I’M PRETTY sure that a lot had travelled over the Holidays season. In many cases this will be a visit to family and friends back home. How were your pockets and wallets? Did you spend your entire budget or were able to save for your next vacation? With many things in life, careful financial planning around travel is essential to avoid ending up with a “financial headache” upon your return home.
In many cases – you will be able to plan your travel in advance. Where this is the case, you should consider starting a savings plan to ensure that you will have sufficient funds available to enjoy your trip. You may be able to set up a savings account with your bank and transfer a certain amount each month (or deposit spare cash in such account). It may also be a good idea to travel with a credit card in case unexpected emergencies arise whilst you are travelling.
It is an unfortunate reality that you may also need to travel on an emergency basis. This may be because of unexpected family illness, bereavement or other emergencies. In this case you may need to borrow to cover unexpected travel expenses, including airfares. A wide range of lenders may be able to help you if you need emergency funds. An overdraft or loan from your bank may be a cost- effective borrowing option. Other instalment lenders offer loans that could be paid back in instalments over a set period of time. At Anico Finance, we specialise in understanding emergency needs within the Filipino ex-pat community and are able to make same day loans (subject to status and credit checks) to cover such expenses.
With all travel plans – it is important to think about covering yourself with a comprehensive travel insurance plan. Good travel insurance will not only cover the costs of cancellations (by yourself in certain circumstances and your airline), delays and lost luggage – but will also cover medical expenses if you are unexpectedly ill in the Philippines (or elsewhere abroad). This may not be foremost in your mind when you are arranging your travel but is a way to guard yourself against unexpected costs and expenses. As always, be careful to read the exact details of the policy that you are buying.
Finally – a word of warning- make sure that you cover your regular expenses in the UK whilst you are in the Philippines. We see a lot of people who get into difficulty by failing to plan to cover their key expenses whilst abroad. Banks will apply charges to your account when you fail to meet direct debit payments and you will affect your credit rating if you miss payments. Where possible think about ring fencing funds to cover these key expenses –perhaps setting up direct debits to ensure a peace of mind upon your return.
Anico Finance is an instalment lender specialising in providing flexible instalment loans to the Filipino ex-pat community in the UK.
Warning: Late payment can cause you serious money problems. For help, go to moneyadviceservice.org.uk
By Rebecca Fuller, Director of Anico Finance Limited
