HOW TO SAVE MONEY FOR TRAVEL (FREE PRINTABLE)
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This post is all about how to save money for travelling
Do you want to travel the world, but you’re not quite sure about how to build up your savings? It doesn’t have to be difficult and you certainly don’t have to deprive yourself.! If you think you need to be rich to explore the world I’m going to prove you wrong.
Saving for travel and holidays doesn’t have to be hard.
Whether you’re planning a six month full time travel adventure or a long weekend away I’ll show you how little changes you can make will help you to build up enough savings for the travel adventure of your dreams.
A few years ago I saved enough money in a year to travel full time for the following 15 months and I now go on numerous foreign trips each year as well as countless travel adventures in my own country.
I’m an expert at saving for travel!
In this article, I will go over the steps you can take to save money to travel the world, including ways to make it easy for you to start and help you reach your goals even faster.
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This post is all about how to save money for a trip and how to make extra money for travelling
HOW TO SAVE MONEY TO TRAVEL
Maybe you have a dream destination in mind and specific dates you want to travel or maybe you just want to prioritise travel in your life and want to start to build a pot of money for it as and when the opportunity to travel comes up.
You need to start thinking about the steps you can take today to start making these dreams a reality.
SET YOUR INTENTION
Every great travel adventure starts with an intention. For example: ‘In 2024, I’m going to backpack Peru, Colombia and Ecudaor or 3 months.’ or ‘In June 2024 I’m going to have a 2 week holiday in Italy travelling to the Amalfi Coast, Rome, Sorrento and Venice’, or ‘I want to spend 5 nights in Paris in the next year.’
When you have a very clear idea in your mind of what you want to achieve it will help your plan on how to save money for travel. You can make your intention more powerful by writing it down in a journal or even by creating a vision board.
PLAN YOUR TRAVEL BUDGET
Now you have your intention you need to do some research and plan your travel budget.
Find out how much it costs to get to your destination, what activities you want to do when you’re there, how much accommodation and food cost, what the cost of local transportation is.
These numbers will help you know how much you need to save.
Once you know how much you need you can take a look at your monthly budget. I guarantee there will be ways you can cut your spending in order to save for your trip. If you’re not sure how the tips below will help you.
OPEN A SAVINGS ACCOUNT SPECIFICALLY AS A TRAVEL FUND
It can be all too easy to just keep our savings in our regular bank account. We think in our heads that we’ve earmarked a certain amount for our next trip and we won’t spend it but the reality is if it’s just sitting there in your regular account the temptation to dip in to it on a night out or some news shoes is just too much for most people.
Even if you have a separate savings account already I’d recommend setting up a new savings account that is specifically for you travel adventures.
Just like keeping the money in your regular account, I don’t believe sticking it in to a general savings account works as effectively as having an account just for your travel.
Opening a travel savings account is a real commitment to yourself that you’re serious about this and you are saving for your trip.
SET UP A DIRECT DEBIT INTO YOUR SAVINGS ACCOUNT
Now you have your savings account you can set up a direct debit to your savings account. It’s easy to do via most online banking apps.
You may not know how much you can afford to put away right now but after following these tips you will do.
The money you put in to your travel savings account is money you not allowed to spend until you go on your trip! By putting money aside each month, no matter how much or how little, you’ll soon see your savings grow.
NOW LET’S LOOK AT YOUR MONTHLY OUTGOINGS
You now need to look through your bank statements. The first task is to take a note of everything you are spending and on what. Too often we just don’t realise where our money is going. You can use this handy FREE monthly budget tracker to get you started.
CANCEL UNNESSESARY SUBSCRIPTIONS
Take a look at any monthly subscriptions you have and be really brutal about if they’re worth it or not to you. Do you have a Sky, a Netflix, a Disney subscription but spend most of your time watching YouTube? Maybe it’s time to cancel them. If you miss them you can always resubscribe at any time but in the meantime you’ve managed to save a chunk of money.
Some subscriptions that come to mind that you may want to assess if you use them enough to warrant having them are:
Gym membership
Spotify
Apple Music
Apps such as Fitness Pal, Strava, All Trails, Picture This
Gift boxes such a monthly beauty boxes or craft boxes
Maybe you could find cheaper alternatives to the choices you’re already making. Is it better to pay for a individual class at the gym rather than having a membership as you don’t go very often. Maybe having Hello Fresh delivered to your door is handy but going to a local supermarket and making use of deals will save you a lot of money.
