How Can You Enjoy the Travel Season Without Breaking the Bank?

Hey, I've got a great question to start today's show.

Ralph, we love traveling to see family and hosting guests at our home, but the costs always get out of control.

And here's their question.

How can we do both without draining our savings?

And listen to me, travel and hosting can fill your calendar or it can empty your wallet.

It's just a true statement, isn't it?

The question is, what's the real cost of your holiday joy?

That's the question I'm going to answer on today's show.

This is Financially Confident Christian, your daily dose of gospel, grounded insight and faith driven tips to help you break the cycle of financial shame with confidence.

Welcome to the show.

I'm Ralph and I come to you every day with the goal of helping you break that cycle of financial shame with confidence.

And today we're going to talk about the cost of holiday entertaining and travel.

And I want to tell you about some family friends of mine that they're named the Smiths.

Now, the Smiths were these folks, their family lived far away from them and every year they loved to travel for the holidays to see their family.

That's what made the holidays what they are.

But one year, Mr. Smith had lost his job and he was really having a hard time making bills, he was having a hard time planning.

And he looked and the cost of flights had gone up substantially.

I don't remember what was going on.

I think there might have been a gas crisis or something.

But the cost of plates was outrageous.

And him and his wife decided.

It was a tough decision, but they decided they were going to skip that family visit one year all because of the costs.

And I forget, they told me afterwards we ended up having them come over to our house on Christmas.

And I could tell they were a little down that day.

And I said, what's going on?

I said, you guys are usually happy.

You're kind of the life of the party.

They said, we just feel lost, Ralph.

Every year we look forward to traveling to see our family.

And I get it.

They felt left out.

They didn't ask me for some guidance.

But I said, hey, can I help you with this situation?

I got an idea for you.

Next year, why don't you plan ahead?

And that's exactly what they did.

They planned ahead next year they booked early.

And here's the other thing they did.

They imposed on relatives.

A lot of people say, well, I couldn't do that, Ralph, it's okay, your relatives are cool with you staying with them.

And when they did that, because they planned Ahead.

They booked those tickets early.

They didn't wait till the last minute.

Mr. Smith was great about waiting till the last minute.

They booked ahead, they saved hundreds of dollars.

And I'll never forget after that holiday, they said something.

They said that was the most peaceful visit they'd ever had.

They planned ahead, they saved money, and they got to live what their dream was.

That's what they loved about Christmas.

And we found this anonymous quote, and I think this one just absolutely nails it.

It's kind of funny, but I think it's perfect.

It says, hospitality is making others feel at home, even when you wish they were.

See, that's the funny thing, isn't it?

You wish they were at home.

But let's get back to our question today.

How can we do both things?

How can we do both of those things without draining our savings?

So today I want to share some ways to entertain and travel without draining your budget.

Like I told dismissed.

First thing, travel smart.

That's the big thing for today.

Book early.

If you don't know this, airlines increase the price of tickets the closer you get to the date.

So if you can book those tickets early, you can save hundreds of dollars.

You get the seat you want, and guess what?

You're going to save money.

Now, maybe the folks aren't so far away that you could consider driving.

I actually love to drive.

My wife hates driving.

If I say to her, we're going to drive somewhere, she's like, I'm not going.

If it's a couple hours, she can tolerate it.

But more than that, not so much now.

My oldest now lives in Texas and for us, that's like a 30 hour drive.

I don't think we're going to be driving there anytime soon.

But if you've got folks that are close to you or family members that are close to you, consider driving.

It might save you some money.

Second thing I want to talk about today, hospitality.

A lot of people get hung up on this.

Maybe you're not traveling, but maybe you're going to entertain people in your home.

Hospitality is about the heart.

So many people get stressed out about this.

They got to show off.

They got to put on a show for everybody.

I know people in my own family that do that.

That's not what people are looking for.

Keep it clean, keep it simple.

Because here's the truth.

Your guests remember warmth.

They remember that warmth.

They remember that welcoming attitude that's gonna far outlast those expensive things.

I know so many people think, well, I gotta get the house in order.

I Gotta redecorate the guest room.

I gotta do this.

I gotta.

They drive themselves crazy.

They're trying to put on this show, this performance.

It's not how they live their life.

It's funny.

I did that one time in my own house.

My wife said, is the queen coming to visit?

