Saving money for travel can seem daunting at first, but it’s not impossible. Change a few habits and adjust your mindset. In this post, I’ll cover how to save money so that you too can 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 travelling the world. We are stuck at home. We cannot 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 how I’m able to travel as often as I do all the time. In this post, I’ll let you in on my money saving secrets.
A Quick Snap-Shot of Ways to Save Money
- make travel a priority
- pre-plan your errands to do all at the same time
- walk, don’t drive
- stay home more often
- cut out (or cut back) on eating at restaurants and take-out
- stop the Timmie runs
- determine WANT vs. NEED
- open a savings account dedicated to travel only and don’t link your bank card to this account
- count your pennies
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 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 save extra money. You’ll be traveling more frequently in no time at all.
Before you leave, you may be interested in reading more “how to” articles:
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 all want to save money for travel or other things. I would love to hear your methods for saving money. This way, you can travel more often.
✈️ Now that you’ve saved money, it’s time to book your dream vacation!
Saving money may require some sacrifice in the short term. Remember, 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 🙂
Travel Solo Like a Pro!
AIRFARE:
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HOTELS & ACCOMMODATION:
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ACTIVITIES:
♥ Get Your Guide and Viator are the absolute best sites to plan and book any adventures, activities, and all things fun
BIKE AND MOTORCYCLE RENTALS:
♥ BikesBooking.com will find the best prices for bicycles, motocyles, and scooter rentals any place in the world.
CAR RENTAL:
♥ Economy Bookings will provide rental prices worldwide, which making it a one stop shop for the most reasonable car rentals
AIRPORT TRANSFER AND PRIVATE TOURS:
♥ Kiwitaxi is who you want to contact for transportation from the airport or train station. Why not arrange for a PRIVATE CITY TOUR with Kiwitaxi at the same time.
CRUISES:
♥ Cruise Critic not only provides reviews and answers questions, it also offers great cruise deals. If your a cruise lover (like me), I highly recommend that you check it out!
TRAVEL INSURANCE:
♥ Travel insurance these times of natural disasters, travel interruption and baggage loss is no longer a place where you can cut costs. essentials. It has become an essential part of travel. Visitors Coverage will take care of all of your insurance needs.
PIN IF YOU LOVE TO SAVE MONEY 🙂
I definitely do a lot of those things to make travel a priority! I tend to skimp on other things so that I can make sure to travel as much as I want.
Me too. I gave up the smoking many years ago, as well as my after work coffee. That has saved a fortune!
Reblogged this on Million Miler Mom and commented:
Great tips!!
The coffee one is so true! $5 x 5 days a week quickly adds up.
Last year I made the switch to 7/11 coffee $2 a cup so that I could still feel a little bit of the coffee buying luxury, but even that amount was a big saving.
The only time that I buy coffee now is when I’m heading out on a roadtrip (I still need my coffee when driving), the rest of the time I make it at home.
Some nice times for saving money! We also investigate on where the money goes out, so that we can see if we can cut down the unnecessary cost. Also, we don’t do unnecessary shopping (clothes, shoes, bags and accessories).
yes you have to watch where your money goes if you want to travel more for sure. We all have way too much stuff. I dont even go into stores anymore except to buy work clothes twice a year
Great tips!! Yes, travel has to be a priority. As, I have gotten older and “wiser” lol I have noticed travel just isn’t a desire for some and for others it’s not a priority, and that’s OK too. For us, it’s not the house or the cars, but the adventure we can have as a family. Now if we could curb the eating out we would have more funds!🤣
I’m the same. As I get older its all about adventures. Priorities change at different stages in life
Those are some practical tips that I religiously follow in order to save money to follow my passion . Eventhough I have a full time job. I think it’s very imp that one should be clear of the priority and the kind of passion travel is it definitely requires money to be invested
I agree. I’m still working as well and set aside money every week strictly for travel
These are really some great tips for saving money. And I think these tips are relevant for saving money for any thing, not only travel. Saving up the pennies is a great way to save money. The loose changes often add up to a lot. And yes, we often spend a lot of money on eating and dining out. Cutting them can actually save a lot of money for our travel fund. I don’t have a television at home. It saves a lot of time and also saves on the cable bill!
