In 2023 I took a week-long trip to Mexico that I paid for entirely with money I had saved over the previous six months. No credit card debt. No “pay it off later.” The total was about $900 including flights, and I did not feel broke when I got back. Here is the system I used — not a budget spreadsheet, just a few habits that made saving mostly automatic.

Separate the money before you spend it

I opened a separate checking account — not a savings account, a checking account with its own debit card — just for travel. Every payday, I transferred $75 into it automatically. I did not look at the balance. I did not touch the card. Six months later, there was $900 in there, and that was my trip budget. No math, no tracking, no willpower in the moment.

The separate checking account matters more than you would think. If the money is sitting in your main account, it feels available. You borrow from your “vacation fund” for takeout or an Amazon impulse buy and tell yourself you will pay it back. You rarely do. A separate account makes the money mentally off-limits.

Book flights on the right day

Google Flights and Hopper both let you set price alerts. Do that first — before you even know when you are going. Watch prices for a few weeks and you will see the pattern. Generally, Tuesday and Wednesday flights are cheaper than Friday through Monday. Booking 3 to 6 weeks ahead is the sweet spot for domestic flights; 2 to 4 months for international. The “book on Tuesday at midnight” advice is mostly a myth now — pricing algorithms are too sophisticated. Price alerts beat guessing every time.

Where the money really gets eaten

It is not the flight. It is the $12 breakfast at the airport, the $40 dinner you did not plan for, the round of drinks at the hotel bar, the Uber because you are too tired to walk. These feel small in the moment and add up to hundreds of dollars by the end of the trip.

My fix: I book accommodations with a kitchen or at least a mini-fridge. I go to a grocery store on day one and buy breakfast food, snacks, and drinks. That one trip to the store saves me $20 to $30 a day in unplanned food spending. I still eat out — just not three meals a day.

Another thing: I stopped buying souvenirs. I take photos instead. Nobody needs a shot glass with “Cancun” on it. My photos are better souvenirs and they are free.