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Every time I scroll down my Instagram feed, I always see at least a handful of people living their best lives in a whole new country! I’m sure a lot of you go, “How the heck do they travel 24/7?!”
Reality check, friends! Just like purchasing designer bags or fancy cars, people work hard and save money for travel. Though I do wish there was a magical button I could press for me to end up on vacation in Tokyo eating sushi!
Kidding aside, I know a lot of us want to travel the world. The problem is, I also know how tough it is to save up, whether it’s because of bills piling up or not knowing much about budgeting.
Don’t worry, I’m here to help you out with effective money-saving tips and other creative ways you can save money for traveling. Read on and let’s save your way to your next vacation!
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1. Set a Realistic Travel Budget
I’m guilty of this – Whenever I travel, or even plan on taking a trip, I suddenly feel like I’m invincible and have infinite money! Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. If you want to travel responsibly and without incurring debt, one of the best travel savings tips is to set a realistic travel budget.
I emphasize the word realistic because while a million-dollar budget for a trip around Europe sounds ideal, no one would be able to save that much in a short period!
When learning how to make a budget for traveling, you need to know exactly how much you need by breaking down the usual expenses such as round-trip flights, accommodation, tours, food, transportation, and shopping allowances.
I recommend checking websites like Skyscanner to check out flight prices, and Agoda or Booking for estimated costs of accommodation. To get an idea of how much you need for daily allowance, I would check out travel blogs and content creators since they share their budget breakdowns!
2. Open a Dedicated “Travel Fund” Account
When saving money for a trip, it’s best to keep it in a separate place from your main savings account. That way, you won’t spend it on daily expenses, nor will you feel tempted to spend on other things!
Some people like to do it “old school” and put money in a “travel fund” piggy bank until it’s time to break it open. Believe me, that sounds super cute, but another thing you can do is open a high-yield savings account for your travel fund. This allows you to earn interest, giving you even more savings.
Besides that, opening a dedicated account for a travel fund is a bit more convenient. You can connect it with your savings and automate weekly or monthly transfers.
3. Cut Small Expenses
No, skipping your iced macchiato or avocado toast won’t help you buy a house ASAP. But it sure can help with your travel savings! One of the most effective things to stop buying to save money is to cut out the small, unnecessary expenses.
While coffee is a must for a lot of people, you can opt to swap daily coffee runs for homemade brews. You can save as much as $5 a day doing this, which equates to $150 a month! Or, you can eat out one less time a week, which saves you an extra $50-100 a month.
Review any monthly subscriptions you have to see which one you might not be using as often. Maybe you can use your apartment gym instead of paying for another subscription or cut off Netflix if you already have Hulu. It’s the little things that add up in the long run. Ultimately, they can help you save even more for your upcoming trips!
4. Earn Extra Money on the Side
In case you’re making just enough to cover living expenses, you might want to try picking up side hustles from home. Earning extra money means saving more for traveling. Fortunately, it doesn’t need to be stressful and you can do side gigs on your own time!
One of the easiest things you can start with is selling unused items online or in your neighborhood. Clean out your closet and find things at home that you were planning to give away. From there, you can hold a garage sale, join community markets, or sell it on platforms like Facebook Marketplace, Poshmark, and eBay.
You can also pick up other side hustles like dog walking, tutoring, or freelancing in your respective field.
5. Use a “No-Spend” Challenge
As Barney from HIMYM once said, “Challenge ACCEPTED!”
If you’re competitive and love a good challenge, then try committing to a travel savings challenge! The challenge is simple. All you need to do is stop buying non-essentials for at least a month and put everything you saved into your travel fund.
To avoid quitting your no-spend challenge, I suggest setting mini-goals to make it easier. For example, have a no-spend week where you put $50-100 into your travel fund.
You can even amp up the challenge by having family and friends join in, or track your progress and reward milestones with free experiences.
6. Cut Travel Costs Before You Even Book
Another way to save money for travel is to cut costs before even booking. Meaning, find ways to get the best deals and discounts on your trip!
It’ll take a lot of research but travel budget planning is an awesome and effective way to avoid overspending before and during a trip.
For starters, you can buy plane tickets strategically. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are some of the cheapest days of the week to book flights. You can also keep an eye out for airline promos!
My secret is to use private browsing or Incognito Mode on your browser. Airlines won’t be able to track your browsing activity, preventing them from raising prices.
Another huge expense is accommodation. I personally time my trips during off-peak season. Not only are flights and hotels cheaper, but there will be fewer crowds, making it a win-win!
7. Use Credit Card Points & Rewards
Have you ever seen Instagram reels about people who get bumped up to first class, all thanks to their credit card points? That can be you!
Taking advantage of credit card points and rewards is one way you can learn how to get free money. You can open a travel credit card to earn miles for free flights, or a cash-back credit card to use the rewards for your upcoming trip. Be on the lookout for credit card offers, because they might have sign-up bonuses that can cover a full round-trip ticket or a few nights’ hotel stay! Other travel credit cards offer extra perks, like free airport lounge access or travel insurance.
That said, make sure you spend wisely and consider card fees, such as foreign transactions, annual fees, and cash advances. While these are excellent budget travel hacks, you wouldn’t want to go into deep debt trying to earn reward points for a trip!
8. Stay Motivated with a Travel Vision Board
There will be days when you feel discouraged and want to give up saving for your future travels. That’s why you need to start thinking of creative ways to save for a vacation and keep your eyes on the prize!
One way to stay motivated is to create a travel vision board. Sure, it might sound cheesy, but it’s actually an effective way to encourage yourself to save even more. Plus, you’ll end up having so much fun creating it. You can print out pictures of your dream destination and place them where you can see it every day.
Other than that, you can research and follow travel influencers who have been to places on your wish list. This helps build up your excitement and makes you want to continue saving until you get to experience the destination yourself.
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