(03) 9020 2905Don’t take holidays – work till you die. Looks like the government wants to increase age pension qualification to approximately 93 anyway, so you might not have a choice.
Seriously, before marriage, mortgages and midgets, my holiday destinations were partly chosen based on where the Aussie dollar was strong.
We were doing relatively well in Europe in 1996, Asia was pretty good in 1998 and Indonesia in 1999 … well Bali’s always cheap. To beat them all, Argentina was awesome value in 2003 for my honeymoon with Mrs DebtMan.
It certainly helps to chase economic crises and smashed currencies like a tornado hunter. Mmm, maybe Greece next.
Everywhere has been good value for Australians in recent years. Not so in 2001, when the Aussie fell below US50c. The Americans starting referring to our dollar as the “Pacific peso”, lumping us with the sombrero-wearing Speedy Gonzales.
With our dollar still at US90-95c, overseas travel is still, generally, cheap. Eventually, our currency will “revert to mean” and drop south of US80c. Then we’ll have reason to moan.
Saving a few bucks when travelling isn’t hard. Grandma Kerrin (right) gave some good tips. But here’s a few more.
Accommodation – you have control over your hotel bill. Stay somewhere a little cheaper, or find a cheap online hotel deal.
Food is also usually a big cost. Try the local markets. Great food, plus they’re usually entertaining – just refrain from turning it into a shopping frenzy.
And every city on this planet has fantastic free stuff. The kids don’t need theme parks the whole time.
Bruce Brammall is the author of Debt Man Walking (www.debtman.com.au) and principal adviser with Castellan Financial Consulting.