How to Save Money for Travel Funds

The Urge to Explore and Discover

Traveling is one of the biggest desires of every person. It is in our nature to be curious about the world – hence, the urge to explore and discover.

However, traveling can be expensive, especially when traveling with the entire family. More than the travel tickets, you also need to pay for travel insurance and other expenses related to your trip.

We have to earn money and save enough money for travel to be able to afford a solo or family trip.

To save money for travel can be difficult sometimes, especially if you are looking at a world travel. If you are a breadwinner or the head of the family, it is not just your own life you have to be responsible for. You also have to take into account the daily expenses, monthly bills that come your way, like utility bills, car payments, emergency fund, grocery shopping, food expenses, gym membership, etc.

With this in mind, it is best to prioritize these bills first and then save some extra money for travel.

Handy Tips On Saving For Future Travel

Here are some money-saving tips that can help you strategize your travel fund: 

Make a Travel Budget and Plan Your Dream Trip

To save money for travel, you have first to figure out how much you actually need to keep or when you going are to need it. Ask yourself these questions: 

How much do I want to spend on this trip?
How much is the round trip ticket?
Will I eat out or visit a local market to cook my own meal?
What activities are available in this place? How much does it cost?

Come up with a detailed travel budget

Once you know where you want to go – whether you are looking at a domestic trip or traveling abroad to Asia or Central America – and what you want to do, create a detailed travel budget. Consider all expenses, including flights, travel insurance, accommodation, transportation, meals, and activities.

This budget will serve as your roadmap and help you determine the amount you need to save, to check cheaper alternatives and a better deal, come up with more ideas to get more cash in, and where to cut costs.

Will it be giving up splurging on new clothes, living in a cheaper neighborhood for a few months or maybe even longer, maybe staying for a while with your rich parents.

Will you be giving up movie night out and dinner out with friends. Perhaps using the public transportation instead of spending on gas and toll, lessening your daily dose of caffeine fix, adjusting your social life, and other brilliant ways to get your money saved.

When you have identified all these, then you would have a clear idea how to approach saving for your travel dreams.

How long will your trip be

Then, decide on the duration of your trip to maximize your expenses. It is important to spend money wisely as your budget is limited. Do some research about your travel destination and search for travel tips that can help you with your chosen destination.

Other travelers check out for the typical prices to compare with and get the best deals available. You will be surprised at how much your money can go.

This can help you in searching for the right places to go and stay on your trip. When it comes to airfare, always check for flight deals, as this would greatly help you.

How much are you willing to spend

It is also important to establish the amount of money you are willing to spend on lodging and gut-check your expectations for your daily expenditures at your destination.

Make an educated estimate of the amount you might need and set a firm budget for your planned vacation. 

Assess and Track your Expenses

Monitor your expenses

Begin by tracking your current expenses to identify areas where you can cut back to save money. Use budgeting apps or spreadsheets to monitor your spending habits and identify non-essential expenditures that can be redirected towards your travel fund.

Needs versus wants

List down all your daily or monthly expenditures and categorize them into needs and wants. Be mindful of your spending habits as well. Set a strict spending budget by slowly eliminating all the wants or unnecessary expenses you regularly make. After all, you want to take good guardianship of your hard earned money – travel plans or not.

Identify your priorities

Put your travel experiences higher on your priority list. If you spend a lot of your money on clothes, bags, and shoes, you have to spend less on material things to save more on travel and other essential items.

If you really need to buy new clothes, a good way to do this is check for the items in Facebook marketplace or other cheaper alternatives. These simple tricks can help you save money in the long run.

Lessen Eating Out

Eat at home instead of dining out

Eat at home as much as possible. Every time you are tempted to dine out, do not. Put the money you would have spent on take-out food and add it to your travel fund. You might be surprise at the big difference it can make.

Did you know skipping milk tea or spending on expensive coffee for a caffeine fix will help you save so much money?

Do not give in to cravings

Figure out how much that milk tea actually costs. Let us say you spend P150 per cup. If you have one order per day, it would be P1,050 a week. It actually adds up to quite a bit of your money, right? You might want to put this on your travel savings instead.

While it is okay to treat yourself once in a while, good money spent on cravings and wants is simply not sustainable. You can pamper yourself without spending too much money.

Set savings goal

So, it is a better choice if you dine out less, especially if you have financial goals in mind. Even though eating at home requires more time and effort, it can help you save more and promote a healthy lifestyle as well.

Earn Some Extra Income 

Side hustles help build savings

Having an extra income will help you earn good money that can make a severe impact on your savings. One main solution for you to earn more money is looking for side hustles that you can do on your spare time. Side hustles can be a source of savings for your travel plans.

Meanwhile, your full-time job can cover your bills and other necessary expenses. And suppose you are fortunate enough to earn a quarterly or annual performance bonus at work. In that case, you can put it on your long-term plans, like property for sale that you have always dreamt of or a car.

The point is, having an additional income, no matter how little money it seems to be, is essential to meet your goals. Also, these additional funds can significantly accelerate your savings and provide an extra financial cushion for your trip.

Declutter and hold a garage sale

Another better idea and way to earn extra money is to declutter your home and sell items you no longer need. Clothes, electronics, and furniture can fetch extra cash to boost your travel savings.

Embrace the minimalist mindset – you not only save money but also create a tidier living space.

Stay Motivated and Keep a Positive Mindset

One of the best ways to save money is to keep yourself motivated. Think of this travel as a reward to yourself. Remind yourself every day that the money you save is going toward something you love.

Visualization

Visualize yourself and your feelings of what it would be like to travel to your dream destination. Just merely imagining yourself on vacation would be enough motivation for you to save money now. 

Stay focused

One of the reasons people fail to reach their goals is that they lack focus or direction. Yes, your trip may be months or even years away, but you are working and saving towards it. Start saving now than delaying the inevitable.

Exercise discipline

You are getting closer with every paycheck. You need to understand the importance of saving money – this will benefit you greatly in the future. You just need to discipline yourself and be motivated as you save.

Adopt a frugal mindset by making conscious choices to save money. Choose homemade meals over dining out, explore free or low-cost entertainment options, and be mindful of impulse purchases.

Small sacrifices now can lead to big rewards later.

Save Money for Travel

Create a Savings Account for Your Travel Fund

Aside from your savings account allotted for, say, your future house and lot, make another bank account specifically for travel savings. This way, you can indeed separate your other expenditures from your travel goals. 

Open other accounts for different purposes

This will make it easy to transfer money from another account. Moreover, it will also help you monitor your account balance and get more motivated as you watch your saved money over time. Check your progress every month to get inspired more. 

Make it a habit!

Make saving a habit. Be specific and get detailed about your plans. Just keep being positive and grateful. The more focused and concrete on your goal, the easier it will be to reach it.

Use these tips on your next trip!

Saving For More Than Travel

Like your travel plans, acquiring a house and lot might be in your goals, too. In fact, making smart investments early on can actually help you travel much farther. The only thing you need is to create a saving plan to make that home buying or travel a reality.

If you plan and save for your future sanctuary, Camella’s master planned communities are the perfect place to come home to. Visit this page and check out Camella’s latest offerings.