Market Movements and Holiday Budgeting Blues

Market Movements and Holiday Budgeting Blues For most career-driven women and working mums, an occasional getaway or family holiday can be just the recipe to get you through the long working week, but recently for Brits, it seems the market is set on making that twice as hard. For anyone who works in the trading industry or happens to dabble in a bit of spread betting on the side, you will probably be far too aware of what has been going on between the Dollar/Euro and the Pound recently. In the last three weeks alone, the Dollar and Euro have both gained 3.5c to every pound, meaning that for every hundred Dollars or Euros you spent abroad, you would be spending an additional £3.50 more than you anticipated. While this may not sound much in principal, shopping trips to New York or family trips to Disney Land Paris can now end up costing hundreds of pounds more, once food and admissions are tagged on. So just how does one end up beating the market fluctuations and still get to afford the holidays that they wanted this year? Well there is the obvious answer of making money on the markets by joining a company like City Index where you can play the markets and make up your shortfall, but this isn’t such an easy feat. Alternatively, if you don’t fancy yourself as a semi-professional trader, you can try a couple of other simple methods to keep your costs down, without sacrificing your dream holiday. 1)           Before you book anything, take a glance at cash back sites like Quidco or Top Cashback to where you can earn money back on your purchases. While this may not seem like a huge difference, you can get up to 10% on hotel costs which can easily make up the currency shortfall for your trip. 2)           If you haven’t booked your holiday then an all-inclusive may be a good opportunity to ensure you aren’t affected by any further GBP issues. With the cost of your food and stay pre-assigned, you can better budget for your entire trip rather than getting a nasty shock when you are out there. 3)           If you have no option but to exchange your money, make sure you look at the rate you are getting from your bank card or travel exchange. While many have favoured local cash withdrawals under the promise of no extra charges, the exchange rate offered by your bank may be far from fair and exchanging currency before you go may also help save you pounds. Whatever you choose to do and how ever you try to make up the potential shortfalls, remember to compare as much as you can as every little bit can add up to a big saving in the end.