Are you dreaming of travelling but are struggling to know how to afford the trip you hope for? Like everything, travel does come at a cost but we have found that even with an average salary, it is possible to save money for travel by making it a priority and living smart.
Here are 18 ways to save money that you can put towards your travel dreams.
These are tips that we have found to work for us but they might not all be practical for everyone. Still, we hope that this gives a starting point and some helpful ideas you may not have thought of.
Many of these tips save just a little money here and there, but by combining a few steps it is possible to save a lot! Every little really does help!
1. Budget - set a travel savings goal
The first thing to do is to set a savings goal. Think about how much money your dream trip will cost, how long you have to save and how much you need to save each month to get there.
For example, if your trip is going to cost £3000 and you are hoping to do it in a year’s time, you will need to save £250 per month to achieve it (£3000 ÷ 12 months). Spread across the months, this may seem more manageable.
Do bear in mind when you need to pay for things though. You may find you need a little more money earlier on to book flights, for example.
The best thing to do is to set up a standing order so that this money goes straight into a savings account every month before you even have a chance to spend it. Why not look around for a savings account with a good interest rate - that way you can make a few extra pounds without even trying!
2. Calculate your monthly income and outgoings
Using a spreadsheet or a budgeting app, calculate all the income you have every month (your monthly pay plus anything else you get income from such as bonuses or any side-hustles). Then, add up everything you spend each month. For example, you might spend a approximately £200 on food, £600 on rent, £50 on coffee and so on.
Calculate the difference between your monthly income and outgoings. This is the money you currently have available to save. It may not be much at the moment but following some of these steps will help to increase this and hopefully achieve that monthly savings goal you created in step 1!
3. Set aside a treats budget
Yes you want to save for travel but you don’t want to be miserable for a year to get there! The way we solve this is to give ourselves a budget for ‘treats’ every month. This includes things like meals out, coffees, day trips etc. It helps to limit excessive spending while still allowing ourselves to enjoy these simple pleasures but keep saving for travel.
4. Lower your bills
With the current cost of living crisis, it can feel like the world is against you saving for travel, particularly if you own or rent a place and pay all your own bills. However, there are some ways to lower your energy bills. They might mean making a few sacrifices but we think it’s worth it for the sake of travelling!
Here are a few ideas:
Cut your shower time by 5 mins
Use blankets during the day
Use hot water bottles at night
Get a smart heating system such as Tado - that way you can heat only the rooms you’re using
Turn off any lights you’re not using and/or use a dimmer
Only fill the kettle with the amount of water you are going to use (If you’re making one cup of tea you don’t need to fill the whole kettle)
Bulk cook your meals - this means you only use your cooker once but get a few meals out of it
Shop around for energy providers - find the cheapest option
5. Cook food at home
We went through a phase during covid when we would have a takeaway every Friday night. While this was great (and of course tasted amazing - Thai green curry I’m looking at you!), we soon realised this meant we were spending over £1000 a year just on takeaways - that’s a whole holiday in itself!
Of course, cutting out takeaways altogether seems a bit dramatic, but limiting your takeaways and meals out to a couple of times a month could save over £500 a year.
Plus, why have a Thai green curry in the UK when you could save your money and have one on your travel trip to Thailand!? Home cooking an extra-special meal once a week could be a great alternative.
6. Have a really cheap meal once a week
We have started having a jacket potato for dinner once a week. This may sound like a small thing but actually the cost of this compared to cooking a big dish is quite significant. It’s also a quick and easy option for days when we are out in the evening and saves a few pounds every week.
7. Make your own lunch
Another big money-waster we have found is buying lunch every day. Making your own pack lunch can cost as little as £2 as opposed to the £4-£10 you might pay for lunch out. Over the course of a month, this can add up to a big saving!
8. Buy non-branded food items
I know there are certain branded items you can’t live without (Heinz ketchup is one for us!), but why not try a supermarket own item as opposed to the branded one you usually buy and see if you can taste the difference. You might even find you like it better!
9. Limit your alcohol and branded drink consumption
We’re not big drinkers ourselves but we know that alcohol is not cheap! Again, we’re not saying cut it out completely, but why not limit your consumption to fewer drinks or drinking less often?
