than with an automatic savings plan. Take advantage of Tower's free direct deposit service—and have all or a portion of your paychecks or other recurring checks deposited safely and on time. Once you've set up direct deposit, allocating direct deposits into a Tower Club account is the smart way to manage your savings.

To set up direct deposit allocation, login to Home Banking, go to Online Forms and submit the Direct Deposit Allocation Request form. If you're not a Home Banking user, sign up easily and securely today.

Conclusions
Your vacation should be fun and carefree. Taking steps to save before you go can provide the peace of mind knowing that the cost is covered. In addition, you can save quite a bit of money.

The information in this article is meant to be educational in nature and does not pertain specifically to any Tower product or service. Each person must consider his or her objectives, risk tolerances and level of comfort when making financial decisions. In many cases, seeking the advice of competent professional advisors can ensure the decisions you make will be best suited for your situation.