Ways to save for your travel expenses.
So, you want to start traveling but know that with the spending habits you have now, there is no way that is going to happen. And, you also don’t want to give everything that you love up either.
Or, maybe you are just out of college and wondering how you can afford to travel.
With these money saving tricks, you will be saving and traveling in no time.
I understand that giving things up may be difficult for you and your family. But as long as you have everyone on the same path, it should go smoothly.
What I mean by being on the same path is that, everyone going (husband and/or kids) need to understand that in order to go on the trip, everyone must do their part. This includes helping with the planning process as well as helping to save for your travel expenses.
If your children are younger, they can help out too with a few of the tips below. This will also give them a better understanding that in order to do something that they really want, they have to work at it. And it’s not just given to them.
Here are ways to save for your travel expenses:
Make Your Own Products
I know that it’s just easier to go to the store or go online and purchase those cleaning or beauty supplies. But these are the products in the house that cost the most and are purchased on a regular basis.
So, making your own cleaning and beauty products can save you a ton of money every year or even every month.
When making your own products, they can also be healthier for the environment. Who doesn’t want the world to be around for their grand kids and great grand kids?
Grow Your Own
If you have a little bit of land, start a vegetable garden. There is no need to go to the grocery store for all of your produce. Don’t have land? Instead do a container garden or a small kitchen garden.
Every little bit helps.
Vegetables can get quit spendy, especially in the off seasons. If you have enough space, grow extra so you can freeze or can it for the winter months. I like doing this with sweet corn because it’s one of my favorite veggies.
I know that some vegetables don’t freeze well for fresh eating such as carrots. However, putting them in a stew or soup works out great because you want them non-crunchy anyway.
Do Without
There are a bunch of stuff that you could do without. I know there is for me. For instance, getting a mani/pedi, going to the beauty salon, get rid of shaving cream or gel, or putting makeup on every day. I’m not one to leave the house without putting a least a little bit of makeup on. But I recently started working from home so the days that I know I’m not going to leave the house; I only dab a little concealer on. This makes my makeup last a lot longer.
Now, above I only mentioned a few beauty things you could do without, the list doesn’t stop there. There is everything from cable TV (you don’t need to have cable, Netflix, and Hulu, instead choose one) phone coverage (if you’re not using all your data, lower your plan).
Cancel the gym membership, there are ways to still work out at home. Start making your own coffee at home, there is no need to pay $3-$5 a day for a cup of coffee or tea.
So many things, the list could go on and on.
Just think to yourself, you have enough shit.
Use Hand-Me-Downs, or Buy Used
There is nothing wrong with going to the thrift store. When I was in high school, it was always looked down on if you didn’t have the name brand expensive clothes but now, I look back and ask myself, why? Why did it really matter?
Even at the thrift stores you can find some name brand clothes. If you live in a small town and you don’t want to (accidentally) buy something that may or may not be from someone you know, go to the next town. Yes, this actually happened to someone I know.
If you have a friend that is the same size and you want to be frugal together, swap clothes with them. There may be a shirt that she has that would look amazing with a pair of pants that you have.
Buy in Bulk
I’m not saying to become a hoarder. But if you find an amazing deal in bulk that you WILL use in the future, such as toilet paper, then buy a couple (especially if on sale) instead of just one.
Shopping in bulk can save you a ton of money, however you have to be smart and make sure to purchase the things that you will actually use.
Find Cheaper Alternatives
Buying generic everything is always cheaper, especially medications. Did you know that the generic brand of medication is the exact same thing as the brand name medication? The only difference is that the brand name came out first.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires generic drugs to have the same active ingredient, strength, dosage form, and route of administration as the brand-name drug.
Cook Yourself
STOP EATING OUT! I’m yelling that because I’m mostly telling myself to stop too. This is one of my downfalls. Growing up, we never really ate out all that much, except the occasional stop to Arby’s when we were in town getting our monthly groceries. It was like a treat for us.
Now, having my own family, we used to be terrible with going out to eat. We would eat out about 4-5 times a week due to forgetting to take something out or just not wanting to eat what we took out for supper that night.
