Financial Spring Cleaning: Things to Plan Ahead of Summer

In the euphoria of springtime, sitting on a screen or leafing through documents may not seem like time well spent. But taking a moment to get your financial life on track now can help you avoid stress when spring turns to summer.

Here, moneyland.ch offers a simple checklist of things to take care of before summer comes.

• Review your budget

Do you find yourself ending the summer months with an overshot budget or a negative credit card balance? If your summer holiday budget is not adequate, now is the time to up that envelope so you can reach summer with enough savings for summer fun.

• Make a holiday plan

If you have not yet planned this year’s holidays, now is the time to do it. Early planning lets you take advantage of discounts for booking flights and hotels far ahead of your travel dates.

You should also consider what kind of holiday you can actually afford, based on your budget. For example, if you have other important expenses, or if you are paying off debts, it may be wiser to avoid costly holidays altogether.

• Get a credit card or debit card that is cheap for travel

Fees and charges for making card-based payments and withdrawing money can be a major hidden expense for summer travelers. 

Check the foreign transaction fees and cash withdrawal fees of your credit card and debit card. In many cases, you can save money by getting a new credit card or debit card with low foreign transaction fees, good exchange rates, and favorable cash withdrawals. You can find detailed information in the guide to using credit cards and debit cards while traveling.

• Find the right mobile roaming solution

The cost of making phone calls and getting online during your spring and summer travels is another expense that you can easily cut down with a little advance planning.

The moneyland.ch mobile roaming wizard makes it easy to find the cheapest roaming solution for the mobile plan or prepaid service which you already have. It is also worth looking at local SIMs, travel eSIMs, and mobile plans with included roaming allowances.

• Consider long-term travel insurance

Getting insurance for each flight and rental car can quickly become expensive. In some cases, long-term travel insurance can be cheaper. If you frequently rent cars, consider getting long-term travel insurance that includes rental car insurance.

You can compare offers based on your specific needs using the interactive travel insurance comparison.

• Check your health insurance cover

Getting sick or having an accident while traveling is not just a drag, but it can also be expensive. A good first step is to understand the travel cover included in your mandatory health insurance.

If you plan to travel to countries with very expensive healthcare, now would be the time to look at supplemental health insurance with additional cover for medical care, ambulance transportation, and search and rescue operations outside of Switzerland. The interactive outpatient insurance comparison and hospital insurance comparison on moneyland.ch make it easy to filter and sort offers based on their international cover.

• Plan your driving

As a drive, planning early on gives you time to compare offers and find the best deals. That applies both to buying your own car, or getting pre-summer servicing for the car you already have.

You should also go over your car insurance. Is your car still new enough to warrant having fully-comprehensive insurance? Does your roadside assistance insurance cover the countries you plan to drive to, or might it be beneficial to upgrade your cover or get temporary travel insurance for roadside assistance? Will you visit countries where an International Motor Insurance Card is required, and where underinsured motorist cover would be beneficial? Getting started with needed changes now will ensure that your insurance is sorted by summer.

If you plan to rent a car or camper, it can be worth looking at car plans as well. In some cases, getting a short-term car plan can work out cheaper than multiple car rentals.

• Hit the gym for less

In the spring rush to get in shape by summer, one can be tempted to sign up for the first gym offer that comes, with costs taking a back seat. But spending a moment to stop and plan can bring gains in the way of hard savings. You can find useful tips and information in the guide to saving on gym memberships.

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