Before we got married, my husband and I decided we wanted to visit Hawaii every year. Especially when it gets cold on the mainland, I just want to be somewhere warm. But when it comes time to budget a Hawaii vacation, that can be hard for some! We discovered smart ways to save money and budget a Hawaii vacation.
In our most recent trip to Maui, we paid about $20 for round-trip flights for both of us. For the hotels, we paid about $175 for 5-7 nights. For food and activities, we have a stream of income that works for us while we’re on vacation so we don’t stress about the out-of-pocket costs!
So here are the best tips I’ve got on how to budget a Hawaii vacation. You don’t need to do anything crazy, you just need to be smart.
On that note: I am not a financial advisor. These are just some of the best ways we’ve been able to budget a Hawaii vacation. I encourage you to make wise financial choices and consult a financial professional if needed! 🙂
1. Save up
This is the obvious thing to do first. If you want to go on vacation, you need to set aside money for it. This is where we started out: work hard, stick to a strict budget, put x-amount into a savings account for a trip, and then go on vacay to Hawaii! But then we leveled up to getting smarter about where we put our money and how we paid for things. So don’t miss #4 and 5!
2. Clean out and sell stuff (and stop buying things you don’t need)
I’ve become a minimalist. I don’t like “stuff” lying around, so I’ve literally sold or donated anything that we didn’t need. This is an easy way to get some quick cash for a trip—it’s not a method that will last forever, because eventually you could sell everything in your house!
But it’s a great start. Sell on Facebook Indoor Yard sales, Craigslist, or a local community page (here in Utah that would be KSL).
Tip: If someone is trying to get rid of something for free, take a minute to consider if it’s worth anything. Could you resell an item that someone is getting rid of anyways? One example of this is that my in-laws got rid of an old ping-pong table. They just wanted it off their hands so we took and sold it on Facebook indoor yard sale.
Also consider if a free item is something worth cleaning or fixing up and selling, kind of like a fixer-upper but on a much smaller scale!
On that note, try not to accumulate things you don’t need. Not only is it a waste of your money, but you’ll have more “stuff” in your house!
3. Sell stuff you make
I’m not saying you need to start a full-on business or anything, but if you have a talent to make something, try selling the items you make. There are plenty of people in the community who sell services or products to make a little extra money on the side. Here are some ideas: crafts, photography, food, decoration, etc.
And, of course, if your little experiment works and you start selling a ton of stuff, convert it into a business!
4. Generate streams of passive income
This is HUGE. Passive income is anything that makes you money and requires minimal to no effort on your part. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? You don’t have to own a rental property or storage unit to make passive income. You can start by asking, “What do I have?”
If you have space in your garage, rent it out using Neighbor.
Own a car that you don’t use that often? Consider putting it on Turo.
If you have a place in your house to rent out, consider doing an airbnb.
Own tools, equipment, or recreational products? Try renting them out on Yudilize.
The main thing is to use what you already own!
We actually took the time to finish our basement and convert it into an Airbnb. Our airbnb has done really well for a small town in Utah. And it’s sooo nice to be on vacation while still making money from the airbnb! If you have an extra bedroom, unused basement, or separate apartment, consider listing it on airbnb.
Start an airbnb and get $40!
And don’t forget bonuses from referrals. Get an extra $40 when you sign up with our referral code and host your first airbnb guest!
We also own a couple of paddle boards, which we rent out during the summer. It’s a great way to use what we have and make money off them when we’re not using them! In fact, you can pay off what you’ve bought by renting it out. Always do your research beforehand to see if there’s a market demand for anything you plan to buy and rent out.
In all, you really don’t have to think TOO hard about creating streams of passive income: if you own something that would be of value to others, and you don’t use it all the time, why not try renting it out? There are opportunities to make passive income around us all the time!
5. Use credit cards – Our #1 way to basically travel for free!
I know credit cards are that dreaded thing for some people. But they don’t have to be, especially if you use them the right way. I used to be anti-credit card, as I followed Dave Ramsey and agreed that you don’t get rich with “brownie points.” However, my perspective shifted when we received a letter in the mail from Delta Airlines, saying that if I signed up for their credit card, I could receive 70,000 skymiles.
I was going to rip it up and throw it away, like I usually do when we receive credit card offers, but my husband had been doing research on how to travel using credit cards. So he convinced me to consider this offer.
After discussing it and researching how many miles it took to do a round-trip from Hawaii to Utah, we decided to sign up for the Delta credit card. The credit card had some kind of caveat like we had to spend x-amount of money in the first 4 months. But I used the credit card on things in our normal budget: food, gas, bills, etc, and it naturally added up to the amount required to get the sign-on bonus.
And just like that, we had more than enough miles to take a round trip for two people to Hawaii! It was the most incredible feeling to be able to spend only $20-ish in taxes and fees for our flights.
I continue to use my Delta card and it’s been so worth it. It does have a yearly fee, but that’s a small price to pay for the many experiences we get out of it.
What about getting free hotels in Hawaii?
We tried the Chase credit card with the sign-on bonus, and used those points to get some hotel stays free. I think Chase is a great option, but I like to stick with one credit card.
So we did some research and found out you can get package deals through Delta airlines, meaning:
- flight + hotel
- or flight + car
- flight + hotel + car package
I like using only one credit card because it’s easier to maintain and watch. However, I know some people who use more than one credit card and it works for them.
Here are the GOLDEN RULES to using a credit card—get these rules down and you are all set!
Don’t spend money on the credit card that you don’t have!
Only sign up for a credit card when there is a sign-on bonus.
Do keep up on your payments—you earn rewards here and there for being loyal and on top of things.
The sooner you sign up, the sooner you can start accumulating points.
Do your research beforehand—how many points does it cost for one person to take a round-trip flight to Hawaii and back? Can you spend x-amount of money in the 3-4 months the credit card requires to get the sign-on bonus?
Do note any yearly fees for the credit card (so you see no surprises when the year rolls around and the yearly fee shows up on your account).
Don’t cancel the credit card before the year is up. Read all the terms and conditions because if you cancel before the year mark with some credit cards, they may have the right to take away your points! And if you already used your points, you might end up owing them more!
Do take advantage of the credit card features. Some credit cards, like the Delta credit card, offers free checked bags with every flight. Other credit cards have companion passes, meaning you only need to buy one flight and your companion can jump on for free with you!
Do refer other people to sign up for the credit card and get bonus points!
Sign up with my referral bonus!
With that said, get 90,000 bonus miles with my referral sign on! There’s no shame in inviting others to join, and 90,000 is a LOT of miles. It’s around 70,000 for my husband and I to fly to Hawaii just so you can get an idea. 🙂 Sign up below!
Delta Platinum Skymiles Referral Offer: 90,000 Bonus Miles
So how did we go to Maui for only $300 or less?
Because we used Delta Skymile points, our flights costs about $20 for the taxes and fees. After we bought the flights, Delta popped up with some good deals for car rentals. So we got our car rental for $180. Then we used our Chase Sapphire points to pay for the hotels. We didn’t have enough points so we paid a difference of about $100. It honestly felt pretty good to have used these points (that we earned on everyday purchases anyways!) and save a ton of money!
You can do it too!
And that’s it! I hope you learned something here of how you can budget a Hawaii vacation. It really doesn’t have to be complicated or hard. I truly believe ANYONE can go to Hawaii if they use their money wisely and take advantage of tools like credit cards, use what they have, and just be smart about financial decisions.
I hope these tips helped and this is the year you get to take that amazing trip to Hawaii!
Aloha always,
Lei
Let’s hear it from you!
What are some creative ways you budget a Hawaii vacation? Let us know in the comments below!