LIMIT ONLINE SPENDING
We can all be a sucker for spending too much online. It can be all too easy to spend money with a few clicks of a button.
Give yourself a little challenge and try going a month without spending any money online. It’s really eye opening to see just how much mindless spending we actually do.
Often you’ll find that if you limit your impulse buying you often forget about the product you so desperately wanted a few hours or days ago.
Try to spend money using cash in actual shops; you have a better idea of how much you’re spending because you actually see the money in your hands.
STOP THE IMPULSE BUYS
How many times have you bought sometime on impulse only to regret it later? It’s extremely common. Supermarkets, clothes stores, even online stores are all designed to encourage us to spend more and we all too oftne fall in to that trap!
A good tactic is to to have a cooling off period for when you think you want to buy something.
As an example: you’re out in town and see a gorgeous pair of new white pumps. You don’t need any. In fact you already have a pretty decent pair of white pumps but these are slightly different and would look so good with an outfit you recently bought.
Instead of following your impulse and buying them, walk past them, go home and wait a week. Do you still want them? Do you even remember that you saw them? The likelyhood is that you didn’t really want them and you’ve forgotten all about them by now. If you do still want them, you can always go back and buy them but 99 times out of 100 I bet you’ve forgotten all about them.
BUY UNBRANDED ITEMS
Sometimes we love a brand and sometimes we just buy it out of habit. There’s no need to pay top price for branded products. Have you even tried the unbranded items? Maybe they’re just as good.
I did an experiment years ago with my food shopping testing the unbranded versions of food I regularly buy. Some products I didn’t like the unbranded items and I stuck with the branded stuff but many I like just as much and the quality was comparable to the branded items. I managed to save around 30% of my grocery shopping each time I shop.
Items such as medicines, cosmetics and staple foods are often just as good in unbranded forms as they are branded and you can save yourself a lot of money.
SWAP AND BORROW
This is a fantastic idea to implement in to your life that will not only save you money but help with not cluttering up your house with stuff.
Are there items that you only use a few times a year? Hedge cutters, lawnmower, carpet cleaner. Instead of buying them see if friends or neighbours will let you borrow theres. You may have something that you could offer to them in exchange so it’s a win win for all involved.
Try organising a clothes swap party with friends. This is a great activity with friends where everyone brings items from their wardrobe they no longer want and everyone can swap stuff around. You get rid of stuff you don’t want anymore in exchange for some great new wardrobe items all for free.
USE A CASHBACK SITE FOR ALL PURCHASES
If you don’t already use a cashback site you’re giving up free money! I use Topcashback for ALL purchases I make online and over a few years I managed to accrue £1200 that I used on a free trip to Italy.
All you need to do is sign up for Topcashback here and whenever you make a purchase go through Topcashback. I know it seems like a chore but it’s only one extra step and soon it becomes second nature and it’s so worth it for the money you receive in return.
CHECK YOUR ENERGY BILLS
Most of us find an energy provider and stick with them no matter what. Did you know that by switching your energy provider you could save £100s each year.
Just before your current contract ends go online and search for cheaper deals. Many suppliers offer new customer discounts.
If you do find a new provider don’t forget to check if they’re on Topcashback as many give around £50 cashback if you switch to them.
MAKE A PACKED LUNCH
Look, I’m not here to tell you to stop buying your Pret sandwich at lunchtime or your Mocha Latte on the way to work but you really gotta ask yourself if it’s worth it.
A Pret sandwich and drink is around £12. Now if that’s worth it to you, you go for it! But if you work 5 days a week, 20 days a month - that’s £2000 a year you could save just by making a buttie at home instead. I know, I know, it’s extra work but you won’t care about that when you’re on your dream trip.
You have to make sacrifices somewhere and this could be an easy one to really bump up the travel fund
HOW TO MAKE MORE MONEY TO TRAVEL
You’ve learned some ways to stop wasting money now it’s time to start thinking about if you can earn any more money that you put towards travel. Finding a side hustle can be easier than you think and you can easily make a little extra each month to put into your travel savings account.
Starting a side hustle doesn’t have to be complicated and it doesn’t have to take up all of your free time. There are always opportunities for people who are looking and take action!
So what are some ways you can earn a little extra money each month.
affiliate marketing
selling clothes online
delivering food
delivering for a courier
rent a room on AirBnB
Petsitting
Once you start looking around you’ll be amazed at the little bits of money you can pick up here and there.
Earning an odd £100 or so here and there can really add up to help you towards your goal.
Don’t forget to download your FREE monthly budget planner to help you start saving today!
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