Every year my family likes to go on vacation. For many years we were unable to afford a vacation where you actually left the city, but since we’ve been out of debt, taking a vacation has been one of our budget priorities.

Our first vacation I noticed that even though we had a budget, we ended up overspending on little things. While I’m a big advocate of using cash to stay under budget, the thought of taking several hundred dollars in cash with us on vacation didn’t seem very safe.

One way to stay in budget during your vacation is to purchase a prepaid Visa or Mastercard. Just purchase as many cards as you have available in your budget and you are ready to go!

These prepaid cards are also protected against fraud so if one is stolen you can get your money back.

If you have trouble staying under budget on certain variable expenses and are leery of carrying cash, consider using a prepaid card. I still recommend paying with cash for purchases (there is something about those bills leaving your hands), but if you aren’t going to carry cash, try going with a prepaid card.

Have you ever used a prepaid card for purchases? Did it work for you?