How to Save Money for Travel

Want to Save Money for Travel? Here are 25 simple tips to get you started and help you get more funds for your next trip.

Saving money can seem hard for many people, but what they don’t realize is that they’re probably spending a lot of money on things they don’t really need. If you get your priorities right, chances are that you can make a few simple changes to save money for travel.

Changing your mindset and lifestyle a little bit can make a huge difference, and I’m not suggesting that you need to follow these tips to be successful. Instead, choose the right ones for you that can be integrated into your current life situation.

Stay committed and you’ll soon enough find out that it doesn’t have to be that hard to save money for travel. It’s actually a lot easier than what you might think. Most of these tips can also be applied to anyone who wants to increase their savings. 

Make a savings goal

Your first step should be to set up a savings goal and estimate what travel budget is needed. Let’s say that you estimate that you need to save €5000 in order to travel the world for 4 months.

Then you need to set a time frame and at least a weekly budget of how much money you can spend, and how much money you need to save for travel every week. However, a daily budget is recommended to get the best results.

Let’s say that need to save those 5000 Euros in 2 years. That will give you a timeframe of 104 weeks to save enough funds to travel around the world for 6 months.

This means that you’ll need to save at least €48 per week. Adjust the numbers to fit your own savings goal, and calculate your weekly savings goal by the number of weeks left until your trip. 

Track your Expenses

Most people I know don’t track their expenses, and thus they don’t know how much they spend per day, per week or even per month. They might have rough estimation, but that’s not enough when you want save money successfully. 

Luckily, you don’t have to do the counting on your own, and there are plenty of travel apps that you can use to track your expenses. Every time you make a purchase, just write it down in the app. 

These budgeting apps can often calculate how much money you got left of your weekly budget and show exactly what you spent money on by categorizing each purchase. This will also help you to cut unnecessary spending. 

Prioritize

This is perhaps the most effective way to meet your savings goal. For some, it might also be the hardest, especially if you’re a person that has a lot of stuff and likes to buy new things. 

Before you spend money, you should prioritize what you really NEED, and what you “Want”. Furthermore, you should ask yourself, do I really need to buy this? Or is it something that I would like to have. 

If the answer is the latter, the answer is simple, don’t buy it. If you’re serious about saving money for that big trip of yours, you can’t afford to purchase stuff that you don’t need. It’s often the little things that make a big difference in the end. 

Cancel unnecessary subscriptions

Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Spotify, and other subscriptions are very common these days and most of us probably have several subscriptions that we don’t really need. 

At first glance, €9,99 per month might not seem much, but when you have 5 of these monthly subscriptions the money quickly adds up. By canceling five subscriptions that cost on average €9.99 per month, you’ll save €599 in one year. 

If your savings goal was €5000, just canceling the subscriptions will give you more than 1/10 of the goal in one year.  

Challenge yourself to live beneath your means

For a limited time period, challenge yourself to be frugal and live beneath your means. I’m not saying that you should eat instant noodles for six months, but cut back where you can without being unhealthy. 

If your weekly budget is set to €300 per week, try to stay below €250 or go as low as €200. This will make a massive difference in the long run and might end up teaching a lot about yourself as well.

We have become pretty spoiled in our modern world, and we often think that we need more than necessary. After all, our only basic needs to survive are food, water, and sleep.

Make smarter decisions

This goes hand in hand with the already mentioned points. Saving money often requires us to make smarter choices in life. Don’t be impulsive, but instead think twice before you make a decision. 

Every choice you make should take you one step closer to meet your savings goal. With that said, it’s not about changing your lifestyle completely and you shouldn’t limit yourself too much. 

It’s all about making the right priorities in life to meet your goals. For example, do you really need to get a new phone during this period? If your phone still works, it’s a smart choice to not make an upgrade. 

Another smart decision that you can make is to skip coffee on the go and brew your own coffee. 

