25+ Tips for Traveling on a Budget

So you want to do some traveling without breaking the bank. It IS 100% possible to have a fabulous vacation without spending thousands of dollars & returning home with regret and guilt over the money you just blew through.

I was raised in a family that highly valued traveling and new experiences. Often times my peers, classmates & friends would make comments about how lucky I was to get to go on fun vacations and that 'it must be nice'. But the truth is, my parents valued traveling and new experiences over eating out, buying high ticket material items, fancy cars & toys, etc. The point here is, traveling is accessible to everyone! It comes down to your priorities and values, what are yours?

To be transparent with you, my mom works for Delta Airlines. However, my family still did a lot of traveling before my mom worked for Delta! That being said, I have had the extreme fortune to travel around the world on Delta flights for just about next to nothing. Although the flight is a huge chunk of the vacation budget, it's not all of it. You could handover someone a free flight, and they might still manage to make their vacation 2x as much as mine.

Just like anything regarding your money- it all starts with a plan! Where do you want to travel to & when? In order to travel without breaking the bank you've got to determine a plan as well as your goals of traveling. So by deciding your destination and timeline - or better yet being flexible with both timeline and destination, we can create and execute a plan to fund your travels & enjoy your trip without the looming feeling of guilt upon your return.

So ask yourself..

1. Where To?

Immediately when we start thinking about traveling & vacation, we get into the mindset of go big or go home. But I'm here to tell you, you can have just as much fun traveling to the state next door, as traveling half way around the world! You can have just as much fun on a week vacation to Florida spending $1,000 vs $5,000.

This is especially important to remember if you are wanting to travel & you're still paying off debt. The truth is, when you are in debt payoff mode, you may not have the bandwidth to be taking lots of expensive get-aways. Now, I'm not saying no vacations ever (I still traveled while paying off my debt), I'm just encouraging you to think about your priorities. So with that being said, let's get to how to save money when traveling. Here's a few questions to jumpstart the process:

• where do I want to go?

• where in the world is CHEAP for me to travel right now? When you have flexibility on location, you have more opportunity to save money - where are cheap tickets to right now?!

• can I find somewhere near by that I could drive to?

2. Budget & Plan

Okay, so you've decided where you want to go. The NUMBER #1 THING WE ARE GOING TO AVOID is paying for this trip on a credit card! Instead, we are going to budget for the trip, save up, and pay for it with CASH. Now that we know our destination, we need to determine roughly how much we need to save to make this happen. Once you've got that $ amount, add that into your budget so you've stashed away as much as you need by the time this trip is happening.

GENERAL TIPS

- NO credit cards: create a plan and add a line item in your budget to stash away the money you need to take the vacation you want.

- Travel in the off season: flights, hotels & even dining costs can be substantially lower in the off season at certain destinations. Do your research & find out when the off season is for your destination!

- Travel with others: Having a few other people along for the ride will allow you to split lodging costs, possibly some food costs, and potentially gas if you are driving!

- DIY: Attempt to plan it yourself, and avoid paying a travel agency or someone else to plan it for you! You can do it, I believe in you! Google has all the answers you are looking for :)

- Negotiate: whether you are booking an AirBnB, or shopping the local markets, there are opportunities to negotiate around every single corner! Take advantage!!

FLIGHTS

• Use Hopper: This app is designed to notify you when the ticket / routes you are looking for are the cheapest! All you need to do is put in your dates & destination. Hopper will tell you if the price of the ticket will increase or decrease, and will notify you when a great deal is out there!

• Pack light to avoid baggage fees: Okay, I know this is MUCH easier said than done. Often times checked bags can cost $50 ONE WAY! That's $100 roundtrip. Talk about easy peasy savings here. Find out what your airline's baggage policies are and aim to fit your belongings in the size / option that is FREE!

• *pro tip: roll your clothes when packing! You'll fit a lot more*

• Pack your snacks- According to PolicyGenuis.com on average, airports mark up their food & drink 10-15% more than what you'd find outside. How to avoid the airport munchies? Eat a good meal before you head to the airport & pack your own snacks!

• Skip the flight & go somewhere you can drive to! So when you're thinking of vacation, you're immediately thinking about one of the highest ticketed items in your budget, which is going to be your flight. How about a simple mindset switch into thinking about what amazing opportunities there are for a vacation within driving distance from you! Once my family did a week long road trip vacation just around our own state, and I still recall the fun times we had!

• Eliminate & reduce airport parking fees: You already spent a pretty penny on a flight, on top of that you could easily accumulate $100 + in airport parking fees! These are easy to eliminate. Have someone drop you at the airport, take the public transportation into the airport, find economy parking lots at the airport that have much lower fares (plan accordingly, and give yourself a little extra time when going to the airport to park in economy lots & take their free shuttle to the front doors!).

LODGING

• Visit a friend or family member: Do you have friends that live elsewhere? Plan a trip to visit them & boom, you've eliminated your lodging costs!

• Hostels: I've stayed in my fair share of hostels, and they've always turned out just fine! The concept of staying in a shared room with other people might turn some of you away, but on the positive side, it is a GREAT way to meet other people (especially if you are traveling solo), and the price cannot be beat. I would recommend checking out HostelWorld

my hostel in Dublin!

