Traveling costs money; it is unavoidable, even if you try to cut costs and implement a budget. The destination, your itinerary, and the type of traveling that you plan to do will obviously determine the cost of your trip. Saving up for a trip can take time, but there are ways to expedite the process, including some tips to help you earn money during your travels. Keep reading to find out more.
Before You Go
Once you have decided on your destination and your loose itinerary, you can begin to save your money. Often, you need to have a significant portion of the money saved to help you pay for the holiday. Start by selling your unwanted items. If you are going for a long time, then you can think about selling bigger items like your car. This could fund most, if not all, of your trip. Most places have decent public transport links meaning that you aren’t going to miss out before you travel, and you can always think about getting another car once you return home, or you could simply continue to use public transport.
Your car is not the only thing that you could sell. Take a look around your home; what else could you sell? You could pack your possessions up and head over to a car boot sale or list them on digital marketplaces like eBay, Depop or Gumtree. There is a market for almost everything out there. Selling your items is also a great way to declutter and ensure that you are reducing your environmental impact instead of leaving your items to languish in a landfill.
Building Up To The Trip
In the months leading up to your trip, you should start to think about cancelling or pausing your subscriptions. You won’t need Netflix, Disney+ or Amazon Prime during your travels, and you can save a lot of money by halting your subscriptions to them. The same goes for gym memberships or any other monthly expenses that you won’t use or need as much during your trip. Of course, you can reinstate them when you get back, but if you leave them running, then they can eat into your budget and make things tight during your trip.
There are also a lot of free versions that you can still use, for example, Spotify vs Spotify premium; obviously, the free version has fewer features, but it will do while you save up for your trip. Finally, cancel your phone contract. You can save money by swapping onto a sim only plan. Your current provider might also carry huge costs for international calls, whereas a provider like Lebara offers a range of sim-only plans. In addition, they don’t charge extortionately for international calls; you can learn more here. The last thing you want is to not be able to contact home due to financial constraints.
The next thing that you need to do is reconsider your approach to your social life. You do not have to suddenly stop going out and seeing your friends, but you should try to go about it a different way. Look for cheaper or even free options instead of bars, clubs or restaurants. The truth is that a social life can be expensive to keep up with, especially if you go out a lot. The costs of drinks, nights out and meals with friends quickly mount, eating into your income. Instead of going out to eat or ordering in, why don’t you have your friends over and cook for them?
You are already buying groceries anyway, and it is a lot cheaper to cook than it is to buy food from a restaurant. You can reduce the expense without having to sacrifice your social life. The same principle applies to drinks with friends. Host a drinks night or a house party instead of going out to a pub or club. It is a lot cheaper, and you can have just as much fun. If you want to go out on a night out for whatever reason, then set yourself a budget for that night. Drink before you go and if possible, do your best to smuggle a flask into the club with you in an effort to keep costs down.
If you plan to travel for some time, you can save money by moving out of your home early and moving to somewhere cheaper. Consider moving back home and into a family members home. You can save a lot of money on your rent in doing so. This money can make all the difference when it comes to planning your trip.
If you own your home, then selling it is obviously unrealistic, not to mention a bad idea financially. Instead, try to find a roommate. They can split the living costs with you, allowing you to save money for your trip. In addition, they can continue to live there while you are on your travels. So you have someone to look after your home for you, and they can take on another roommate temporarily while you travel to cover your lost input.
While Travelling
If you are going to travel for an extended period of time, then you might begin to run out of money while you are there. There are a number of ways to secure an income while you are travelling. You can get a cash-in-hand job in the hospitality or manual labour industries. A lot of businesses are happy to take on travellers temporarily because they can get away with paying them a little less to make up for the inconvenience of a high turnover. You can also take on a job teaching English as a foreign language. If you have an internet connection during your travels, you can continue working freelance, marketing your skills, and using websites like Fiverr to advertise your skills.
In Conclusion
There are a lot of ways for you to make money to fund your travels. Before you can begin you need to think about the type of trip that you want to take because this will obviously inform how much money you will need. Once you have worked this out, you can decide which of the ideas above will help you to reach your goal. Raising the money might take time, but remember that it will be worth it.