Ralph, who's coming to visit?

My mom was coming over.

We just got this new house, and I was trying to put on a performance, if you will.

And what's funny, because during the dinner, I said to my mom, I said, don't you love?

She goes, ralph, I could care less what your house looks like.

It's about family.

Understand that.

Focus on the people.

It's so easy for us to miss that connection when we're chasing perfection.

We're looking for peace.

Let's look for that peace over performance.

Let joy, not comparison, lead your gathering.

Which leads us to our Bible verse.

We actually got two Bible verses that I couldn't decide which one I like.

So guess what?

You're getting both.

First one is this.

First Peter, chapter four, verse nine.

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Now, listen, I'm a park on this one for a second because I'm guilty of this one, too.

If you're going to ask people to come to your home, whether it's for the holidays or anything else, be hospitable.

Don't grumble about it.

Don't complain about it.

If you don't want them to come to your house, don't invite them.

It sounds kind of harsh, but connect with them.

It's not about a performance.

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

That's right, from the scripture.

If you're going to grumble about it, it's kind of like giving.

God wants you to be a cheerful giver.

Well, he wants you to be a cheerful hospitality person.

If that's not who you are, then don't do it.

Go to their house.

Go impose on them.

Second verse for today.

Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 2.

Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers.

For by doing so, some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

I read that and I said, well, think about that for a second.

Little tangent here for a second.

I think it's a great tangent to take during the holidays.

Do you ever feel like we're surrounded by angels?

Sometimes you just wonder, is that person an angel?

I felt that in my own life at times.

But what's the Scripture telling us?

Show hospitality to those people.

One of the most beautiful things that my family has done during the holidays, especially at Thanksgiving and Christmas, we invite other people that we don't even know.

Sometimes maybe somebody from church.

We see they're always by themselves or somebody that we know has been through a tough time.

I remember a couple years ago, there was one guy, he had just broken up with his girlfriend and my son said, hey dad, can we invite such and such to our house?

I'm like, absolutely.

Because then you're fulfilling the law of Christ.

What's it saying?

Show hospitality to strangers.

You're showing them your Christian faith, you're showing them Christian knowledge.

See, that's what it's all about.

Don't forget to do that.

Let's pray together.

Father, we come to you right now and we just ask for safe travels and loving gatherings during the holidays.

Lord, we're so grateful that you give us the opportunity to do that.

And as we're planning those things and we're being intentional stewards of that, give us wisdom to plan with simplicity and to plan with joy and not worrying about trying to impress so many people and put on the perfect show, Lord, help us to see that as a connection.

Help us to see that as reaching out and connecting with people.

Give us a heart to serve, Lord, without comparison or without pride, Lord.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

All right, you ready for your one action item today?

If you're traveling, I've got two action items for today because it depends if you're traveling or if you're staying at home.

If you're traveling, set that travel budget early.

Do it ahead of time.

Book those tickets, plan ahead.

Comparison shop.

There's a bunch of websites to comparison with flights.

Maybe you can get a not a direct flight.

Maybe you can fly a different time of the day or a different week of the day.

I tell you, I'm not a big flyer, but when I fly, I go out there, compare set that.

Maybe you drive, maybe you make a different kind of vacation out of it.

Now, if you're hosting, I'm going to encourage you to do one more thing.

If you're hosting, look for two or three low cost hospitality touches.

Remember, it's not about putting on a show.

You don't have to put on it like the Queen Mother herself is visiting.

Show hospitality, show love, but plan early.

Ask yourself this question.

How can I make my guests feel truly welcome?

Maybe that guest is an angel.

I'll tell you what, my family, they're not angels.

Let's just say that the scripture is holding true and also encourage you to do one more thing.

If you know somebody that's struggling during the holidays, reach out to them.

You can set another place at your table.

You can include them.

And that's how we show Christian love.

Because remember, Joy doesn't need a big budget.

It's not going to cost you all that much more to bring somebody else to your dinner table on Christmas or Thanksgiving.

You just have to have a willing heart for that.

And that's how we truly live as disciples of Christ.

So I'm going to encourage you right now.

Go be a financially confident Christian.

I have confidence in you.

Have confidence in yourself.

You can do this.

You can get through the holidays with Joy, and you can be impactful to the people that you love.

So stay financially savvy.

God bless you.

And I'll see you again tomorrow on the show.