cable is a great expense to cut. Its my most expensive bill
Saving money for travel is always what I also prefer. Going for walks is a good idea for saving money and also a good exercise too. I too love cooking at home instead of spending lots of money in restaurants. Avoiding smoking is a really a healthy tip to save money and health.
for years now every extra penny I’ve earned has gone to travel. I will admit though since being in quarantine, I have spent more on my home lol
A really useful list for those who want to expand their travel budget. We do practice some of these like eating out really infrequently and that definitely makes a big difference
Restaurants are so expensive. But I admit I really like eating out but I limit it to every couple of months
Eating out and take aways used to be a big one for me! It’s amazing how much I am saving whilst under lock down! I never really thought about how much it all adds up to until now!
the small things really do add up, especially giving up restaurants and fast food
Great tips Kelly, a few of them I have only recently started implementing as a result of the lockdown. I’m definitely not eating out, driving anywhere or buying takeaway coffee right now 🙂 The small things really do make a difference. I don’t have a dedicated travel account though, so you’ve given me another good idea.
its amazing the money saved during lockdown. I’m not going to suggest it as a way of saving though lol
Great tips to save money for travel. That last one, saving your change, has done wonders for us. We have saved our change for probably 20 years. We’ve been able to buy 8 acres of land in Alaska with our change, buy a riding lawn mower for our house in Idaho and now we are saving again. This time it will be for a 30th anniversary trip. I’m glad you stopped smoking. Travel is much better than being unhealthy.
I actually find it strange now when I see people smoking lol.
Great tips for saving money! I also agree with this that you need to make a travel to your priority and then everything else will be super simple 🙂
exacrly. Travel is what I love and every extra penny goes towards it
This is an amazing blog post! This is seriously everything I did to save up for my travels. I couldn’t be happier!
Its so easy to save by just making some small lifestyle adjustments
These are some great tips! Can I also recommend trying a fundraiser? It can be so much fun and it involves a community of people!
thats a great idea. Will people attend though if the pupose is to allow a person to travel? It would be a tonne of fun!
Such a Canadian thing! Tim Hortons! haha! love it. This is a great post. My husband and I saved up to travel for year, however we ended up getting burnt out and came home for Christmas. Happy we did though, since the virus broke out a couple months after.
I love to travel but I doubt I could travel from one place to another. I’d rather spend an extended period and explore 1 area at a time. P.S. I still have to buy the odd timmies lol
Great tips, although Timmies is such good value – imagine if you were buying starbucks instead of Tim Hortons!? 😉
I have found some of my biggest savings by attempting to cut down on plastic(!) I swapped antiperspirant for an alum crystal (it’s mad that it works) and started making my own peanut butter/ cleaning products. It was a nice surprise to find out doing those things saves money as well as plastic. 😀
thats an awesome idea. Especially the cleaning products.. there are so many chemicals in them
Great tips! Saving money by staying home is a lot easier now 😅
yes…unfortunately it is
Good tips and I did all of this because travel has always been the priority. I like to physically put the money away that I would spent on a cake and coffee, so I can actually see the savings. Saving quite a bit at the mo as can’t go anywhere lol.
I agree. My bank account also hasn’t looked as good as now in a long time lol
I absolutely agree. Many people my age wonder how I’ve been travel so much because traveling is expensive. Funny thing is, much of these people are much richer than me! As long as you have enough to live comfortably, it’s all about priorities.
Some great tips! I avoid high street coffee shops and save my money for my travelling. My coin jar is not getting fed as much as in the past as using my debit card becomes so easy. Maybe I will go back to it.
Same. I havent been using cash at all past few months but have saved because we can’t go anywhere
Loved seeing this topic being written- it’s an enigma for many people, but it can be done! It comes down to balance, sacrifice & being proactive! Perspective is imagining where what you’re saving is going towards- I’d rather spend $100 in another country & possibly do something different than be at the local bar! 🙂
I’m with you. All about priorities
Great article! I really need to follow your advice so I can travel more.
