I’ve had travel funds as long as I can remember. I started to save money for travel in high school by working at a coffee shop on the weekends and off seasons when I wasn’t playing sports.
The summer before I college I took a trip to Aruba with my best friends. My first international trip and I paid for it all on my own by working a minimum wage job. I was hooked.
There were so many ways to save money on a tight budget. As well as many ways to save money while traveling.
Fast forward 18 years, my travel funds keeps getting larger because my desire to travel more places and for longer periods of time keeps getting more intense.
22 Ways to Save for Travel
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How to Start a Travel Fund
1. Prioritize
Let’s take a look at my story. I’ve been a bartender since I was 19 years old, I am currently 35 and still bartend to fund my travels (along with a few side hustles and tricks I mention in this post).
I say this because I want you to know that I wasn’t blessed with a trust fund or left a high paying corporate job to travel. I worked my ass off, had multiple jobs, saved as much money as I could and used all these tips I’m writing about on how to save money to travel the world in order to budget for travel.
It wasn’t easy and it didn’t come without sacrifice. Saving money for travel was my top priority and you will need to set your intentions early and stay focused.
2. Attack your Debt
I was twenty two thousand dollars in credit card debt, got a second job, cut out unnecessary spending and paid off my debt while saving 20k in a travel fund all within a year while living in expensive Maui. I don’t say this to brag, I say this to let you know that if I can do it, you can do it.
3. Start a Seperate Online Savings Account for your Travel Fund
You can do this through your hometown bank or what I recommend doing is to start an online banking account through Charles and Schwab. It is easy to set up and you can do so here. If you sign up through this link you can earn up to an extra $500 depending on how much you deposit. What a perfect way to jumpstart your travel fund! P.S. I get no incentive for you using this link, its all you baby! Save on my friend!
Once you’ve set up your online travel savings account you can link your original account and easily transfer money into your savings electronically. So every time you deposit money you can decide how much is going into your travel fund, transfer it over and forget about it.
I recommend banking with Charles and Schwab for several reasons.
First, they have great customer service. One time I was traveling through Thailand in Southeast Asia when I realized that my debit card was about to expire and that was my only way to withdrawal money. I made a call to customer service and within 3 days I had a new debit card delivered to my hotel in Chiang Mai.
I then proceeded to accidentally leave my new unexpired debit card in an ATM. Not my proudest travel moment. I then had to wait until I was going to be in one spot for at least one week to have them send me a new bank card. This time it was in Vang Vieng, Laos, where I again called and my second new debit card had arrived within 3 days.
If you know anything about Laos or Vang Vieng in general you know how remote and difficult it is to get to. Charles and schwab was there for me when I needed them and I will forever by a loyal customer.
Second, when you use you Charles and schwab card anywhere in the world, they reimburse your foreign transaction fees. This way you never have to be carrying a bunch of cash on you, you can pull out what you’ll spend for the day or two and it’s still cost effective because you’ll be getting back what you spent on atms at the end of each month. It’s safe and it saves. Win win.
4. Track your Expenses
Next track your expenses for a week, record everything that you spend your money on. That morning coffee, parking, laundry, night cap, whatever it is write it down and see on average how much you spend a week. Once you’ve finished tracking your expenses for a whole week multiply that number times 4, this will be your average expenses you spend in a month.
There are lots of apps out there to help you track your expenses but my favorite is the Trail Wallet Travel Budget App. This app let’s you track your expenses by categories and its easy to use. Plus it was designed for travelers, you can easily switch between currencies and getting in the habit now to track your expenses will be a breeze when you are actually traveling.
Okay so you have your total bills for the month and roughly what you spend in a month on things other than bills like groceries and nights out. That number may scare you but this is a good thing because now you cut the fat. All the frivolous spending has to go in order to watch your travel savings grow. Time to put yourself on a strict budget. Here are some common ways to do this.
Expenses to Cut to Save Money to Travel
5. Cut the Coffee
6. Ditch the Gym & Workout at Home
If you go this route utilize Youtube. There are lots of free workouts online that can get your blood pumping and of course running is always free.
7. Trade Nights out for Dinner Parties
8. Cut the Extra Montly Subscriptions
9. Stream
10. Stop Drinking
If you’ve ever worked in the restaurant industry, after your shift you go to the late night bar for drinks to talk with your co-workers and talk about your night. Once I stopped doing this I saved hundreds of dollars a month. Cutting this expense for me was the easiest way to save for a trip.
11. Don’t Smoke
12. Enjoy Free Activities
13. Use Public Transportation when you can
14. Buy in Bulk
This makes it easy to meal prep and have meals and snacks ready to go. This is especially helpful if you are living a busy life and working two jobs to build up that travel fund. When you’re busy people pay for convenience which counter acts the whole point of working a second job in the first place.
15. Shop at Farmer’s Markets
16. You Don’t Need the Latest & Greatest
Uncover your hidden talent and become a coupon queen. Every penny counts.
17. Go Green
Swap your current lightbulbs for energy efficient ones. The most popular energy saving light bulbs are halogen incandescents, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Although they can initially cost more upfront, it saves you money in the long run because they use less energy.
Solar panels. Another idea that will cost more money upfront but will save you money long term and a travel savings is all about the long term goal.
Read Next: The Best Reef Safe Sunscreens for your Face
18. Don’t Own Pets
Unfortunately a down side to having pets is the cost. You have to buy them food, pay for unexpected vet bills and of course toys. This all adds up and what you spend on a pet could potentially be going into your travel fund.
Plus this makes it difficult to leave to travel the world especially if you’re looking to save enough money to fund long term travel. That wouldn’t be fair to you or the animal.
Ways to Get More Money for Traveling
19. Get a Side Hustle
There are several ways to do this. You can get a second job. Whether it’s a few nights a week or on the weekends. It’s not easy working a second job, it’s time consuming and exhausting but keep your eye on the prize. You want enough money to travel the world!
You can earn extra income through an app. There lots of apps popping up that allow you to earn extra money on your own time. This makes it much more appealing than having to clock into a second job. Check out these apps to earn extra money on the side.
- Instacart – Shop groceries and deliver them to their house.
- Uber
- Lfyt
- Rover – Dog walking and pet sitting.
- Thumbtack – Put your services on the app for people to find you locally. Example photography.
Another way to make extra money for travel is working online. This is my main goal financial freedom and location independence. Making money online is the way to do this. Here are a few ways you can do this.
- Start a blog
- Take surveys online
- Have a shop on Etsy
- Upwork
- Fiverr
- Taskrabbit
20. Downsize
Not into getting a smaller place? Become a host and rent out a room on Airbnb
Move in with your parents. Get a roommate. Live in a van. Remember that the end goal is to travel the world and to travel for long term.
21. Pay in Bulk
For example I always pay my car insurance in bulk every six months. This saves me about $120 and it feels good to know that its already paid off.
Watch your Travel Fund Grow
22. Put Everything on a Credit Card with Huge Travel Benefits
This will help you get free flights and hotel stays which can help you travel for longer. These are a few of the best credit cards for travel.
- Chase Sapphire
- Amex Plantinum
- Capitol One Venture
- Hilton Honors
That’s how to save money to travel. Do you have any money saving tips that has benefited you on your travel savings journey? Let me know in the comments below!
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Simple, effective, and easy to understand.