HOW TO SAVE MONEY TO TRAEL
HOW TO SAVE MONEY TO TRAVEL
HOW TO SAVE MONEY TO TRAVEL FOR YOUR NEXT VACATION (US$1,700.00 in 10 months)
Get ready!! you have an upcoming vacation in 10 months or less. Yay!! this will be the natural reaction from anyone hearing these words…buttt!! Before you get too excited, we need to talk about how to achieve such a goal. Continue reading, and I will share with you many ways how to save money to travel.
If you are on this page reading this then it means you love/want to travel and you are willing to do what it takes legally and morally to do so, but just don’t know how to go about saving for it.
However, if you think you are going to miraculously get the monies needed to travel without a serious financial plan AND sticking to it then you can give up now. Prepare yourself mentally and let’s discuss a few ways you can start saving.
CUT-BACKS AND SACRIFICES
Ok let’s get serious we are going to look at some ways you can make some adjustments in your monthly budget or daily expenditures. We are going to focus on some cutbacks and sacrifices. NOO!! Not those words, how depressing!! Right!? No one wants to hear these words let alone, do them, yet these same people want to travel. If you are not rich or have surplus monies that allow you to travel, then you will have to another way to acquire money to travel. I am going to show you simplified and practical ways, how you can save for a great trip in 10 months or less.
Unless you are making an excellent salary with little responsibilities, then what you may consider as the “finer things in life” like travel, will seem “wayyy” out of your reach. However, it need not be this way, if you are willing to cut some of the unnecessary things out of your monthly expenditure, you will quickly see you will not be missing them, once you can start to visualize yourself in a new country on vacation (See my Destinations page for some lovely choices and reviews).
Now with your focus on a more exciting goal, you will need to internalize all this and start preparing “MENTALLY” to save. All this will only be achieved if you are 1. disciplined and 2. Willing to make some sacrifices.
SET UP A TRAVEL FUND OR A SOU-SOU/MERRY-GO-ROUND
First step! Set up a travel fund account. It is an excellent idea for your travel goal, and you can do it at your local bank or credit union. You will not have immediate access to the funds, so this is the main reason you will be doing it this way instead of saving it at home. Add to it weekly (preferably) or monthly.
Do not join this account with your regular savings account either. Here is where you are going to deposit the monies you save from your cutbacks and sacrifices. Join a sou sou/merry-go-round. That is an informal loan club shared between co-workers, friends or family members. It carries the same principle of saving, where it is mandatory to deposit a stipulated amount weekly or monthly. You do not take the pot/hand until you are ready for the money to start planning your vacation.
GET A 2ND JOB OR PAY YOURSELF TO COOK
My no.1 tip is and will always be to get a second job if you can get one. It is another way to earn some extra cash for your travel plans. Utilize your free time and make some extra cash, whether it be after work or on weekends. You may not look at it this way, but a second job can be in the form of you cooking for yourself, yes, you heard me correctly. Treat it like a regular job and be mentally prepared to do it in the mornings before you go to your regular job or on evenings after work.
Trust me, people, IT WORKS!! “Pay yourself to cook”, simply means instead of buying breakfast and lunch every day, five days a week …as most working/single people do.. you make sandwiches from home and cook a healthy meal and take to work every day. Some may say they don’t know how to cook, you can learn, there is nothing we all can’t learn. This will save you lots of money financially and health-wise. Here is a cost breakdown: The average person spends between US$10.00 to US$15.00 minimum per day on breakfast and lunch. This exact figure excludes the snacks that are usually bought between breakfast and lunch and sometimes after lunch.
Most days, you can see people buying breakfast, and in many cases, it’s something with oil seeping through a brown bag and a soda. Come on! The first meal of the day!? I can guarantee you that this same figure of US$10.00 to US$15.00 can provide breakfast and lunch for four (4) days if you visit the supermarket and buy the groceries and cook EVERY DAY, look at the savings already. You will be saving a minimum average of US$120.00 per month and in 10 months US$1200.00 (seriously, and this is based solely on if you are spending the maximum US$10.00 – US$15.00 per day). Remember, you can achieve this goal if you do this consistently.
GIVE UP THE CABLE
Give up the cable!! SAY WHAT??!! Hell No!! not the cable!! And then what will I look at, local TV!? The answer to that is YES!! (this is how I expect the conversation will be regarding this subject) Don’t stop reading!!.. Believe it or not, many people have cable because almost everyone you know has it or because the status quo says it’s the norm, I beg to differ. I talked to a few people about giving it up, and their reply was..you guessed it..no way!! then is the same breath, they said to me, “you know how long I haven’t looked at television or cable!?’ The monthly cost for cable is approximately US$50.00, which is a total saving of US$500.00 in 10 months.
I remembered at my former workplace, my ex co-workers laughed at me because I didn’t have nor wanted cable. I chose not to pay for something that would take up my precious time, money and kept me awake late at night looking at crap. Think of it logically, how many channels can you view at once? Just One! There is always a show you can enjoy if you can access local television or look at a DVD if you want to look at a movie.