The same applies to branded drinks. Drinking water or even squash can save quite a bit, plus it’s not a bad thing for your health either!
10. Quit the gym
Of course it’s important to stay healthy but there are much cheaper options that the gym if you need to save some money. Running is an obvious choice but there are also thousands of different exercise tutorials online. Do you own a bike? Why not go out cycling and enjoy the fresh air. Live near the sea or a lake? How about getting into wild swimming.
If giving up the gym completely is not for you, why not shop around for a cheaper gym membership?
11. Commute locally by bike or on foot
On the topic of exercise, it’s so easy to get into the habit of doing short journeys by car for the sake of convenience. However, although they may only be short journeys the fuel cost does add up, as does the wear and tear on your car.
Why not consider cycling to work or walking to the local food shop? We have found this to be a good way to keep fit as well as save some money.
12. Use fewer vehicles
If you’re going to cycle more, do you really need that car?!
This may sound crazy but it worked for us for a little while! For a period of time, Amy was working close to home and we owned two vehicles between us.
We realised that actually for Amy to cycle to work and to SORN her vehicle (to keep it off the road untaxed) would save us a lot of money. It did mean a few rainy commutes for Amy but it was such a big saving that it was worth it at the time!
13. Use loyalty cards
Using loyalty cards for supermarkets are really worth it, especially If you buy your fuel from one of these shops as well. You’d be surprised how quickly the points add up and you can redeem money off or other benefits.
Have a favourite coffee shop? Maybe they have a loyalty system too. This might save you a few pounds every few weeks!
14. Claim cash back on your purchases
You can use a cash back card, such as the one provided by Chase Bank, to pay for shopping and claim a small percentage back every time you make a purchase.
There are also websites that act in a similar way for online purchases such as Top Cashback. It may not be a big saving but it all adds up.
15. Buy clothes with discount codes or second hand
When we started prioritising travel we quite quickly stopped buying unnecessary clothes and began to live more minimally in this area. However, when we do need to buy something we try to find online discount codes, shop in sales or buy from second hand shops.
We occasionally charity shop but have recently found Vinted to be a great alternative. You can easily get a brand new or great quality item for a lot less than you would pay from the original store. It's also proven to benefit the environment to purchase second hand rather than brand new. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure!
16. Think twice before making a purchase
On the topic of shopping, sometimes it’s easy to think you’ve fallen in love with something you’ve seen in a store or online and you just have to get it. Rather than buying it straight away, why not go away, leave it for a couple of days and see whether you still feel the same?
Maybe you were just in a spending mood - do you actually need the item? How often will you use it? Is it worth the money? Ask yourself these questions before making a purchase.
17. Cancel unnecessary subscriptions
Note down everything you pay a subscription for. This will include things like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Spotify and so on. Consider how often you actually use them, and whether they are really worth the cost you’re paying.
Maybe you joined years ago because they had a free trial and never got around to cancelling. When you weigh it up against having that £5 a month to save for travelling instead, is it really worth it?
18. Find other ways to earn money
In addition to saving what you can, it’s worth considering whether there is anything else you can do to earn some extra money to put towards your trip.
Sell unused items
When was the last time you had a good clear out? Why not spend some time going through old clothes, books and maybe even furniture. Anything of good quality might be worth something to someone else.
Upload some items to a selling site like eBay or Vinted to see if you can make a few extra pounds.
Rent out items
Do you have anything that you’re not ready to get rid of but don’t use all the time? You could rent out camera equipment through a service like FatLlama or even rent out your spare room on Air BnB.
Find a side-hustle
Finally, do you have any spare time that you could use to start a side-hustle. There are so many options from dog walking to teaching English online to selling stock photography or washing cars! If you have the time and motivation, anything is possible.
We hope that by following some of these tips and prioritising travel in your budgeting, you will be able to to afford that big trip you’re dreaming of or to live a lifestyle that includes regular travel abroad. Make sure to go at your own pace and do what works best for you and your lifestyle. Good luck!
Do you have any other tips for saving money that we haven’t included? We would love to hear about them in the comments!
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