Carnival Dream's Lanai When you get onboard your cruise ship, you can often forget about your worries and problems on land. You may buy some gifts for people back home, some drinks, and other things that were not included in your cruise vacation's base price. However, when your cruise ends you will not be able to just leave the amount of money you owe onboard the ship. This amount you owe will leave the ship with you. Therefore, it is important you keep track of your vacation expenses and have the amount you will spend planned in advance. A cruise budget is a great way to plan your expenses and then keep track of how much you are actually spending. This blog post will give you tips for creating a cruise budget worksheet.
For my blank budget template: Click Here (Will Open As A Google Document. No Google Login Required)
I. The General Basics of A Cruise Budget
A budget is way for you to plan your expenses and then afterwards go back and see how much you actually spent. Detailed budgets will allocate specific dollar amounts to different aspects of cruising. Before you take the time to create a budget there is something you must understand. A budget is only good if you plan on following it. If you create a budget, but then disregard it and spend freely on your vacation it was pointless creating a budget in the first place. If you don't plan on following your budget you should not waste your time making one!
II. Deciding On Dollar Amounts For Each Category
The key to deciding on dollar amounts comes down to two essential things. First, you need to know an approximate amount of how much things will cost. If a round trip airplane ticket is $500.00 per person you will need to budget that amount times the number of tickets you will have to buy. Don't forget to include your spouse, children, or anyone else you are paying for! You wouldn't want to only budget $100.00 per person for airfare tickets it the rate is much higher. Being reasonable is important when deciding on amounts. Don't plan on spending $10.00 at the bar when you know you will visit the ship's bar often for a drink. This brings me to my second essential thing -know your personal spending habits. If you don't plan on visiting the bar you will know to budget no money to bar spending. If you don't plan on visiting the casino you know you can budget zero dollars to the casino. However, if you plan on buying a lot in the gift shop you can plan on budgeting a significant amount to that category.
III. After The Cruise
After your entire vacation is over compare what you budgeted to the actual amounts you spent. This will help you see if you spent more or less than intended. You will also learn for next time how to create a budget that better fits your spending habits.
For my blank budget template: Click Here (Will Open As A Google Document. No Google Login Required)
I. The General Basics of A Cruise Budget
A budget is way for you to plan your expenses and then afterwards go back and see how much you actually spent. Detailed budgets will allocate specific dollar amounts to different aspects of cruising. Before you take the time to create a budget there is something you must understand. A budget is only good if you plan on following it. If you create a budget, but then disregard it and spend freely on your vacation it was pointless creating a budget in the first place. If you don't plan on following your budget you should not waste your time making one!
II. Deciding On Dollar Amounts For Each Category
The key to deciding on dollar amounts comes down to two essential things. First, you need to know an approximate amount of how much things will cost. If a round trip airplane ticket is $500.00 per person you will need to budget that amount times the number of tickets you will have to buy. Don't forget to include your spouse, children, or anyone else you are paying for! You wouldn't want to only budget $100.00 per person for airfare tickets it the rate is much higher. Being reasonable is important when deciding on amounts. Don't plan on spending $10.00 at the bar when you know you will visit the ship's bar often for a drink. This brings me to my second essential thing -know your personal spending habits. If you don't plan on visiting the bar you will know to budget no money to bar spending. If you don't plan on visiting the casino you know you can budget zero dollars to the casino. However, if you plan on buying a lot in the gift shop you can plan on budgeting a significant amount to that category.
III. After The Cruise
After your entire vacation is over compare what you budgeted to the actual amounts you spent. This will help you see if you spent more or less than intended. You will also learn for next time how to create a budget that better fits your spending habits.