People often wonder about how long term travelers can save money to travel the world, the simple answer is a lot of hard work and cutting out unnecessary expenses. Not all of points will be for everyone, as I certainly couldn’t manage some of them but they will hopefully give you an idea of areas in your life you could cut back.
Cut Back on Rent
Rent is for most people their largest monthly outgoing, so this is a great place to start when you are looking to save money. This could be anything from getting a house mate to share the bills, moving to a cheaper part of town or even moving back in with your parents.
Cancel Your Phone Tariff
Having a phone is of course important, but some phone tariffs can be up to $100 a month. When possible its worth considering downgrading your contract, as this is a large amount of money you could be saving towards your next trip. Either go for a cheaper tariff, or look at what pay monthly options are out there.
Change Your Lifestyle
It can be all to easy to spend money with a coffee shop or restaurant on every corner, you need to asses your lifestyle and decide if that morning coffee to go is really a necessity. Instead of socializing with friends in a cafe or restaurant, consider having a dinner party or enjoying the outdoors to save money.
Take the Bus
Having your own car can be the most convenient option for most of us, but when you add up the cost of tax, insurance and maintenance the annual cost can start to add up. Whether you take a walk, ride a bike or take public transport these are all great ways you can cut down on your monthly outgoings.
Get Creative in the Kitchen
We are living in an age of ready meals and food kits, with all of this convenience comes added cost! Be smart with what you buy, be adventurous in the kitchen and learn how to cook using just basic ingredients. The internet is full of fantastic food blogs such as Good Cheap Eats, showing you how to cook delicious home made meals on a budget.
Quit Online Shopping
With Black Friday and the consistent sales every online store seems to have, its can be all too tempting to get your credit card out. Try and cut out impulse purchases by asking yourself if you really need whats in your basket before checking out.
Sell Your Possessions
Just to clarify I am not suggest you sell the family heirlooms, but many of us are guilty of having many more possessions than we need. If you are planning to travel for an extended period of time leaving items in storage can also incur cost, so this is a matter worth considering.
Assess Your Memberships
Whether its your Netflix, Amazon Prime or Gym Membership, none of these are necessities and the total for just these three could be $70 a month. Now I am not suggesting you cancel everything, but assessing how you spend your money is important stage in working out where you can cut back.
Cut Out Your Vices
Not all of us are straight laced some of us invariably have our vices, whether that may be drink, gambling or drugs I am not one to judge. These are areas were you can spend vast amounts of your salary, if you are serious about trying to save money to travel you will have to cut any vices you have out.
Get an Extra Job
Depending on your desire to save and the time frame you have, for some considering a second job might be an option. Whether its working in a bar in the evenings and at weekends, or just overtime at your main job both will help increase the amount you can put away each month.
Consider a Working Holiday
Even if you have been living at home with your parents for the last years and eating nothing but ramen its possible you might still be short of the figure you are aiming for. A good option to consider would be a working holiday visa, this can allow you to work and travel in a country for up to a year. This is a great way to see a country and save money at the same time, check out our post on working holiday visas for further details on which countries offer them and what requirements they have.
How to Save Money to Travel the World
Hopefully some of the money saving tips have been of some use, when you are finally ready to set off on your travels check out our post Tips for Traveling on a Budget.