família, the holiday season is finally here for me, and it is a big one. Between August and September I have four trips lined up, and if I am being honest, this could turn into a very expensive two months if I do not plan it properly. So today I want to pull back the curtain and actually walk you through the money side of travel, because nobody talks about this part enough.
Here is what my next two months look like:
- One week in Budapest in August with a friend
- Five days in Oslo right after, visiting another friend
- One week in Ireland in September with my husband
- Five days in Trondheim visiting my sister
That is a lot of travel back to back, and travel adds up fast if you are not intentional about it. So let’s break down exactly how I am preparing my wallet for it, trip by trip.
Trip 1: Budapest
This is the trip that took the most planning, and it is also the one that saved me the most money, simply because we booked early.
My friend and I locked in our accommodation back in April, months before the trip, and split the cost between us. Total accommodation came to 5 888,03 NOK (around €538.90), which worked out to about 2 944,02 NOK (roughly €269.45) each.
We did the same with flights. Round trip flights from Oslo came to 5 198 NOK (about €475.62) total, split evenly, so about 2 599 NOK (around €237.81) per person.
Booking both months in advance and splitting everything with a travel partner is genuinely one of the easiest ways to cut your travel costs in half, literally.
On top of that, I have been saving separately for spending money, since I always put money aside monthly for vacations. Because I actually want to enjoy this trip and not just survive it, I saved 10 000 NOK (around €915) to cover meals, transportation, activities, and any extra shopping while I am there.
Budapest has a reputation for being budget friendly compared to a lot of Western Europe, so 10 000 NOK should not just cover the basics, it should allow for a few nice dinners and some genuine splurging too. Our plan is to enjoy the local spots, skip the tourist trap restaurants that overcharge for mediocre food, and only make the occasional exception when something is truly worth it.
Trip 2: Oslo
Right after Budapest, I am heading to Oslo for five days to visit a friend. This one is intentionally low cost.
Since I live in the south of Norway, I am taking Flixbus instead of flying, which comes to about 429 NOK (around €39.26) for a roughly four hour journey. Not the fastest option, but it is a big money saver compared to flights, and honestly four hours with a good playlist is nothing.
For the stay itself, my friend is covering food and housing, so my only real cost is local transportation, budgeted at about 738 NOK (around €67.55). I will also be working remotely during part of this trip, which naturally keeps my spending low since I will not be out and about as much.
Trip 3 and 4: Ireland and Trondheim
September brings two more trips. A week in Ireland with my husband, and five days in Trondheim visiting my sister.
Ireland looks a little different budget wise because I am traveling with my husband, which means the financial pressure is shared rather than sitting entirely on me. Trondheim is even easier on the wallet since I will be staying with my sister, so accommodation is completely covered and I only need spending money for restaurants and outings.
For both of these trips combined, I set aside 10 000 NOK (around €915).
So how did I actually save for all of this?
This is the part I really want to get into, because saving for travel is not about one big lump sum appearing out of nowhere. It is about a system.
I keep three separate savings pots outside of my everyday spending account:
- A holiday savings account, where I put aside anywhere from 200 to 500 NOK monthly, specifically earmarked for travel.
- A personal savings account, for things that are just for me, no specific purpose attached.
- A future savings account, for whatever life throws my way down the line, big or small.
None of these touch my main account, which is what I use for everyday recreational spending. That separation matters more than people realize, because money sitting in your main account gets spent without you even noticing. Money tucked away in a separate account feels less accessible, and that little bit of friction is often enough to protect it.
Now here is the honest part. Some months I save the full 500 NOK. Some months I only manage 200. And some months, I save absolutely nothing at all. Life happens. Unexpected bills show up, plans change, and some months your finances simply need to go toward something else entirely. And that is completely fine.
The goal was never to save perfectly every single month. The goal is consistency over time, not perfection in the moment. A month of zero savings does not undo six months of steady saving before it. What matters is that you come back to it the next month, rather than abandoning the habit altogether because one month did not go as planned.
A few more things I have learned about traveling on a budget
Beyond the accounts and the planning, here are a few habits that have made a real difference for me over the years:
Book early whenever you can. Flights and accommodation almost always get more expensive the closer you get to the date. Locking things in months ahead, like we did for Budapest, is one of the simplest ways to save without sacrificing the experience.
Travel with people when it makes sense. Splitting accommodation costs with a friend cut my Budapest housing cost in half without cutting the quality of the trip at all.
Let some trips be cheap on purpose. Not every trip needs a big spending budget. My Oslo trip is intentionally low cost because the point of that visit is the friendship, not the spending. Knowing which trips are the “spend a little more” trips and which are the “keep it simple” trips helps your money stretch further across an entire season.
Automate what you can. Setting up automatic transfers into your savings accounts, even small ones, removes the temptation to skip it. You do not have to think about it, it just happens.
Give yourself grace during the low months. Do not let a month of zero savings turn into giving up on the habit entirely. Life is not linear, and neither is saving money. What matters is picking it back up.
Two months, four trips, and a plan that lets me actually enjoy every single one of them without financial stress hanging over my head. That is the goal. Not restriction, not guilt, just intention.
If you are heading into your own travel season, I hope this gives you a real, honest look at what it actually takes to fund it. Not perfectly, not without a few zero months along the way, but with a system that works.
Where are you headed this season? Let me know in the comments, I would love to hear how you are planning and saving for it.
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