Saving Money for Travel (or to pay off your debt)
First off, I am going to beg you: don't create a Go Fund Me or whatever to solicit donations for your dream of traveling abroad, living in a van, becoming an Instagram influencer, whatever. Why should I pay for your dream vacation?!? That said, if you are going to regularly produce DETAILED blogs and videos about your travel, yes, it's fine to ask for paid subscribers - you are producing content and it's reasonable to ask people to pay for content.
If you pay for any of the following, you can save money for travel:
I hear the same people saying they are having trouble saving money or can't afford to travel also talking about their new smart phone or new clothes or new front yard fountain or new dirt bike that they will rarely ride.
If you really want to travel, you will find the money to do it. You will fund your travel through making different choices for the next six months - or even a year or two. It really won't be any huge sacrifice on your part - just as a proper diet to lose weight doesn't cause you to starve, your different financial choices won't have you sitting in a dark studio apartment eating brown rice for months.
You don't have to give everything up entirely - it's just a matter of scaling back temporarily. Consider:
If you buy Starbuck's specialty drink twice a week for a year, for $3.75 or more. In 52 weeks, that's almost $400.
The most basic subscription TV package I can find is $30 a month. If you scaled back to that, instead of, say, the choice package at $60 a month, that's a savings of $30 a month, or $360 in a year. But I bet you are spending much more.
Giving up gourmet groceries and eating out, for a year, and cooking your food yourself? You can save at least $25 a month, or $300 a year.
Don't buy any new books for a year; check out books at the library you want to read instead, or borrow from friends. Or if you must buy a book, go for used only, under $5 or you don't buy the book. If you are the voracious reader I am, you will save at least $150 a year doing this.
Don't buy any DVDs or Blue Ray disks for six months or a year. NONE. Borrow movies or games from neighbors and family. Or watch things you already have. Or get them for free from the library. For many of you, conservatively, that's $60 in a year - probably much more.
No more paying for bottled water. Ever. Buy a water filter pitcher and refill your bottles from it.
Keep your thermostat at 69 degrees or lower in winter during the day, and above 72 degrees in summer during the day.
Throw in even more ambitious savings activities for even more money:
You can get truly aggressive in your savings for a year or two, if you are looking to take a year or more off for travel and need to save $20,000 or more:
Once you set your budget, set up a savings account at a credit union or small, community-owned bank (big banks will eat up your funds in fees) and figure out how much money you are going to pay into that account every month to get to your goal. Make your monthly deposits into that account just as you pay all of your monthly bills. Your credit union may be able to help you set up an account that will gather more interest than a traditional savings account (it will require a minimal balance and you will have to have the money in it for at least nine-months).
Also key in saving for travel (or anything) is really knowing where your expenses are going. If you aren't tracking your expenses on a spread sheet or in a budgeting software program, then you do NOT know where your money is going. If you haven't saved every receipt for three months and then typed all of these expenses into a spreadsheet or budgeting software program and then analyzed them, then you do NOT know where your money is going. And don't say you don't have time to do this - give up one entire night of watching TV or being on the Internet and, ta da, you have the time!
But you have a family!
The bias on my travel pages is obvious: I don't have kids. Can someone with kids travel? Yes. Is it hard? Yes. If you are looking for inspiration for family travel - not just to Disney World, but for camping, hiking, visiting historic and cultural sites, even traveling to other countries, there are numerous web sites out there that could help you. Check out the Worldtripper's web site for an account of a family that went around the world for a year, starting in 2001. They are dear friends and have lots of great advice about how they did it, how they kept the kids' studies up-to-date, etc.
Saying No
Your friends and family may not understand your new, albeit temporary, lifestyle, particularly when you say no to their movie, spa, sporting event or shopping invitations. If you feel like you are depriving yourself of company and social activities, invite your friends over for a cookout, to a picnic or over for supper, but as a potluck, and encourage them to bring over movies they already own, for a group viewing night or afternoon. If someone has lawn darts or corn hole, host a game at your house. True friends will respect your priorities, make sure you aren't isolating yourself, and be happy to accommodate your restricted budget without making you feel bad.