• AirBnB: AKA the greatest, and most genius platform created! AirBnB is awesome!! I'm assuming most of you have heard of AirBnB before, but if you haven't you need to check out some lodging on it next time you travel! Often times, the places you can find on AirBnB will be cheaper than hotels. Not to mention they usually come fully equipped with household items, so you can save on cooking or buying beach chairs!

• Booking.com: But don't always discount the hotel stay! You never know what type of deal you will find, so definitely check out all your options. Booking.com is a great platform to check out and compare all hotels for the destination you are headed.

The important thing here is that there are so many options & platforms out there to book lodging on- make sure you're checking them all out to find the most affordable option to suit your needs!

TRANSPORTATION

• Take the Public Transportation: Use the public transportation (if available) when traveling instead of Lyft & Uber! It is MUCH cheaper & you'll get a little bit more of an authentic experience 😉

• Walk: The best way to see a new city is on foot!

• Renting a Car: Shop around between the different vendors & get a car that will suffice your crew. A small compact car that fits 4-5 will be MUCH cheaper than a midsize sedan that fits the same amount of people.

FOOD

• Ask the locals- There's nothing better than getting a local, authentic experience. Ask the hostel / airbnb host/ hotel desk/ a local on the street, for their best recommendations on a local affordable place to eat! This way you can avoid the touristy parts of town that have their food and drink marked up. FUN FACT: on my most recent trip to Dublin, the average price of a beer in the touristy area was $9, as opposed to a couple blocks off the touristy area, it was closer to $5.

• Local farmers markets / Store: I am a sucker for a good farmers market! See if there are any near you when traveling! Load up on some goodies to snack on throughout the week, or even some things that you can cook yourself & save a LOT of money by eating even just 1 meal a day in, without forfeiting the authentic local goods!

• Cook yourself: Building off of what was just mentioned, cooking some of your meals on your own instead of eating out for an entire trip can make an ENORMOUS difference in the cost of the trip. This is something that has allowed my family to continue to travel as often as we do. A dinner out for the 5 of us with drinks, appetizers, meals, + tax and tip will EASILY cost us + $100-$200. Take that roughly times 3 meals a day times 7 days on a week long trip.. that's a LOT of money. So what do we do? Load up on some groceries and cook some meals ourselves!

Farmers Market in Greece

ENTERTAINMENT / TOURISTY THINGS

• GroupOn: check out some entertainment options on GroupOn, where you can find things at discounted prices!

• Free walking tours: See if there are any free walking tours near you (this is definitely a thing in Europe). I just went on one in Dublin, and saw & learned so much! All it cost me was a small tip at my discretion at the end of the tour!

walking tour in Dublin

• Facebook events: If you've been following me, you know I love to stalk the events happening on Facebook. I've found SO many free activities happening near me! I'm not kidding you, you HAVE to check this feature out!

• Negotiate: I know this was mentioned, but it's so crucial and easy! If you are shopping the local markets, always negotiate with the vendors! This is huge, especially in Europe, local vendors are more than expecting people to negotiate with them, so don't miss out on saving a few dollars!

Q&A from Instagram

I asked for your questions on instagram and you delivered!

How do I save for a vacation & go on a vacation without feeling guilty?

Make a plan and budget for it! Don't spend on a credit card, where the vacation will follow you home. Determine how much you need, and started adding that into your budget so that when you're ready to go, you've got the funds that you worked for & deserve without guilt! Specifically consider opening a savings account that is designated for travel - start contributing a little bit of every paycheck into this account - over time it will add up and you'll have stock pile of money that is ready to go when the opportunity presents itself!

How do I travel with still having some debt?

I strongly believe that you can knock out debt at highly accelerated speeds and still enjoy a little bit of fun (again.. I traveled while I was paying off my debt!) In this case, start thinking about some vacations that you can take near home, think about family or friends that you can visit, think about a location where you can entertain yourself at very low costs. Get creative! You're not gonna be going on vacations that are thousands of dollars, but you are still allowed to live a little and enjoy life. I am all about realistic and sustainable solutions.. which means we have to build in a little self care time and money. Determine what you can do for low costs, and start adding that into your budget to save up! Most likely you are going to need to cut back in other areas of the budget to find the money for the vacation fund!

How do you eat within a budget while in another country

My answers to this can be found in the FOOD section of this post. I totally understand while abroad, you want to take in ALL the foods... that is part of the cultural experience! But there can be a balance that will result in some money savings..

- find the local spots that have more affordable menu pricing

- buy food off the street. LOL sounds sketch. But if you are in a country where vendors are cooking up something on a corner, I say go for it & skip the fancy restaurant (I've never regretted this option, haha).

- split a meal with someone you are traveling with!

- think about skipping the drinks (wine, beer, soda, etc.) when out to eat.. this adds up FAST

- shop the local markets / stores to prep some snacks throughout the trip & cook a few meals yourself instead of eating out 3+ times a day!

If you've got any other tips for saving money while traveling, send me a message on Instagram and share!

Articles referenced in this post: https://www.policygenius.com/blog/airport-food/