Travel is not a cheap hobby, so often one is faced with a dilemma of how to save enough money to travel.
Here are some tips and ideas how to accumulate enough wealth for your next trip.
- Start with writing down your income and expenses. When you have enough record (a couple of months or so), check where you spend most and then make sure these are the necessary areas. For example, how many bars of chocolate do you buy a month? It looks like a trinket but eventually it adds up. They say, cut down on one coffee cup a day and that‘s a week in Greece islands after a year!
- Open a savings account and don‘t touch it. Dedicate a fixed daily fee to the cause and transfer money at the end of the week. For example, if your daily fee is $10, in 7 days it makes $70, and it amounts to $3640 in a year, which is quite a fortune in some countries. You can use this interest calculator to check how much you can save.
- Plan your trip in advance for better budgeting and discounts.
- Sell your junk. One person‘s junk is another person‘s treasure. However, it‘s sometimes easier said than done because it can cost to get a listing in the printed media or auctions charge a small fee. And you need to wait until you actually sell your stuff. How about looking if you can join groups on Facebook where people deal with this privately?
- Sell books you no longer read. This is a quick way to receive some revenue. Second-hand bookshops usually pay only a fraction of the price you initially paid, but you clean some space at home and receive some money at the same time. Alternatively, first read a book you want to buy in a library-you will be surprised how many books you will not buy.
- Cut off the cable TV. If you have a computer and the Internet at home, you don‘t really need a TV these days. Amount of money saved can be a pleasant surprise.
- Have a special box for petty cash. There is always small change in your pockets or purse. When you compile enough coins, you can change them into banknotes in a bank and put them into your savings account for travel (banks may charge you a fee if you deposit a lot of money in coins but exchange of coins into banknotes can be free of charge). The tendency is for the coin box to fill up very quickly.
- Are you using the cheapest mobile phone plan for your needs? Also, compare what their competitors are offering.
- The same goes for the Internet. You can give it up and start using computers in your local public library. It‘s less convenient than a private connection but you don‘t spend entire day glued to your Facebook. And if you own a smart phone, your social networks and e-mail are with you anyway.
- The car- necessity or luxury? By „car“ I mean the additives of petrol/gas, amortization, insurance, service, parking fees…It might be worthwhile starting to use public transportation, cycle or simply walk on foot.
- Cook at home. Eating out is expensive even if you hunt day offers. The highest mark-up is on drinks-you might pay the amount of the whole carton of juice for only one glass in a café or a restaurant and you also need to leave a tip.
- Clothes. If you want to wear new clothes every season, I‘m afraid it just eats a hole in your savings. Before actually buying an item of clothes, ask yourself: how many times will I wear it? Can I match it to my other clothes? How long will it serve me? Am I buying it because I need or because it‘s on sale? Also, try second-hand clothes shops where for a fraction of the sum you will spend in a brand shop you will buy clothes that might be a bit worn or completely new.
- Free entertainment. Check out listings for free church concerts, gallery openings, museum nights, etc. Ask your friends for advice. Can you pool money and go somewhere together? Are there any “buy 2 and receive 1 free” deals?
- Move back to your parents to live rent fee (if they let you, of course) or rent a place with other people to share the bills. That can be annoying but freedom costs a lot of money.