Thank you.. its amazing how much money we spend on stupid things that we don’t need
Great tips!! I often tell people that making travel a priority is the key–and have to point out the types of things I don’t do (fancy coffee, shopping sprees) so that I can go. And I built travel savings into my monthly budget. But I also love dining out so that doesn’t help my budget!
Just like me! But I have cut way back on the restaurants so I can add another week of travel
Where there’s a will there’s a way! It is amazing how much seemingly little things, like a coffee a day, add up!
I completely agree. It’s all a matter of priority!
These are great tips! I do most of these things to save money for traveling and completely agree with you that it is so important to make it a priority. If you value travel, you will find a way to make it happen!
These are great tips! I try to walk whenever I can and have definitely adopted more of a “need vs want” mentality (I have too much stuff/clutter, so working on donating a bunch of stuff too)! Thankfully no smoking/drinking, and this quarantine thing is stopping me from going out to eat, so saving money there too. (Silver linings?)
I agree. My bank account hasn’t seen this much extra money in it for awhile. I have my next trip paid for once the quarantine is over.
Great tips! But eating out is my weakness! We use a lot of credit card points for travel.
Great tips! It’s amazing to think how we spend money on things all the time and we don’t even realize how much we are spending.
Exactly. It only takes cutting out one small item and you will save money! People don’t realize how fast the small things can add up.
This is something that is great for so many people! Thank you for sharing 🙂 Always looking for more tips on how to save money to travel more!
Thank you. I agree. This works for whatever you want in life.
People always ask how they can travel as much as me – and it’s pretty simple – it’s a priority. I value travel over most other things. So I use coupons, buy in bulk, and many of the things you mentioned, etc, to save money to prioritize travel.
Exactly. It’s all about priority! It’s easy to save money by cutting out the little things and things we don’t really need. It’s amazing how much you can save.
I agree that having the mindset of making travel a priority really helps when you’re cutting out unnecessary expenses. I used to spend way too much money on new clothes and home decor stuff until I realized I’d much rather use the money for travel. Coffee was a sneaky expense, too. I actually like my homemade cold brew better than Starbucks, and it’s so cheap and easy 🙂
I am actually enjoying my own coffee more now as well. I have to admit though that I am now going through a home decor phase. Likely because I’m stuck at home lol.
The Timmie effect is the same as the Starbucks affect! People spending $4-5 on a fancy coffee twice a day, five days a week soon adds up. It’s those little things that really add up don’t they? Small changes can make an impact long term. Me and my husband stopped celebrating birthday and Christmas with loads of presents. Instead we started going on travel adventure instead. That way we didn’t accumulate more “stuff” except memories. And the money we spent went on our love of travel.
Many people don’t realize how small changes can save a tonne of money. My kids and I have also stopped buying for Christmas and have started doing family adventure outings. They are all adults now so we have a tonne of fun!
These are fantastic tips! It’s so true that if you want to do something badly enough, you won’t mind giving up other things that perhaps you can live without. I love the tip about just being a homebody because when you are out and about it’s just too easy to spend money. I save that restaurant money so that I can enjoy local food when I travel, which is much more fun anyway!
I completely agree. Although after this lockdown it’ll be hard to stay home for long lol. But I have managed to save enough for my next trip
I bought a fancy coffee maker so I never buy coffee out, but I am definitely guilty of eating and drinking out. It’s crazy the amount of money I’m saving during this pandemic not able to go out, lol!
I am too. Its been a long time since my bank account has seen this much money. Enough for another trip 😀
That’s awesome!! Good for you 👏🏼
Who can pass up Tim Horton’s?? Great ideas for saving those dollars, trips to the coffee shop add up fast!
They sure do! I have to admit though that when I go on a roadtrip, I still have to get my Timmies lol.
I already do the walking bit all the time but now am smoking and drinking like a loony!
Lol….im eating like that lol. Good thing we don’t have a pandemic all the time
Oh I do the eating too!