Cook at home and eat what’s in season

Eating out is expensive, and if you’re serious about saving money for travel, you should start cooking food at home. Make lunch boxes and plan your meals before you go to the grocery store. 

Cooking at home can be a lot of fun too and luckily, there are tons of food bloggers who share creative recipes for free. There are even YouTube channels that are dedicated to cooking food that’s cheap and delicious. 

Another food-related saving tip is to eat what’s in season. Vegetables, fruits, and other crops that are in season will always be cheaper compared to imported and out-of-season products. 

Join a travel rewards program

Depending on what country you come from, there will be various options. If you live in the U.S or the UK, you’ll have lots of options to get travel reward credit cards.

These will allow you to get bonus points whenever you spend money. The points can, later on, be exchanged into free flights or upgrades. 

Quit the Gym

There’s no need to have an expensive gym membership when you want to save money. I don’t say that you should ditch your healthy habits, not at all, but there are many ways to exercise for free. 

Use natural weights or your own bodyweight, do yoga, run outside instead on a treadmill or go for long powerwalks. Let’s say that your gym membership sets you back €40 per month, that’s €480 in one year. 

Change your living situation

Your living situation is not always something that you can change right away. But if you’re renting an expensive apartment or live in a larger place than you need, perhaps you can get a roommate?

Or perhaps you can move back home for a couple of months and rent out the apartment to someone else. Another option could be to move to a neighborhood with lower rent or a smaller apartment. 

10 Simple Ways to Save Money for Travel

These are very simple tips that you can implement in your daily life. For example, buying snacks and soda might not cost much, but in the long run it will add up and turn into a large sum of money.

Let’s say that you buy candy or soda every day for one year. Every purchase might just be €3 but if you do it every day, you’ll have spent €1095 in one year on candy and soda, which is definitely something that is necessary. 

• Stop eating out and start cooking your own food at home
• Cut the snacks, candy, and soda
• Reduce alcohol consumption
• Always compare prices before buying
• Use discount codes and shop the weekly deals at the grocery store
• Walk/Bicycle or use public transportation instead of driving
• Cancel subscriptions that you don’t need
• Ask yourself twice if you really need something before buying
• Use energy-efficient products
• Move back home or find a roommate

Other tips to save money for your trip

Reduce your utility bills

Cheaper utility bills mean more money in your bank account. And there are actually a few ways to reduce your costs for utility bills. For example, you can use less electricity and use energy-efficient products and lamps. 

If the energy market is privatized, you might be able to get a better rate per KW/h from a different electric company. As for heat or air-condition, you could wear warm clothes instead or use a fan to cool down. 

Make extra money on the side

More income will make it easier for you to save money for travel, and luckily, there are plenty of opportunities to make extra money online these days. Sign up at one of the freelancer websites such as Upwork and start offering your skills to other people. 

For example, if you’re fluent in Spanish and have great English skills, you could offer translation services or even teach others in Spanish. You could also help Spanish-speaking people to learn better English. 

Sell your stuff

Sell whatever you don’t need or things that you no longer use. There are plenty of sites where you can sell stuff online, even Facebook has its own marketplace which is free to use.

I’ve sold plenty of stuff I don’t need on Marketplace and it’s a great way to get some extra money for your travels. You’ll be surprised about what other people are interested to buy, and remember even €10 per item will add up in the long run. 

Open an online savings account

Having a savings account with a fixed rate will allow your money to grow thanks to a higher interest rate. Most banks will offer you a deal if you lock the money for a limited period of time. Generally, you can expect to get a return of 2-4% on your money. 

Stick with your budget no matter what

Last but not least, the most important advice that I can give you is to always stick with your budget no matter what unless it’s an emergency. If you don’t follow your daily or weekly budget, you’ll likely fail. 

To successfully follow the budget, remember to keep track of your expenses and make smart decisions. 

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Want more tips on how to save money for travel? Leave a comment below!