Sometimes it could be frustrating to see your monthly budget because you end up paying nothing but outstanding bills. You are paying towards your mortgage, student loans, credit card bills, car loan, and more. It seems that you are living under a huge load of debt. If you are stressed out because of your ever-mounting debts, remember you are not the only one in such a predicament. As per a study conducted by NerdWallet, the average American household seems to owe about $137,063 in total and that includes their mortgage. People having credit card debt, we understand that the average seems to be over $16,000 per household. Debts could pose a major challenge for people wanting to travel and having a memorable vacation. Do you think it’s a responsible thing to do? Can you go ahead adding travel debt to this already grim picture?
Generally speaking, you would not like to miss the opportunity to go about exploring the world while age and health are on your side. Of course, you would not like to adversely impact your credit score or jeopardize your long-term goals such as kid’s college education, retirement fund, etc. by wasting money on extravagant vacations.
Travel could prove to be good for several things including boosting your mental or emotional well-being. Whether somebody is traveling for business, or enjoying a week long vacation with family, or has sold off all assets or valuables to enjoy traveling around the world, we understand that traveling could make everyone happier by providing everlasting memories and experiences, building self-confidence, breaking the monotony of a routine existence, and giving you an opportunity to meet new people from across the globe.
Why Debt Should Not Be a Hindrance to Your Travel Plans
Numerous travel enthusiasts give top priority to travel despite being in debt. Many believe that life is short and the world is too big so there is no point in wasting precious time. People who are passionate about exploring the world do not let debts come in their way. We know of many people who keep traveling with family despite overpowering credit card debt and student loans too. They believe that it is best to explore the world while the kids are young for educating them, creating profound impressions on young minds, building those bonds, and creating memories to cherish the rest of their lives. These travel enthusiasts feel that the best classroom is the world. Moreover, it is not a wise decision to postpone travel plans until retirement because life is uncertain.
Many people feel that they would need to go on paying off some type of debt throughout their lifetime. There is no point waiting until everything is paid off because by then they would lose the best years, the best time to travel around freely. However, most people who are traveling despite some form of existing debt, have taken a firm decision to pay everything upfront for the trip and not to take any additional travel debt.
Many people feel that travel could help you stay motivated to pay down your debts. You feel happy to achieve bigger financial goals. If you are following a strict debt repayment plan and making steady progress toward debt repayment, it is okay to keep your savings in a special travel or vacation fund. There are no guarantees in life so there is no point in not having fun presently while working steadily toward a distant goal. You may seek professional assistance from reliable organizations like Nation debt Relief for perfect solutions.
Why Debt Should Stop You from Traveling?
If your dent is having a relatively low-interest rate. moreover, if you are consistently paying off your debt every month without encountering major cash crunch at the month ending; there could still be some room for a vacation in your budget. But when you are overwhelmed with high-interest ever-mounting debt like credit card balances, you simply cannot afford a vacation. It is best to postpone your travel plans because you just cannot take on additional travel debt. The debt must never be ignored and it must be treated as an emergency just like a leaky ceiling or a flat tire.
It is best to avoid your vacation plans particularly when you seem to be tackling consumer debt or credit card debt because if such a debt is not attended to for a long time, it would jeopardize your credit rating and you would find it more expensive to repay the debt. You must be getting the urge to go for a rejuvenating and relaxing vacation to ease the tension and stress of grappling with multiple debts but ultimately it would not serve any purpose. There is no point in adding to your emotional or financial burden anymore. Instead, you must tackle your existing debt first and then you may use travel as purely an incentive. It is a wise idea to determine accurately the amount you need to pay off so that you could think of traveling as a reward.
Tips for Traveling Even When in Debt
Modify Your Attitude
You must consider changing your attitude relating to debt. In the case, you are feeling cool and comfortable with debts; it is pretty evident that you would gather more debts until you are in the vicious cycle of debts. Once you focus on changing your attitude towards outstanding bills and debts you would start hating the concept of debt and you would be paying off your debts with top priority.
List All Your Present Debts & Get a Picture of Your Finances
You must identify all your existing debts and make a list of them along with the individual rates of interest. Focus your attention on making a comprehensive list of all your outstanding bills preferably in descending order depending on the rate of interest. Once you do this, you would know about your current financial scenario so that you could effectively strategize and make solid plans for the future.
Initiate Repayment of Bills
You must start to pay off all your outstanding bills. You must start paying off the highest interest loan first which is adding immensely to your debt.
Conclusion
You must follow one or more of the tips discussed above. You must never get into additional travel debt. You must start saving well in advance to create a travel fund. You must pay for your vacation upfront to enjoy a truly relaxing vacation without the stress of travel debt.
Author Bio:
About Michelle Joe: Michelle Joe is a blogger by choice. She loves to discover the world around her. She likes to share her discoveries, experiences, and express herself through her blogs. You can find her on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook
