“Travel. Your money will return. Your time won’t."
As most travel lovers know, traveling can be expensive. One of the biggest questions we often get from friends, family, and on social media is, “how do you afford to travel?”
Luckily, making your travel dreams a reality isn’t as impossible as it may seem when you're starting out. We can tell you first hand that you don’t need to be rich to travel, you just need to make the most of your money! In this blog post, we will dive into some of the methods that we use to save money for our travels. They have worked well for us over the years, and we hope that they will help to get you started as well!
1. Determine the budget for your trip
Before you even think about your savings, plan out where you want to go and what level of comfort appeals to you. Are you open to hostels? Airbnbs? Only top-tier hotels?
While you’re planning, be honest with yourself. Estimate how much your airfare, accommodations, food, and activities will cost.
Keep in mind that you can often find free walking tours of the city you are visiting (we have seen them offered throughout Europe) which is an easy way to save on tour costs.
2. Time to SAVE
Based on your budget, make a commitment to put aside a certain amount of money from each paycheck that is possible for you. Even if you don't have a specific trip in mind yet, you can still start saving for travel generally! We put these contributions into a separate travel savings account that we don’t touch for anything else (unless there was an emergency, of course). You may not feel comfortable doing this right away, but try not to put too much pressure on yourself! It's never too late to start and no amount is too small.
Think of it this way:
You want to save at least $5,000 for a trip next year.
Assuming you have about 365 days to meet that goal, simply divide $5,000 by 365. With this in mind, you actually only need to set aside an extra $14/day to get a healthy budget for your trip. We also recommend that you don’t think of it as “saving” think of it as “future spending” — which is more fun if you ask us!
3. Get a travel credit card that offers reward miles
We both have travel credit cards that allow us to rack up reward miles all of the time. This is an easy way to save up for travel with your everyday spending that you would do anyway. If you aren't traveling all of the time, we would recommend starting out with a card that doesn't charge annual fees (here are some options). If you have a travel credit card already, check to see if they have a shopping platform where you can get additional rewards just by shopping through their site.
4. Use apps to save a little bit here and there
There are a number of apps available that we think of as “everyday money savers.” These may not be available everywhere, but we honestly have saved hundreds of dollars by using them.
Some examples to consider:
-Ibotta: An app that allows you to earn cash back on in-store and online purchases. We use this app at our local grocery stores and get money back just for buying groceries that we would anyway (milk, coffee, etc.)
-GetUpside: An app that allows you to earn cash back by visiting participating gas stations.
If you are interested in either of these, feel free to use our referral codes to make us smile!
Ibotta code: NMTHSNP
GetUpside code: WRP3E
5. Dine in instead of eating out
One of the few positive things to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it's a safer and easier option to eat at home instead of eating out at restaurants. We were definitely guilty of eating out often before COVID, but now that we have seen the benefits to our wallet and our health, I don’t think that we will go back to our old ways anytime soon.
6. Sell items that you aren’t using
We have been doing this a lot lately to feel like we are “starting fresh” in the New Year. It has been an easy way to get some additional savings!
So far, we have used Facebook Marketplace and apps like LetGo or OfferUp to sell. Posting your listing in multiple places makes it more likely to sell fast.
Some examples of things we have been selling:
older purses and accessories, furniture or décor, and technology that we are no longer using.
7. Find travel inspiration to stay motivated
It’s easier to keep our goals in mind when we see beautiful photos of places we would love to visit or posts from other travel lovers sharing their experiences across social media. We enjoy some “travel community” groups on Facebook and love to watch travel-related videos. If you’re in need of some travel inspo now, below are a couple of our favorite Ted Talks to help you out!
Travel more & buy less by Luis Vargas:
We always say that we prioritize experiences over things. This great video really focuses on how prioritizing travel can be much more beneficial to your life than that new car.
The value of travel by Rick Steves:
We all know that Rick Steves is a travel expert at this point, but hearing him explain how all that time and money away from home has broadened his perspective and enriched his life is very interesting.
We tried to narrow this down to the top ways that we have been saving money for travels because it can be overwhelming sometimes! However, it is key to try out different methods to find what works best for you. We hope that these ideas will be helpful to get you started on saving for your next adventure!
Thanks for reading!
Nikki + Pam
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