Well, in a nutshell, this is how my wife and I save. Please keep in mind that everyones income level is different and this may not work for everyone. First, we plan our trip much in advance and figure out where we want to stay and how much the whole trip will cost us. We also pick the hotel by what our budget allots for. We have a seperate savings account for vacations. My wife and I both get paid twice a month and we have direct deposit into our checking account. We each take $50 from our pay once a month and put it into our vacation savings account. We budgeted this amount out based on bills and left over money. Never leave yourself with no money at the end of your paychecks, so perhaps you'll be able to afford more or less than us. At the end of our year of saving, we have $1200.00. We also use about half of our income tax refund if needed, but never more than that. The rest of the tax refund goes into our other savings account. This leaves us with plently of money for the trip and we still cover all of our bills/food/gas/place $100/month into our savings and have a little bit of "fun money" with our paychecks too. In a nutshell, budget yourself and plan ahead so you know where you can afford to stay and for how long. I hope this helps.