Budgeting Tips for a Trip: Smart Savings

Budgeting Tips for a Trip: Smart Savings

It’s as if the grind will never stop, at least, until retirement, if ever. And for millennials, that’s a pipe dream. As the working environment continues to evolve from the regular 9-5 grind to more flexible freelancing or remote jobs, there are more opportunities to travel.

Whether it’s a weekend getaway in another city or a weeklong vacation in a country that’s always sunny, veering from your regular schedule probably means spending more money. Money makes the world go around and it makes you able to go on your trip!

That just means watching what you spend. Of course, you can tell yourself that you will, but splurge purchases can just happen without the proper discipline.

Spending Habits to Avoid:

  1. Splurge on the morning coffee and a bagel (or muffin or donut).

Save time and money on your way to work by skipping the coffee shop. The $2-$6 coffee or seems like a good deal at the moment, but it all adds up. Even if you choose your cheapest option at $2 and no morning snack, that’s still about $40 that can go towards a plane ticket, a lunch, or travel insurance.

Instead, you can invest in the instant stuff – K-Pods, instant coffee, tea bags, tea leaves – drinks that just need some boiling water or an instant coffee machine. Then you can use your cute travel mugs!

  • Forget your credit card on all websites.

Spending money has become too easy. You can use autofill, click a button, tap your phone, use your fingerprint or your face to charge your credit card. Making all of your accounts and browsers forget your credit card will give you that moment to think: Do I need this? Should I just save it for my next trip?

Hopefully, you avoid spending the money unless you really want it.

  • Forget to pack your lunch.

Just like avoiding the coffee shops in the morning, you can also skip the lunch purchases too. $10+ a day at lunch is $50 a week and that’s $200 for the month! That’s either a night at a hotel, spending money, or even a bus ticket somewhere.

Make a trip to the grocery store and find something you can make for dinner and pack for lunch!

A Fuller Pocket = More Memories

Now that you have the extra cash, you can measure how much more you can save for that trip you’ve been wanting. You can then get an estimate for your trip and then keep saving until you’ve reached your goal.

If you’re looking for a pampering vacation, the more money you can save, the better. But if you’re more of a sightseeing or adventurous traveler, you can focus your spending on the basic needs: travel, lodging, and food. This will get you away from your regular life much faster.

Save Smart

It’s tempting to try and save money by just living off one microwavable meal a day, but don’t think you have to deprive yourself to save the money. You want to be happy and healthy to enjoy your trip!