How to Save Money for Your Next Trip.

Trips are fun! Aren’t they? Think about all the excitement of being in a new place, meeting new people, and learning new things. The experience is definitely unbeatable. Whereas traveling can help you relax your mind, counter boredom and give you memories worth keeping, it comes with a huge financial commitment.

So, how about learning a few tips on how to save money for your next trip? Sounds interesting, right? No matter what your income is, you can still afford to go for a trip without breaking the bank. With a little creativity, sacrifice, and yes, a little bit of determination, you can always find better ways of saving money for your next trip.

Here are a few tips that will effortlessly help you save money for your next trip. Grab a cup of coffee and let’s get rolling!

Be Financially Responsible.

It sounds a little judgey, but the truth is that this is the general rule of thumb if you want to succeed not only in saving money for your next vacation but also succeeding in life generally. School might have taught you about financial planning and management but putting this into practice has proved to be a hard nut to crack.

Financial planning and management is a learned skill but most people have not mastered the basics. If you’re contemplating saving money for your next trip, it’s an absolute must to revisit the basic concepts of financial planning and management and iron out the bad financial habits that you’ve picked up along the way.

Set a Firm Budget for Your Trip.

Do you make weekly or monthly budgets? What steps do you take to come up with a comprehensive budget? If you’re anything like me, you probably have no idea. Well, whether your trip is months or a year away, creating a firm budget is a great move towards saving for your trip. Budgeting gives you a rough estimate of how much your trip is likely to cost and then helps you to figure out how to save for it. Depending on your destination, your budget should be an estimate based on your trip’s expectation including round-trip travel, accommodation, meals, shopping, sightseeing, activities, local transportation, and unforeseen emergencies (trust me, there will always be unexpected expenses). To make this happen, do some research on what you can expect to pay for things like air ticket and accommodation, then check your daily expenditure expectations at your destination. Do you expect to make your own meals or eat out at restaurants the entire time? Are you looking to get around in a hired car or use public transportation? 

Get the cost range for every expenditure, sum them up and get the total expected cost. Add a reasonable miscellaneous cost, let’s say 5 to 10 percent, to account for fluctuations on various segments of your budget and currency fluctuations. Once you’re done, you can roll out your saving plan based on the budget. 

Open a Dedicated Vacation Saving Account.

This is a critical step if you really want to make efforts in funding your next trip directly and methodically. The general idea here is putting all the basic parameters about your trip in place and having a rough estimate of how much your trip could cost and then saving about 5 to 10 percent of your income purposefully for funding your next trip. 

A dedicated account for this matter, will not only help you visualize your goals but also help you check on your budget during your trip by tracking your balance in the account as the trip progresses. Do you still have reasons for not going for a trip? I don’t think so. After all, it costs nothing to open a dedicated account other than a little bit of your time. 

Track Your Spending and Start to Downsize.

Tracking your expenses is a great way to figure out whether you are spending most of your money on the right things or not. Depending on your lifestyle, this can mean different things, but at least everyone has the wiggle room to cut down his or her monthly expenditure.

Track your monthly expenses and find out where you spend most of your money and begin to downsize, especially if they are luxurious things that you can do without. Could it be your closet that is draining you financially? So, how about creating a capsule wardrobe for some months and save the rest for your trip.

Do you have monthly subscriptions for movies, books, and music? Well, they may seem priceless but downsizing these expenditures for months can save you hundreds of dollars for your next trip. Cutting down other expenses like rent, fuel costs, internet, entertainment, water and electricity bills is also a great way to save money for other uses. Generally, controlling all the passive money that leaks out of your bank account can translate to a one or two weeks holiday in a foreign country.

Source out for Extra Income.

Are you making just enough cash to sustain you till the end of the month and saving for your next trip seems unattainable? I understand your situation. Most people across major cities are underpaid and spend a lot on stuffs like food, rent and transport. If you are going through this situation, then it is time to bring in an extra income. I mean “side hustle.”

So, how are you going to do this? It’s easy. Figure out your talent and passions especially the ones that you don’t utilize at work. Do you have passion for writing? Great! This can earn you some few dollars to save for your next trip. Pick up a few writing jobs on online platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and Craigslist. There are thousands of clients there willing to pay writers like you in exchange for good articles.

How about babysitting your neighbor’s kid over the weekend?  It sounds weird but this will give you some extra cash in the long run. With your driving skills, you can pick up a taxi job in the evenings and earn a few extra coins.  Basically, there are lots of things you can do to earn that extra income and save it for your next trip. 

All said and done, making sacrifices to save for your next trip is almost inevitable even if it means downsizing on minor things like subscription fees on movies and restaurant meals. It requires a lot of determination and sacrifices but don’t cut too deep at the expense of your comfort. So, start practicing these tips today and save for your next big vacation. May the odds be ever in your favor!