How To Save Money to Travel More

Saving money for travel can seem daunting at first, but it’s not impossible. With a few changes in your habits and mindset, you can be on your way to exploring the world without breaking the bank. One of the first steps is to set a goal and create a plan. Decide where you want to go and when, then determine how much money you need to save and how long it will take you to reach your goal. In this post, I’ll cover how to save money to travel more.

We all have that one friend who is able to travel, and is always out on one adventure or another.  Our lucky friend is off seeing the world and we are stuck at home unable to afford the luxury of travel. We might even feel a little bit jealous at times and wonder how we can save money to travel more.  I get asked this question all the time and I’m going to let you in on my little secrets on how I save money so that I can travel more.

We all have the freedom and the ability to travel more often just like that one friend does if we really want to. In this post, we’ll uncover some small changes to make so that you’re able to save more money for travel.

Make Travel a Priority

Making travel a priority is step number one in saving money to be able to travel more often.  If you want something badly enough, there are always ways to make it happen.  This goes with everything in life not just travel, however for the purpose of this article we will focus on saving money for travel. 

In order to be successful saving the money needed for travel, it is imperative that the desire to travel is made a priority.  If this step is skipped, saving the extra money needed for travel won’t be successful.

Once you make the decision that life is too short and and your primary focus turns to travel (next to family and employment of course), take the time to make an inventory of all of your current expenses.  Since I am a solo traveller, travel is much more expensive, but I was shocked to see how many areas of my life could be changed in order to save more money for what I loved to do the most…travel.

Cut Down Expenses to Save Money for Travel

Walk Instead of Drive

In this day and age, it’s not uncommon to hop in the car and drive to where you need (or want) to go. Often-times we fail to carefully plan our errands in advance.  There are times when we may find ourselves out, only to realize that we had forgotten to pick up something that we think we might need.  Then off we go again.

Not only will you save time when we pre-planninng errands, you will save money on gas (and we all know how expensive gas is these days). 

Before running errands, take the time to determine what is needed for the week, plan your route, and get it all done at once so that you aren’t taking the car out as often.  Better yet, leave the car at home and walk whenever possible.  Not only will you save money, but you will also get in a bit of exercise and save a ton of time.

Stay Home

Going out shopping or to the movies encourages more spending.  Change your lifestyle when you aren’t travelling to be more of a homebody.  Take up new hobbies, become an avid hiker (which is free and healthy), or entertain your friends at home.  Just stay home more often.  The more often we leave the house, it does cost money.

Stop Eating at Restaurants and Getting Take-Out

Most of us are guilty of either going to a restaurant at least once a week, or at the very least getting take-out.  As somebody who loves going to restaurants, I found this a tough one to give up, however travel was more of a priority for me, so give it up I did. If you love eating out, it’s okay to occasionally treat yourself by going to a restaurant every month or two. By doing this you won’t feel as if you’re missing out in order to save more money.

Skip the Timmie’s Run

Canadians will know exactly what I mean by this one.  We love our Timmie’s coffee, and I certainly am no exception.   I use to stop for a Timmie’s every night after work and two or three times on the weekends.  My weekly coffee bill often exceeded $15.00 per week.  Although it doesn’t sound like much, over a month that’s $60.00.   That $60.00 has gone a long way to help me save money so that I can travel more often.

If coffee is your down-fall, limit the trips to the coffee shop and you’ll quickly see your dollars add up.

Quit Smoking and DrinkingIf

This is a biggy!  Yes, I was a smoker for my entire life until almost 5 years ago.  I decided that I wanted to begin to travel 4 or 5 times a year, and quitting smoking was the only way that I would be able to do that.  With cigarettes in Canada being $16.00 a pack (at the time I quit), I made a HUGE savings for my travel fund.  It certainly wasn’t easy to quit after smoking for 45 years, however, my desire to travel and see the world was much greater than giving myself shitty health.

Need vs. Want

Finally, when cutting down on expenses, ask yourself, do I really NEED this?  Or do I just WANT this?  It is amazing how much we buy just because we want it.  If serious about travelling more often, especially as a solo traveller, it is important to purchase only what is needed and forgo the wants.

Saving Money for Travel

In addition to all of the money saved by cutting these unnecessary expenses, there are even more ways you can save money in order to travel more frequently.

Travel Savings Account

Once you have reviewed your weekly/monthly budget, determine what you can afford to set aside, I recommend doing the following so that you don’t have access to your travel fund:

• open a separate bank account strictly for your travel fund
• deposit the pre-determined amount into the account before paying anything else. It’s important to pay yourself first, even if it’s a small amount
• don’t link the travel account to your debit card
• sit back and watch your travel fund grow 🙂

Save Your Pennies

This strategy has worked for me and I am surprised that more people don’t use it:

• grab a large jar
• put all of your change, including loonies and toonies, into the jar
• when it comes time to travel, roll it all up and exchange it for bills

This money will often cover the “extras” needed while travelling, such as tours, souvenirs, etc.

Save Money to Travel More – In Conclusion …

In short, saving money to travel more often takes a lot of dedication and determination, however, by following these simple, and sometimes not so simple, steps, you’ll have saved extra money and you’ll be travelling more frequently in no time at all:

SAVE MONEY AND MONEY WILL SAVE YOU

If you want to save for travel and be successful, these are just a few methods of saving extra money that have worked for me.  We are all looking for ways to save money, whether it be for travel or other things, and I would love to hear what methods you use to save money so that you are able to travel more often?

Remember, saving money may require some sacrifice in the short term, but the experiences you’ll have while travelling will be worth it in the long run. By taking small steps to save money, you’ll be able to see the world and create lasting memories.

HAPPY SAVINGS 🙂

PIN IF YOU LOVE TO SAVE MONEY 🙂

10 Easy ways to save money so you can travel more often