I’m curious about something… when you’re on vacation, should dining expenses come out of your travel budget or your dining budget? What do you think is best practice? I’m asking because I’m only on day one of our five-day vacation, and I’ve already spent a quarter of our monthly dining budget, which is $1,000. I’ve spent $14 on coffee, $20 on breakfast, $52 on drinks, and $150 on dinner. The good news is that breakfast for the rest of the trip is included with our hotel stay, but the bad news is my husband really loves his lobster. What do you all think?
I struggled with this question last year myself. I came to the conclusion that everything while I’m traveling should come from my travel budget. I liked doing it this way because then I was able to see the true cost of the trip.
When traveling, I budget and set aside the full amount necessary for the trip, including food.
Those are both optional spending categories, so I wouldn’t get too hung up on it. I can see more of a reason to put it in travel, especially if the cause of you dining out is because of your travel and cooking is extra difficult.
Personally, while I budget daily in very detailed categories, everything related to vacation is paid from my vacation budget. I have a separate bank account for vacation, and I fill it with money throughout the year to use while on vacation.
I usually take out of the dining budget the amount we typically eat out if we were at home. Everything in excess of that comes out of the travel budget.
I could see doing this, but what I’d do in practice is allocate all expenses to vacation and just not spend as much on eating out while at home that month. Those dollars could just go back into savings.
I do it out of travel, but it doesn’t really matter since budgeted money is fungible and all.
I allocate the expenses to my vacation budget category. It helps me see what I spent specifically for that trip.
I log all dining done on vacation as part of that trip’s expenses. I feel it gives a more accurate picture at the end of the trip or month as to where money was spent and why.
When I make a budget for vacation, I budget all types of expenses I expect to incur while away from home, including food. My regular dining out budget is meant for when I am at home.