I know that you can save so much money and be healthier when you don’t eat out. About a $1000 a month savings. Food and a couple of drinks for two to four people can really add up. And you can even eat healthier while traveling too.
We always talked about not eating out as much and we needed to stop but never did. Until COVID-19 came. It made us stay home and cook because in our state the restaurants and bars got shut down for a while.
But this really opened our eyes to how much we were actually spending and wasting on food that we could have been cooking at home.
We were finally getting the chance to try all those recipes that I was pinning on Pinterest.
Do It Yourself
There are somethings you should just leave to the professionals. Nobody wants to see you covered in shit because you were trying to fix your septic tank.
I’m talking more about the less invasive jobs, such as; cleaning your own house, painting a room, or mowing your own lawn.
Do we really want to do them? No, but to save for your travel expenses, it’s worth it.
And if you’re not sure on how to do something, turn your YouTube channel from the cat videos to the How To channel. They have everything from how to create your own confetti balls for a graduation party to how to tile a wall.
Use What’s Around you
Become resourceful and look at what’s around you.
If your neighbor has chickens that lay eggs, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind selling you some. Buying eggs from your neighbor is going to be cheaper than buying them in the store.
Or do you have any fruit trees in the neighborhood? Usually with fruit trees you have to have two in order for them to pollinate and grow fruit. With this being said one family usually will have their fill of the fruit with plenty to spare. So just ask your neighbor, if you can come over and pick some.
Reuse Rather Than Throw Out
Reusing items around the house rather than throwing them out is a great way to save for your travel expenses.
Reuse newspaper to protect your furniture and floor when painting, you can use it as gift wrap, or stuffing for gifts.
Since your making your own coffee at home now, and if you have a Keurig and use K-cups, these little cups are great for reusing with organizing small crafts, kids can use them as building blocks or by putting a shoe lace through the middle of them, it can be a learning tool on how to tie a shoe. Or they can be great for starting seeds too.
Don’t have a Keurig and not sure what to do with those coffee grounds. If your saving on those beauty products try a homemade coffee scrub.
I also love reusing cardboard boxes for when I need to wrap a gift for Christmas or birthdays.
Use it All
I have to laugh while typing this one because there is one thing that comes to mind. And that is toothpaste.
It’s almost a game that my husband and I play. Who can make it last longer without bowing down and grabbing a new tube? So far, I’ve always been the winner.
But of course, there are other things that most people just through away because you can’t get anymore out of the tube or bottle. Such as, shampoo/condition or lotion. Taking of the cap can give you an extra 2-3 uses out of it.
Use Free Entertainment
Instead of spending all this money on movie tickets or shows, use the free entertainment in your city or town to your advantage to save for your travel expenses.
You can do anything from going for a bike ride, or going to a park, or simply staying home and playing board games with your family. Also, you could invite your friends over for a pot-luck and game night.
Only Spend What You Have
Only spend what you have, even if you have a credit card. If you don’t already have that money, don’t buy it. And avoid paying interest on your credit cards by paying them off right away.
Think of it this way. You purchase groceries and gas, and it all goes on the credit card for the month. If you don’t pay the full amount and are getting charged interest, those groceries and that gas didn’t cost what you paid for them. It actually cost more because you are now paying more with the interest added on.
Have a ‘Fun’ Section in Your Budget
I feel that this is a must. Because if you don’t have a little bit of fun, every once in a while, you may start to regret going on vacations.
So, save and budget some money to go out with your family or friends once a week or once a month.
Don’t Rush to Buy
This is the worst. Online you will often see, BUY IT NOW, today is the only day you can get it at this price. For the most part that is true, it’s only a one-day sale, however it’s not always true.
For argument sake, let’s say it is true. If you only have a day or a couple of days to think about if you want to buy the item, walk away from it and wait until a few hours or the day the sale ends to purchase. If at that time, you still think it’s something you have to have.
Not purchasing it right away and walking away to think about if you really need it, will help you save for your travel expenses.
If you have the excuse of, “I’ll forget about it if I don’t purchase right away”, then it wasn’t that important to you and you can learn to live without it.
Impulse buying is not healthy for anyone, especially if it’s coming out of your travel fund.
Make Use of Ingredients in the Fridge
You know what I’m talking about. All those items that you have in your fridge that never get used. This includes leftovers.