Here's some bad news: you might lose friends over your change in lifestyle. There are family members and friends that may say insensitive things to you about the choices you are making, or ask questions that demonstrate their disapproval for your priorities. Believe it or not, there are a lot of people who think travel is frivolous, a waste of time and money, and they will be happy to tell you so - it's happened to me, just once, by a family member and we've never been the same because of his condemnation for this "wasteful" focus of mine. But if you really are determined to save money and make travel a priority, you have to be ready to say "No, thank you" to certain invitations, and ready to deal with the consequences.
What About Debt?
If you have credit card debt, are paying off a student loan, or have any other debts, you have to include those costs in your budget - a percentage of your income or savings needs to go to those, to get them paid off or paid down substantially. If you are looking to take off for more than six months, you need to pay credit card debts off entirely first - and you do that through setting a target for saving and engaging in the aforementioned activities.
Making Money While You Travel?
If you are going to be gone for three months or more, and you are going to keep your house or don't want to break your lease, then consider renting out your property. There are plenty of sample rental agreements online you can use. You may need to hire a property management company who will handle problems with renters while you are gone - asking neighbors or family members to handle this is a HUGE request, and they may not be able to deal with such. Whomever handles your property while you are gone, you need all agreements in writing, even with family members or dear friends.
To find renters, start with family and friends: post to your Facebook page, your Twitter account and your blog saying you are looking for someone to rent your house or sublet your apartment for three months, six months, nine months or a year. Post a notice on a bulletin board at work. Be clear about what you are offering: cable or satellite TV? Internet access? bedding? washer and dryer? garage use? Will the person have to mow your lawn? There is a LOT of information / advice online about what you need to do to rent your house or sublet your apartment if some of your property will still be onsite (like putting all of your important items in a locked room, making this space off-limits to renters). My advice: always, always, always have a written agreement, even with family, and always interview prospective tenants - if they can't come onsite and meet you, do a video interview on Skype.
You are not going to get paid to write or edit, or write code, or do graphic design while you are traveling unless you have strong relationships with companies that hire writers and editors or IT folks or designers for contract work, these companies know your work, and you have successfully completed assignments for these companies previously. Such a working arrangement will require you to check your email at least three times a day, respond to emails from employers within 24 hours, and to budget hours, days and weeks to dedicate to working, NOT to sight-see or travel. You will be spending most of your travel time working, not traveling. See more advice for telecommuting.
Some people stop for a few months in one place and work "under the table" at bars or restaurants. I've met people living at camp sites in Belgium and France who were doing this. The best place to look for jobs abroad, IMO, are Irish pubs - I've seen (and been to) Irish pubs in Jordan, Egypt, Spain and Germany. Restaurants or bars are not going to want to hire you for just a few weeks - you need to commit to at least three months of working. Just before high-season is the best time to ask around. Finding affordable long-term accommodation can be difficult; camp sites offer NO security,-you might come back to your site and find everything gone.
Also see
PAYAway. "Through our sites we provide suggestions for staying away for longer by taking a gap year or career break, travelling around the world on a RTW ticket and information and job vacancies for finding temporary and seasonal work abroad." Many of these work-abroad jobs are not in support of nonprofit organizations - some are work in "tourism" or catering, such as house keeping jobs at resorts, drivers, and cleaners, some are to work in low-paying jobs on private farms, and live-in nursing and live-in domestic work. There are teaching & TEFL jobs as well. Sites for volunteering are also listed. It's focused on residents of the UK, but at least some of the programs it links to aren't limited to UK citizens.
The Working Traveller, which focuses on travel and how to finance a trip or stay away for longer by working overseas. It's got a lot of information about both volunteering and working abroad.
Creative ways to save for a vacation.
Funding Your Volunteering Trip Abroad.
Quick Links
Some of my favorite photos from my travels. Very hard to pick favorites.
Disclaimer: Any activity incurs risk. The author assumes no responsibility for the use of information contained within this document.
This material is provided as is, with no expressed or implied warranty.
Permission is granted to copy, present and/or distribute a limited amount of material from my web site without charge if the information is kept intact and is credited to Jayne Cravens
Please contact me for permission to reprint, present or distribute these materials (for instance, in a class or book or online event for which you intend to charge).
The personal opinions expressed on this page are solely those of Ms. Cravens, unless otherwise noted.
