Making ₵ents – Cash Vacation

Paying for a Vacation in Cash

In just a couple weeks, the kids will be back in school. It’s hard to believe that we are wrapping up another season of barbecues, swimming, and vacations.

Ah, vacation. That little getaway that gives you time to recharge or seek adventure in a new land. Living debt free in our home and not having a credit card to even use as a deposit tool requires us to plan our vacations in advance. This can be challenging; but after nearly eight years of living on debit – not credit – cards, I have learned these have been the best vacations.

The Rhoten family enjoying Florence, Italy.

We plan our vacations out in advance and save cash. Separate checking and savings accounts without any fees or use requirements help us leave our everyday household account alone while saving and traveling. We typically plan a big trip (planes, car, hotel) somewhere every other year, and it has always been in the United States. The other year, we do something more local that doesn’t require plane tickets. Our vacation this year was in the making for over a year and a half.

In late 2010, very good friends shared job news with us that would have them living in Europe instead of Ohio. We decided to start saving so we could vacation overseas at the halfway point of their work assignment in Switzerland. It took planning, budgeting, and coordinating on our part, but we were determined to visit them.

Don’t believe what you hear – that a credit card is necessary. It just takes a few more steps using debit cards, but with the same protection as a credit card. For example, when I was preparing to purchase international airline tickets, I had to call the customer service department of the bank to ask for a temporary increase in my daily spending limit. Traditionally, debit cards with the Visa or MasterCard logo will only allow $400-500 in purchases per day. Purchasing five tickets (my mother-in-law joined us on the trip) was not a small transaction. The customer service department asked me about the amount and what merchant. Once the purchase is made, the increased limit falls off the card and everything is back to normal.

Smaller online transactions with companies located outside the U.S., like city travel passes or hotels, normally have to be attempted without bank assistance. If the transaction doesn’t go through, a call from Visa or MasterCard fraud should be received. Once your information gets verified, the transaction can be attempted again, usually without incident. It’s just a minor inconvenience, but it’s easy to make it work.

The only other challenge is that our bankcards don’t use the chip-and-pin technology that is preferred in most of Europe. Our swipe cards can still be used in most places; but in some places, they can’t. Accessing cash at ATMs is easy and in the currency of the country you are visiting. The key here would be notifying your bank when and where you will be traveling.

An additional step we took was requesting a second debit card for each of us in case something happened to one of our primary cards. This gave us peace of mind since we don’t have a credit card. As it turned out, we did need one of those cards. Fraud departments want to protect your account, so we were okay with the block of one card even though the charge they were concerned about was legitimate.

As I look back on these vacations since being debt free, they all are great. But this last one to Italy, Germany, and Switzerland topped the cake. We were able enjoy our vacation and not have it follow us home in an envelope with a due date. cg

 

Kate is a financial expert of what to do and not do with money as well as owner of 4 Walls Financial, A Coaching Focused Company. She has attended and completed Dave Ramsey’s Counselor Training. Follow Kate on Twitter 4WFCoach, reach out to her via email at kate@4wallsfinancial.com or visit www.4wallsfinancial.com. Feel free to share ideas or questions for future articles.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Send me your media kit!

hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: "6486003", formId: "5ee2abaf-81d9-48a9-a10d-de06becaa6db" });