6 Smart Ideas to Save Your Money for Your Next Travel
Vacation is supposed to be the time when you relax and unwind and yet, most of us are constantly stressed over the money issue. If vacation time is coming and you can’t seem to find your way around the budget, giving up on your travel plans might seem like the only viable option.
But, don’t give up just yet! Below you will find six smart and actually effective ideas that can help you save enough money for your next trip.
1. Open a Vacation Savings Account
A dedicated bank account for vacations will help you organize your money better, as well as motivate you to put some money aside for your trip. If this doesn’t work for you and you can’t seem to leave some money for this, you can always set up automatic transfers into the dedicated account. With the right account, preferably and interest-bearing one, you might even be able to make the amount grow while waiting for the trip date to come.
A transfer of a couple dollars per week will add up to hundreds in a year. This should help you fund at least the transportation expenses, or even the entire trip if you plan well for it.
There’s just one catch to opening the vacation savings account. You need to have an idea as to how much you want to save in order to set up the automatic transfer amounts. This way, you’ll be able to save all the money you need for the trip, which means that you’ll be worry-free when the actual time to travel comes.
2. Save in a Piggybank
All that change can accumulate in a fine travelling budget by the end of the year. Add all the change you get from buying items such as groceries, or spending on transportation and other life spending. You’ll be amazed to learn how much you can save by doing this.
‘’We bought our little boy a piggybank on request. It was a small gift for his first A at school. After a while, we decided to buy one for both my husband and I, too. We put more than just change in it, and it turned out to be an excellent idea. Everything extra and everything spare goes in the piggybank and voila – a money aid when you most need it!’’ – says Jessica Button, freelance writer for AustralianWritings.
It only takes a couple of dollars in change every day to get hundreds in a single year. Who knows – you might even get the full amount for your next vacation if you convince your travel partners to do this, too!
3. Make Some Cash on the Side
Luxuries like vacation and travelling don’t come easy. If you want to get some relaxation and fun, you might want to consider picking up a side job. On the bright side – you’ll have a much greater time when you finally get to go on that vacation, since it will be a well-deserved one!
Getting a side job does not have to be complicated or hard on you. Short-time work opportunities can help you get the money for the vacation in full without having to put money aside from your regular paycheck. Consider doing some freelancing work, getting a seasonal job, and even using your car to make some cash on the side. Side jobs can be literally anything, so make sure to find one that you enjoy – this should make it much more fun.
Just think of it. You could make extra money as an Uber driver, or even rent the car to other travelers. You can also rent a room in your home, or do a short-term home swap with other travelers when vacation time comes. Anything that helps you earn and save, you should definitely consider it to help you out.
4. Sell Some Things
It’s about time that you got rid of all that junk that’s just piling up in the garage. Garage sales are very common and an excellent way to sell things you no longer need. If you need some extra money for your trip, make a garage sale and sell everything you aren’t using or needing.
Nowadays, you don’t even have to make it a physical garage sale. Just take photos of all your items, write down some realistic descriptions, and sell the things you don’t need on the internet. If you haven’t done this already, chances are you have many things that can be of value to others. Who knows – there might be a fortune waiting for you on the Internet!
5. Use That Credit Card
Of course, we don’t mean that you should use the credit card to travel and pay off those expenses and extra fees for years to come! There are things you can do to make use of your credit cards without going into debt. For example, some credit cards accumulate the airline miles for all your travels throughout the year. If you are travelling for work often, you might even get the transportation for your vacation for free!
Credit cards also offer opportunities to save by accumulating spending. If you shop online or eat in some pre-selected restaurants, you can get some money back and earn flier miles as a reward.
Finally, you can get some sign-up bonuses for credit cards. Check out the bonuses offered and start using this to your benefit. It is about time that you get something for your loyalty to the banks, too, so why not get a vacation?
6. Get Paid to Travel
There are also things you can do to take a vacation without having to save money at all! To make your vacation free, find some contests and start competing. There are many options out there, so why not test the waters with your competitive skills?
Popular companies around the world constantly publish contests and pay the winners to travel. You can get paid to take photos or write travel content, or get a money reward for participation in different contests.
Conclusion
Saving money for a vacation or a trip isn’t simple, but some things can make this much easier for you. Try out the tricks above. You never know what might work!
Bio
Alexandra Reay is an editor and professional writer at college paper. She is also a regular contributor to Scholar Advisor. Alexandra is fond of horse-riding, reading and rock music. Alexandra keeps her spirit in writing fluent articles as well.