Growing up I remember my mom would plan meals so that if it didn’t all get eaten one night it could be used for a soup or something the next night. I know I really need to get better at this too.
There is a great app that I found called Supercooks. You just add your ingredients that you have in your fridge and it will instantly find matching recipes for you.
Shop Sales and Use Coupons
I know that this is an obvious one but I still had to put it in here.
Everybody loves a good sale! Look for sales in weekly flyers you receive in the mail. You can save a good amount of money by buying items that are on sale for that particular week at your local store.
You could also save a ton using coupons for everything. But just remember, if you don’t need it, don’t buy it. Sometimes people buy a good deal or use a coupon just because they don’t want to waste it. Don’t do that.
Stick to the List and Your Budget
Make a list before you go shopping, this would include grocery shopping, Christmas shopping, and school shopping. And stick by the list that you made.
Budgeting is a big way to save for your travel expenses. As long as you stick to the budget that you give yourself.
Use Free Gift Cards
My family is absolutely terrible at this because we also forget about them. But we are trying to get better at it. Use the gift cards that you get for gifts on items that you need, such as groceries.
If people are asking what you want for your birthday or Christmas, tell them a gift card. Then use it to purchase the things that you need. If you are having a hard time spending it on the whole family, then purchase things for yourself like, ingredients to make your own face scrub or beauty products.
Eat Before You Go Grocery Shopping
This is something that I heard a while back and I try to stick true to it.
Shopping while you are hungry can lead to some unnecessary purchases. Such as cookies and chips, things that are not healthy for you. If you want to learn how to stay healthy while traveling, you can read here.
Choose the Right Place to Shop
Don’t be local to only one store, try different stores.
Most of the time, products from store to store are cheaper by $1 or $2, sometimes even more. So, try to go to different stores to find the best deals and get the most out of your money.
Take Advantage of Expiry Offers/Clearance
If shopping for clothes, start at the back of the store first.
This is where the stores have all of their sales and clearance items. The stores are pretty crafty about this, making you walk past everything (and filling your hands up) before you even get to the marked down items.
Take advantage of the expiry offers in grocery stores. The stores have items say they expire well before the expiry date is even in effect.
The FDA decided that expiration dates are simply an indication of optimum quality as deemed by the manufacturer. Foods can remain safe to consume for some time beyond sell-by and even use-by dates provided they are handled and stored properly.
Things like salad dressings can be consumed for years beyond their expiration dates, unless for some reason it becomes contaminated. And certain types of foods, like baby food, product dating is not even required by federal regulations.
Have a No-Spend Day Each Week
This is a great way to save for your travel expenses.
Pick a day each week where you don’t spend money on anything. It can be the same day each week or a different day.
If you are up for the challenge, try doing it for a whole week each month. This will really get you saving in no time.
Cut Your Electric Bill in Half
Did you know, that even if an appliance is powered off, it is still using electricity once it is plugged in.
You are throwing away dollars every day by leaving your TV plugged in (even when switched off), leaving your blow dryer plugged in and leaving your phone chargers plugged into an electrical outlet, even when your phone is not being charged.
Of course, appliances like your refrigerator and coffee machine will stay plugged in, but make a conscious effort to unplug all other appliances, and see for yourself how much you’ll save.
Charge Your Devices in Your Car
Another way to cut on electricity is to start charging your devices in your car. The battery is running anyway when you go from place to place, so why not use just a little bit extra juice and cut down on expenses.
As you can see there are multiple ways to save for your travel expenses and make the most of your hard-earned dollars. I know that there are many other ways too. Such as these 50+ ideas on how to budget and save while traveling.
By putting in practice all or some of these simple ways to save money you can end up saving thousands per year! That’s thousands you get to use for your next trip.
As long as you know how to spend your money wisely, these money saving strategies will help you save for your travel expenses.
Want to learn how to save for your travel expenses in between trips but still feel like you’re getting away from the mundane of everyday life? Try some of these ideas: Travel more with a full time job, 25 Amazing Ideas on How to Travel the World Without Leaving Home, 14 Exciting Ways to Travel Around Your City, and 30+ Ways to Travel Virtually.
