Saving money isn’t always easy, but even if you think that you can’t save a penny, you probably can. All you have to do is limit your spending, record your earnings and employ some simple tactics to keep your money working for you and growing as much as possible.
That’s why we are sharing 7 of our favorite money-saving tips for travel. Not all of them are hacks and secrets, but if you use as many of them as you can, you’re sure to save more money than you thought possible. Here it goes!
1. WRITE DOWN YOUR BUDGET
The first thing everyone should do when they’re trying to save money is write down your inflow and outflow of cash in a given month. Write how much you earn at the top, and then subtract your bills, insurance, rent, mortgage, gas etc.
Note: This may sound like a basic idea, and it is, but it’s extremely useful when trying to save money and if you combine it with the next 6 tips in this article, it will help you to save a lot of money in just one year.
After calculating your expenses, give yourself about 5% of the total income per month for entertainment and another 5% for miscellaneous spending. The latter is an important one because there are always things popping up that you didn’t plan for. A safety stash will ensure that you can pay for these mishaps without dipping into your savings.
If you write down your wage and subtract all of your expenses and you start to go into the negative, or there’s nothing left to save, you really need to start to adjust your spending habits to better suit your salary, or better yet, try to find a second job.
Note: If you’re living way beyond your means, it will be very difficult for you to save money.
2. AUTOMATIC TRANSFER
After you’ve written down your budget, call your bank, or go to the bank, or (if you’re banking online), go online and set-up an automatic withdrawal. This will magically transfer your money from your regular account into a special, travel savings account.
Note: By automatically saving money the day after payday, you’ll never really feel as though the money is there and you’ll have an easier time saving it. I don’t recommend transferring it on the day of your payday because if your pay cheque is delayed and you go into overdraft by accident, you’ll have to pay overdraft fees.
3. USE A MONEY APP
We use the Trail Wallet App to budget our life while traveling, but it could easily be used while saving money at home as well. With this app, you can manually enter in every cent you spend throughout the month and add them into different categories.
At the end of a couple of months, have a look at your pie chart in the app and decide if there’s anywhere that you could spend less money. For us, it was wine! For you, it could be grocery bills or dinners out.
The app is perfect for anyone who is trying to watch their pennies and keep track of their spending.
4. PUT YOUR SPENDING ON CREDIT CARDS
We used to say that people should take out cash and then spend it out of their wallet so that they can better keep track of their purchases. This is a very good method for people who don’t have any discipline, but if you do this, you’ll be missing out on a ton of credit card rewards points.
5. SAVE YOUR PENNIES
Literally, put your change into a big jar every time you come home. Don’t worry, even if you put as much as you can on your credit cards, you’ll still have to use cash from time to time, and in these circumstances, you’ll have change.
According to Discover Magazine, about $600 worth of coins pass through the average Americans hands each year. Save every penny and you’ve got a pretty healthy amount to cash in at the end of the year.
Save that change every single time! Put it in a big jar and take it out at the end of the year.
6. LOCK IN YOUR SAVINGS
Not everyone is looking to save their money for a big trip at the end of the year. Some people want to save a lot of money for a rainy day, or they only travel once every few years. If you’re building a nest egg and you know that you won’t need the money for a long time, consider locking it into a high-interest investment savings fund.
Ask your financial advisor about the best tax-deductible government savings accounts/retirement funds that you can deposit money into. Tell them you plan to deposit money and claim the tax refund while you’re earning a full salary at home, and then withdrawing it during a $0 income year of travel. They’ll know what to do!
7. DON’T GO OUT!
Probably the best money-saving tactic and the one that people hate the most. Not going out doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun with your friends. It just means that you have parties at your house, or out camping, or anywhere other than the bars & restaurants around town.
Beers at the bar. Fun, but expensive. Drink at home instead!
Bottom line… if you want to save money, don’t go out so much. Just look at all of the money that you would save in a year!
Even if you can’t scrape much from your current earnings and budget, you can be certain that by using these 7 tactics, you can save a lot of money in just one year.
Give it a try!
FROM TIFA TRAVELS AND TOURS, IKEJA LAGOS.