FEEDBACK from my last column, There is Financial Power in Numbers, really indicated that a large part of the Zimbabwean community in the Diaspora would like to invest in their homeland. It was gratifying to receive emails from people who have already started doing something about it.

Among the respondents were a number of Chartered Accountants, which means if we team up together in our respective countries, we can get sound risk management advice on how to ring-fence our investments. We can become a large foreign investor block to be taken seriously.

To participate in these teams would require all interested parties to put aside a seed for the process, but that is another serious discussion for another column.

This week, I lighten up and talk about short-term saving for an annual holiday. Picture this, you are in central London on December 23, you Twit, Facebook, email and SMS all your friends and discover that everyone is out of town. In a state of panic, you hop across the English Channel and land on the South of France with hardly any knowledge of French except ‘bonjour’ and proceed to have a hurried vacation.

You have just gone on an expensive holiday because of your fear of embarrassment for having no holiday stories to tell. This short-term lack of self control can plunge you right back into the vicious cycle of indebtedness.

You work hard all year. Just because there are some people going hungry somewhere in our nation does not mean you have to be apologetic about going on vacation. If you live in the parts of South Africa where some of us dwell, you probably are in a gated community and over the years it may start to feel like a concentration camp.

A joke which has been doing the rounds here is that ‘good night’ in South Africa means “are the doors locked and the windows closed? Is the alarm on? Did you pull in the car and activate the alarm? Are the Rotweilers at their posts? Do you have the stun gun and pepper spray next to the bed? Sleep tight, don't worry Eskom will switch off the lights.”

The joke adds that in Zimbabwe good night just means “mabvisa here maplugs kumadziro magetsi angangodzoka akapisa ma TV” (Have you removed power plugs off the sockets? Power outages will damage the TVs?).

You deserve a break but do not forget sound financial principles. If you intend to have a vacation during the December/January period, then you are almost late if you have done nothing about it. All is not lost if you can start planning now for your holiday budget.

Saving for a holiday is really about taking a look at your current spending patterns and deciding what unnecessary luxuries you can forego. If you are coming from afar like the UK then it is necessary to book early to get the best airfare deals from Mazarura (Air Zimbabwe).

Ideally, you can open a short-term holiday money market account. If you do not trust yourself to make the monthly payments, or not to spend the money on other luxuries, then set up a standing debit order from your current account directly which is transferred on the same day as you receive your salary. If you are in a country where you can work extra hours to achieve this objective, then it would be better to do so without major disruptions to your current budget.

A holiday budget ought to include all your likely expenses such as food, accommodation, clothes, travel insurance and even gifts. If you are going to pass through Gogo Ndlovu’s homestead in Mbembesi, then you better put in a budget for spontaneity after all it’s the festive season.

A holiday does not need to be a very expensive exercise. We have had lovely holidays in Cape Town and Umhlanga, Durban. We have had friends house sitting our home in Gauteng when we are away. It is even possible to swap one’s home in Juliasdale and an apartment in Port Elizabeth here in South Africa, if you like walking bare foot on clean beaches that are not crowded.

If you can bear to share with friends or family, you could save a lot on your budget. For some of us with family, apartments and chalets are quite attractive and affordable propositions. My family and my friend’s household have shared a holiday home that accommodated all nine of us comfortably on a nice wildlife and golf estate on the edge of Kruger National Park.

You can buy a family camping kit including tent, mats and sleeping bags for a very reasonable amount then take your family to Mana Pools. Another affordable mode of holidaying which is prevalent in the white community is using the caravan home. I am yet to see any Wasu in a caravan my whole life!

Many of us engage on what I can call “aspirational spending” but not aspirational saving. We spend like the people we would like to become, but do not save to do so.  When we were a much younger couple back in Harare, it was a ritual to take at least one flight to Victoria Falls and stay at that expensive hotel where one could walk to the falls. This was irrespective of whether one could afford it or not.

A few years later, when I was much more mature, it really didn’t matter that I was staying at a cheaper place five kilometers away as long as the ambiance is good, the toilet clean and the bed comfortable. We even had a leisurely day to pop across the Zambia side to see what the fuss was all about on the Livingstone side that one could gladly pay $450 a night.

Whether I am in Kenya or China, I always like to see how common people live. That is what attracts me to travel. I have driven to Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana and Zambia. If you are a family, it is always more affordable to drive and I always get a better feel of the communities I go through. If you drive to Victoria Falls, you can always plan your stops so that you keep within your budget. You could perhaps take a priceless laid back stop-over in Hwange and with a book like Charles’ Mungoshi’s ‘Waiting for the Rain’, go up the observation post and patiently wait for the animals to come to the water hole.

Some of us imagine that a holiday in Vumba means you must stay at the $250 a night whatsitsname hotel with a monster golf course. There are several nice and comfortable bed and breakfast homes and even National Parks Chalets where you can pay just as little as $50 for a comfortable stay. If you scrap through your budget, then you must always remember that it is not compulsory to have expensive lunches and dinners at your five star hotel.

If you are two families with eight members staying in a nice holiday home in Vumba, you could just drive down to Chitakatira and ask for the goat merchants. You could pay just $25 for an adult goat and for an additional $5, they could prepare it for you to leave you with enough meat for a Vumba bonfire braai with left overs. For pastime, you could tee off at that manicured golf course with the rich and famous or have a picnic in the exotic botanically gardens enjoying the Mozambican breeze.

Another way to reduce your food bill when on holiday is to find places that the locals use. They usually have cheaper but a lot nicer food. Do not always trust the tourist restaurants on the brochure that your travel agent gives you. Other supplies like snacks and drinks can just be procured at the local supermarket chain.

If I am in Mutare, I go to Musika Wehuku to procure all the fruits and greens for the duration of our stay. It gives me a chance to feel the local vibe and stay in budget.

I am a roaming fanatic and always keep my SA phone wherever I am. As a hustling consultant, I tend to assume someone will call me for a project particularly these last two dry years. I also need to learn to turn off my mobile phone. It costs an arm and a leg to receive calls outside your country of residence.