Saving for a SoCal Summer

Summer Tradition

There’s something quite joyful yet tranquil about biking on Venice Beach. Maybe it’s the breeze rushing through my hair; maybe it’s the fact that I hadn’t ridden a pedal-braking bike since my time in the Netherlands; or maybe it’s seeing my friends biking along enjoying the moment. In any case, it was not something I expected on a hot summer day in one of the most popular beaches in LA.

At this point, a summer trip to SoCal had become a tradition amongst my friends. It was a retreat where we’d leave our responsibilities at home and take a few days to relax and spend time with each other. With its beachy vibes, delicious food and local comedy spots, SoCal kept us coming back year after year.

As with most traditions, we’d found a good routine for our trip. We’d usually travel during a long weekend - leaving early from the Bay Area the first morning to make it to SoCal so that we can catch dinner somewhere nice with friends in the area. The next day would be spent going around the city snacking at various locations before we head to the beach in the afternoon. We’d close with sunset in the sand and a late night comedy show somewhere in the city. The third day, we’d head back home but not before indulging at Porto’s Bakery to the point where we were stuffed for the rest of the day.

On a trip with so many highs, the only low point is when I go to pay off my credit card and I see how much we spent over the weekend.

TANDA Changes the Game

So this year we decided to try something different. We wanted to set a better expectation of how much we each planned to spend on the trip. After we came up with the budget for the trip, I created a TANDA circle with the savings goal set as our budget and invited all my friends to join the circle. This way we could each start saving towards our SoCal tradition even before the summer began. Paying $25 a week into the trip’s savings goal for the 10 weeks leading up to the trip was a lot better than having no expectation of what the trip was going to cost. 

This time around, TANDA allowed me to be more intentional with my finances when it came to trip planning leading to an overall more enjoyable experience. Maybe that was why I felt that way in Venice Beach. Nonetheless, I can see myself taking many more trips in the future and I know that I’ll have TANDA by my side.