For many people, money is the biggest barrier to holidays. Holidays are often thought of as a luxury and the first thing to go when the budget gets tight. For me, personally, I think travel is a bit more important than that. You can learn so much from exploring the world, about how other cultures work and what you want from your future. Saving for travel doesn’t have to be a nightmare or a big stress; small changes can quickly add up to a big difference over the course of a year. Here are my 5 tips for saving for your overseas holiday:
1) Ask Yourself Can I Afford It?
Take a closer look at your budget, what are your biggest expenses? How much money are you actually spending each week? Where could you cut back? I have started tracking my spending in the past few months and I was so surprised by how much I was spending on eating out – it was really a crazy amount of money. Since realising how bad my grocery bills were I’ve started asking myself if I can really afford it before I spend my money on frivolous things.
2) Cut Down Your Coffee Consumption
I love a well made latte or mocha from a cafe. The full milk drink seems so luxurious compared to those made at home. The coffee itself tastes bolder, creamier and just overall more delicious. At £2.50-4 a coffee, they quickly add up. I started buying coffee for at home and a takeaway coffee cup that I can reuse and the majority of my coffees are now made at home for a tiny fraction of the price of buying coffees.
3) Sort Your Priorities Out
I love shopping, new clothes, make up, handbags and all of those things. I could have easily frittered away a lot of money each week on buying things, but I know for me, personally, I value experiences more than stuff. Whenever I’m tempted to buy something new, I ask myself how far that money would go overseas and then weigh up where I’d rather spend it. Most of the time, the holiday wins out.
4) Open a Separate Account
I have a separate bank account called “Overseas Adventures” that I funnel money into when I can. I don’t actually have an automatic payment set up – but if you get a regular pay cheque that can be a really easy way to save the money before you’ve even had a chance to spend it. I personally find that keeping my money separate makes it a lot easier for me to build up a good amount of savings.
5) Get Excited
It’s much easier to be dedicated to saving when it’s something tangible. In my room right now I have a large map of Europe with a little tact on where we’re planning to go. Every day when I get up, I see it and it really motivates me to save for my trip. You mind find it motivating to print out pictures and stick them on your wall, or just have photos of your destination on your phone, if you can visualise where you’re going it will seem a lot more real and easier to save for.
Saving is one of the biggest barriers to travel, but when you get past it you’ll be able to travel more often, for longer and to unique destinations. Do you have any saving tips? Share them in the comments below!
Great post! When I choose not to buy something in favour of saving, I like to put that exact amount of money straight into the savings account, like at the end of that day. It makes the reward for your sacrifice clearer 🙂
That’s a VERY clever tip, Shea 🙂 I’ll have to start using that myself.