School Holidays Arrive, Here's How to Enjoy Moments with Family Without Worrying About Pockets Breaking

Illustration of a family vacation. (Freepik)

JAKARTA - The school holiday period is always one of the most anticipated periods for many families. This moment is often used for vacation together, exploring new destinations, or just enjoying quality time with the people closest to you.

However, behind the enthusiasm of planning a trip, there is one thing that must not escape attention: the financial condition of the family. The reason is that the school holiday season often coincides with preparations for entering the new school year, so that various needs come almost simultaneously.

In addition to transportation costs, accommodation, and entrance tickets to tourist attractions, parents also need to prepare a budget to buy new uniforms, school supplies, textbooks, and other supporting needs.

If it is not planned well, spending during this period has the potential to burden the household's finances or the pocket can be broken.

Simple steps such as making a list of spending priorities can help families distinguish between truly urgent needs and desires that can still be postponed. In this way, available funds can be allocated more effectively without having to sacrifice important needs after the holidays are over.

For example, when planning a trip, not a few families tend to focus on costs that are visible to the eye, such as transportation tickets or accommodation. In fact, post-holiday expenses also need to be taken into account from the start.

Ideally, vacation funds do not spend all the savings that the family has. Some funds still need to be set aside for children's education needs, emergency funds, and various unexpected expenses that can arise at any time.

Careful planning is becoming increasingly important for people considering using additional financing services to meet certain needs during the holiday season.

In the midst of the growing digital financial services, the public now has more access options for financing. However, understanding all the cost components before applying for a loan remains an important thing that should not be ignored.

President Director of PT Lentera Dana Nusantara, Jonathan Christianto, said that people are now increasingly considering the transparency of costs before using digital loan services.

"We understand that as financial inclusion and literacy in Indonesia increase, cost transparency becomes one of the important considerations for people in choosing online loan services," he said in an official statement from SPinjam to VOI, Tuesday, June 23.

According to him, understanding the details of costs is an important factor in financial decision-making.

"Users need to understand the cost components, tenor, to payment details so that they can adjust financial decisions to their abilities."

Jonathan explained that understanding all payment obligations from the beginning can help people avoid financial burdens that were not previously taken into account.

Therefore, before deciding to apply for a loan, prospective users are advised to know in detail the total cost to be paid until the loan period ends.

Even now, some people are familiar with digital financing access, which may be one of the alternatives to meet certain needs during the holiday season and before the new school year.

However, the amount of loans still needs to be adjusted to the ability to pay so as not to cause financial pressure later. Of course, choosing digital financing access should also prioritize transparency of the displayed costs and be supervised by the OJK.

For example, if you want to use this service for the first loan, you should choose one that offers a fixed interest rate starting at 1.8 percent per month or the equivalent of 0.06 percent per day and free of administrative fees.

"Through this scheme, users can find out the estimated installments to be paid from the beginning. As an illustration, a loan of IDR 1.5 million with a term of three months has a installment of around IDR 527 thousand per month," said Jonathan.

"Meanwhile, for a six-month tenor, the installment is around Rp. 277 thousand per month. Transparent simulations from the beginning can help users adjust their loan needs to their financial conditions."

However, financial experts still remind that loans should be used wisely and only for needs that have really been carefully considered.

Good school holiday planning and finances can certainly make families enjoy a pleasant trip without having to sacrifice financial stability after returning home.