Think you can’t afford a holiday? Think again. If you make some minor adjustments to how you live your daily life you can watch the dollar or pounds or euros stack up in your savings account. Here are some simple ways to save money for travel that anyone can put into action:
Set Up a Dedicated Savings Account
Having a dedicated savings account will help you save. After calculating all your bills for the month (food, rent, utilities, transport) and giving yourself a modest entertainment budget, put whatever is left in your savings account for travel. Set up an automatic payment so you don’t have to think about it each month. Learn to live with less money on a monthly basis and know that your reward is coming in the form of a fabulous holiday.
Set yourself a savings goal. Be ambitious. As your holiday draws nearer, and you’re in desperate need for an extra week on the beach, you’ll gain more and more motivation to save.
Use the Piggybank Approach
At the end of the day empty all your loose change from your pocket or wallet into a piggybank. At the end of the week round up all those coins that hide in sneaky places like under couch cushions, in car ashtrays and in the bottom of your handbag. This is a great job for kids! Once your holiday rolls around you’ll have an extra couple of hundred dollars to play with.
Earn Extra Money Online
There are multiple quick, easy ways of making money online. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Writing on Upwork
- Starting a blog
- Working as a virtual assistant (VA)
- Taking paid surveys online
- Sell items on eBay (Aus) or TradeMe (NZ)
- Offer your services on Facebook marketplace groups
Re-Evaluate Your Spending Habits
Make little daily savings – Pack your own lunch. Quit smoking. Ditch the daily Starbucks visit on your way to work. Would you rather buy a $5 latte every weekday for a year or use that $1300 to buy flights for your next trip?
Make bigger monthly savings – Cancel your gym membership and find ways to exercise for free like jogging or watching yoga tutorials on Youtube. Get rid of cable or satellite TV. Learn how to watch TV for free online, buy an HDMI cable and connect your laptop to your TV.
Stop buying “stuff” – You know all those little things that you don’t really need but they don’t cost very much so you just throw them in your shopping trolley along with the groceries… stop! You really don’t need that new DVD, lipstick or wrinkle cream.
Whenever you want to spend money on something, think about how many days of travel you’d be giving up for it. It’ll help you decide if you really need the item. Spending $150 on a new dress to wear to a friend’s wedding will cost you at least a day or two (or more) of travel.
Stretch Your Travel Dollars Further
Be on a constant look at for travel deals. Check out sites where you can find packages for cruises, all inclusive resorts or places that let kids eat & stay for free.
Spread your spending throughout the year. Making purchases as and when you need to throughout the year can really help take the sting out of travel costs. Buy flights one month, then buy your travel insurance a little further down the line and then a few months later book your accommodation.
Make a realistic budget for your travels and stick to it, even before you hit the road. This is hard but has to be done and well help you achieve your saving goals.
