5 Tips to Help You Save for Your Trips

Are you constantly dreaming of traveling or taking that next vacation but worry that you’ll never be able to afford it or don’t have the means to be able to travel? The key to any trip is being smart with your money, even before you hit the road. Here are 5 tips to help you achieve those goals of traveling the world or maybe just taking that next much needed vacation. By saving some extra cash here and there and cutting back on some unnecessary services you too can make your dream trip become reality. Here’s how you can start saving money now...

1. Make a Budget

The first step in saving for a vacation is planning for it. Before you even think about your savings, plan out where you want to go, where you want to stay and what you want to do while you’re there. While you’re researching, keep a running tally of how much airfare, accommodations, food and activities will cost. Add everything up and take the total estimated cost and write it on your calendar for your intended date of departure. Count how many weeks until you’d like to leave and divide your cost by the time you need to save. You now know how much you need to set aside each week in order to be able to afford your dream trip. Now that you've made your budget, STICK TO IT! And don't be shy about making some difficult decisions to help you achieve those goals and that budget!

There are two types of budgeting you need to do here. The first is budgeting your trip (which you have now accomplished). The second is budgeting your life. You'll want to go through all your accounts to find out exactly what your finances look like. Tracking expenses is an important part of learning where you can cut back, or even eliminate your spending. How much do you spend on food each week? Don’t forget to include groceries, eating out, bottled water, those expensive Starbucks or Dunkin coffees, and even snacks. How much do you spend on entertainment? Movies, books, sports tickets, dates, etc. What are your monthly bills? Rent, mortgage, utilities, car payment, insurance, credit card payments, cell phone service, gym membership, student loans, etc. What about vices like alcohol or cigarettes? And don’t forget the miscellaneous shopping spree items and splurges such as video games, clothes, or pet toys. Now that you have everything down on paper you can face the facts. You may be surprised at how much you’re spending. All the little things tend to add up. Most importantly during this process just remember, making a budget should be personal and must be individualized to meet each person's unique lifestyle, if it's not, there's no way you'll stick to it.

2. Cut Out Convenience

It is an unfortunate but undeniable fact that little purchases do add up. That coffee you grab on the way in to work or maybe you pick up at lunch to help you get through that late day meeting, those end of day or late afternoon snacks from the work vending machine or local convenience store, or maybe it's those countless 24 packs of bottled water you're always grabbing every time you're picking up groceries. Go through your bank account and look for the places where you’re routinely spending just a couple of dollars. It’s likely that you’re spending money just for convenience. This can add up quickly. One way to help you filter out your convenience or unnecessary spending is to draw a vertical line down the middle of a piece of paper. At the top left, write “NEEDS”. At the top right, write “WANTS”. Now place everything you spend money on into one of these two columns. This is where you need to look yourself in the face and be honest.

Do you really need that coffee? Carry a reusable cup and make your own coffee, keep snacks in your desk, or purchase a faucet filter or water filter pitcher. Filtering your own water and using a reusable water bottle can help you save a few bucks every week or two. What about those beers on Friday or Saturday night? How about new clothes? Will your life end without them? The final step here is simply to stop buying those things you don’t need. Decide in advance how much you can afford to spend before going shopping for things like groceries or clothes. Another thing that has worked well for me personally is to take cash with me rather than always using my card when going out with friends or even when grocery shopping. This way I keep myself in check with my spending and ensure that I don't just rack up an expensive tab by the end of the night or end up buying unnecessary snacks at the store. And consider alternatives: Could you work out on your own instead of paying a monthly gym membership? Have you tried cooking lately? Making your own meals at home instead of eating out is one of the biggest ways to cut costs and it's also usually much healthier too! If you're a guy like myself with relatively low maintenance hair maybe try cutting your own hair instead of paying that 15-20 bucks every month.

3. Stream wisely and save

Cancel your subscriptions. It may be hard to hear but you’re likely spending hundreds of dollars per year on different services that basically offer you the same thing. Do you need all three of those streaming services right now? If you still pay for cable, maybe rethink if it's worth the cost especially if you're already paying for those streaming services on top of the cable. And don't be afraid to call and see if you can get your cable or any other bill for that matter lowered, often you can haggle your bill down a few bucks. If you really can’t go without Showtime, HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Spotify and all the other streaming platforms, consider gathering some friends and setting up a family account. You’ll cut down considerably on how much you’re spending if everybody agrees to contribute a few dollars to the same account every month.

4. Set up automatic savings and let your money work for you

Put money direct from your paycheck into your savings. Better yet, set up a separate travel account and have a portion of your check direct deposit into that account. This makes saving easy and after a few months you'll see that account grow pretty quickly. Stash away any extra bonus, tax refund, or cash from money back or rewards programs into a special savings account or that secondary "travel" account. While saving, you can have your money grow a little bit more in the process by utilizing a high-yield online savings account. Online banks offer higher interest rates due to their lower overhead costs since they typically do not have the costs associated with physical brick and mortar buildings, etc.

5. Earn some extra cash on the side

Sell gently used clothes, furniture, etc. – stores like Plato's Closet and Play It Again Sports, and sites like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace are great places to sell the things in your home that are just taking up space. I know a few folks who use Upwork to find freelance writing and graphic design gigs. If you have a hobby try selling your knitting, paintings, jewelry, woodworking crafts on a site like Etsy. Or maybe become a driver for Lyft or Uber. And depending on how desperate you are to travel and how much you need to budget for your trips, perhaps you'll need to buckle down and pick up that part time serving job or bartending gig at one of your local bars or restaurants.

Whatever you decide to do, remember to STAY MOTIVATED!

Keep your goal in mind: Print out a picture of your dream destination and tape it to your bedroom wall or pin it to the fridge. Whether you're about to order food delivery from your bed or surfing the web for some impulse buy, seeing a picture of the place where you want to travel could make you question whether or not you really need that shirt right now or those shoes.

Remember that this is a marathon and not a sprint. You are making a long-term commitment that’ will not always be easy. Saving up enough money for travel, or anything for that matter is tough and demands sacrifice, which is why not everyone succeeds. Find what really matters to you and prioritize your spending on that. IF I CAN DO IT, YOU CAN DO IT!!!