For those who cannot “live” without cable, a good alternative would be Amazon Fire T.V. Stick (#Ad) with Alexa voice remote, streaming media player try the amazing alternative to cable, one and only, Amazon Prime Video, (#Ad) with a first 30 days free trial, the entire cost per year is less than a quarter of what you pay in 10 months for cable. You will now be saving this sum towards your next trip.
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MUST HAVE ESSENTIAL ITEMS FOR ALL TRAVELLERS
These are my essentials and gadgets I can never do without for a smooth and stress-free vacation. All are available on Amazon for direct links to the products and information and suggested uses .
For MUST-READ BOOKS Think and Grow Rich is an excellent book for those who are looking to improve their life and personally grow and develop. How to win friends and Influence people (#Ad) another self improvement and and social skills development read (excellent read …perfect for long airport layovers and during your flight) or during your free time. CLICK HERE for the entire list of travel essentials and uses/descriptions
GET A CREDIT CARD
Get a credit card?! “WHAT!!” I can hear lots of you gasping in shock with the words “Credit Card.” A credit card is like a gun, harmless on a shelf, but it becomes a dangerous item in the hands of a reckless person. Remember, as previously mentioned, these tips are for disciplined people. People who feel empowered by a credit card. Not
for those who get excited with the sight of a credit card. Neither is it for those whose first thought is shopping or who use one card to repay the next. A credit card, especially those that give travel points or free tickets, is an excellent idea. Most of these cards are less than US$100.00, per year and the benefits are enormous as follows:
- Free ticket or travel points.
- Travel insurance and other medical coverage benefits.
- Financial security when travelling especially if you encounter any unexpected hiccups during your travels.
- Monies at your disposal anytime you need it (you don’t have to ask friends or family to loan money if the need arises).
- If you book your ticket online using your card, you pay less than if you go to a booking agent or the airline counter.
For less than US$100.00 I think it’s a great “tool”. Think of it this way, many people spend this amount or more on snacks or junk food every month, without even realizing it.
How to Manage and put your Credit Card to Work for You
The main trick with a credit card is: DO NOT USE YOUR CREDIT CARD UNLESS YOUR ARE SURE YOU CAN REPAY BY THE DUE DATE. This way, you will NEVER pay credit card interests or late fees (I have never paid such fees..EVER). If you use it this way, you will be paying only the yearly fee, nothing else.
- Use it to pay for everything. The more you use it, the more points you acquire towards your next free ticket.
- Pay for purchases for friends, family, and co-workers, (no IOUs). This will help increase your travel points even faster.
- Leave your credit card at home when you go to the Mall, unless you took it to purchase a particular item. You will always see something you like or want, and with this card in your pocket, you may yield to the temptation of unnecessary purchases.
STOP THE (PPP) PEER PRESSURE PURCHASES
In some cases, spending on a worthy cause can be a good way of giving back and helping others, but you do not have to partake in every purchase of barbecue tickets, sweet treats, raffle tickets, etc. being peddled through your office or neighborhood.
Not because your co-workers are purchasing said items means you must do the same. Don’t try to impress or worry about what others think or say about you, it’s not your business… that’s their issue!! just focus on your goal!! The same principles apply to peers, family, or neighbors buying the latest electronics, latest fashions, etc. stop focusing on what others purchase or have and focus on what YOU want and stick to the program in trying to achieve them. If your main goal is to travel, then all these other things will appear trivial to you eventually.
GET PAID FOR YOUR SPARE ROOM OR APARTMENT
Put on your business head and start making extra cash from an apartment, empty spare rooms, or maybe a storeroom. Convert them into rentable bed and breakfast units. This is a brilliant idea and can bring in extra money during the winter and summer months. Additionally, for special holidays or special events in your country, such as Carnival, Sporting Events, etc. Hotels and Guest Houses tend to be over-booked, rooms for visitors are difficult to find, you can see how it can work in your favour. This is very easy to do, just List/register your property with Bookings.com (the best booking engine), they will take it from there. Click the link above for more details. Your property + Bookings.com = Travel Money.
It’s All Up to You Now
Now that I have given you many ideas as to “How to save money to travel”. Evaluate your situation and see what other ways you can cut back or curtail certain things to save. Some good examples would also be smoking less, hanging out, and partying less. Ladies, your nail techs and hairdressers are travelling more than you. Maybe cut back on the hair treatments (esp. the expensive weaves), the nail treatments, etc. Curtail using the Mall as a hang-out spot because it entices you to spend unnecessarily on things you more than likely do not need.
To sum it all up, if you follow some of these suggestions, you will quickly see your travel monies because you can see by cooking and giving up the cable alone, you can accrue US$1,700.00 (TT$11,900.00) in 10 months GUARANTEED!!
Share your thoughts below if you can stick to such a saving regime or your saving methods.
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