Even though you're on vacation, and relaxing and enjoying yourself, you still need to keep track of your paperwork. Unless you have the luxury of your own personal business manager, you'll need to take along copies of your bills, your checkbook, and any other items of personal business that need tending to while you're gone. Also, many people need to keep track of their expenses while traveling, so that will have to be taken care of as well. It's easy to do if you're organized.
Some people pay their bills at the same time each month, while others wait to pay until they are due. If you're on vacation when the bills are due, you'll need to take them with you to mail. If you pay online, it could be tricky if you find yourself staying somewhere with no computer access, so it would be best to write a check for the upcoming payment, put it in an envelope, and write the date it needs to be sent in the space where the stamp will cover it. Writing checks in advance for bills due, all you need to do is keep track of the date, and when the time comes, put the stamp on the payment and put it in a mail slot. Your payment won't be late and you won't have to worry about it anymore than if you'd sent it from home.
If you are in another country, however, you may want to have a reliable friend or relative mail them for you. The same is true for birthday gifts or presents for people you'd send to if you were home. Do everything before you leave and you don't need to worry. Also, if you have an ATM card and need money in a hurry, you simply need to find a machine and you can draw it out. Make sure before leaving home, however, that your bank's card works in national ATM machines.
If you are keeping track of expenses while traveling, you only need a small spiral notebook divided into sections to record all your data. If you're driving, have a section for gas mileage charted out in advance. Divide it into four columns: Beginning odometer reading subtracted from the ending odometer reading tells the number of miles traveled. If you are charting gasoline mileage, each time you gas up, figure the number of miles traveled on that tank of gas, and divide the gallons of gas into that figure to get the car's mileage. For instance, if you traveled 400 miles and pumped 20 gallons of gas, you are getting 20 miles to the gallon. You can record that number on the same page as the mileage page, or on another sheet. It's interesting charting auto mileage, because you'll find that you get more gas mileage going downhill or on straight-aways that when driving through the mountains. It's fun to notice the difference.
If you note each expenditure you make on your vacation, you'll want a page for meals, one for souvenir spending, and one for hotel rooms. All can be done in one notebook that can be kept in the car's glove box. You may also want to note what was put on your charge cards and what was spent in cash. This is a good idea for people on a budget, because it's easy to use a charge card for spending, and then when you get back home you're amazed at what was spent. You shouldn't have to worry about paying the household bills while you're on vacation. Just a little planning in advance and you won't have to.
