Most Americans don't plan their vacations. They don't have money set aside and they take off for a week or two, with no idea how much they're going to spend.
America's Money Answerman Jordan Goodman says not planning can cost you big bucks.
“The flight, they may drive, the gas, it's going to be restaurants, it's going to be hotels, you buy trinkets, you may buy admission tickets to Disney World, or something like that,” Goodman says, “so, it costs a lot more.”
We spend an average of $1100 for that week away from work. And, consider this -- it takes an average of six months to financially recover from a vacation. By then it's too late to do much saving for the next one.
Back to the credit cards.
“That means you're paying interest on a meal you ate a month ago and you don't even remember what you ate,” he chuckles, “so it's not a particularly good use of money.”