Small Budget but Want to Travel? Here's What You Can

For some of us, travelling can seem like an unachievable fantasy. With bills, memberships, subscriptions, food and social activities, our day to day living expenses can be so high we can’t even consider clocking out of real life and heading to an exotic faraway beach.

However, this doesn’t need to be the case. With some creative planning, solid research and determination, you could be making the dream trip sooner than expected.

Step one: Make (and stick to) a travel budget

Your first step will usually happen alongside your initial planning. As you plan your flights and accommodation it’s important that you keep track of how much it will all cost. Write down every expense, including your daily costs of while your away.Your budget will depend on where you are going. South East Asia, for example, can be done on as little as $35 a day. Some of the more expensive locations, such as London may require up to $100 a day. So, for a month in South East Asia, you will be looking at around $1,050, not including flights.Once you know how much your trip will likely cost, you can begin saving. “Saving? But saving is the whole problem!” I hear you say. Well yes, if it was as simple as saving, we would all be on our way. Every day living expense do tend to get in the way and it can be difficult to save up enough for plane tickets alone. That is until you begin to get creative.For starters, you must only spend money on the things you absolutely need. Everything else goes directly to savings. Cancel things like gym memberships, cable TV and make your own coffee then getting a $5 cup on your way to work every morning. Once you have built up a small amount you can try things like investing.Of course, it’s advisable to only invest what you can afford, but the Forex market allows for tiny amounts to be invested. With the right strategies and coaches, like those found at Learn to Trade, Forex trading can lead to profit.

Step two: Take advantage of travel cards

There’s a huge amount of travel cards available, and many people do use them, but most people fall into the trap of overspending to try and get the bonuses. This isn’t the smart way.Instead, you should search for a travel card that offers a sign-up bonus. Then you should use the card for everything you would normally purchase, be it a coffee or your weekly groceries. You should also sign up to the email list to find special deals and bonuses where you can earn extra points. After a while, you should have a considerable amount of points which means you can greatly reduce your airfare or hotel costs.

Step three: Be flexible

If you want to travel on a budget, it will be much easier if you travel with flexibility and an open mind. Certain dates, destinations and forms of travel are much cheaper than others. Generally, this means traveling outside of peak season or to less known locations. If you can plan a holiday with that in mind, you will shave hundreds off your expenses.

Step four: Use the Sharing Economy

By now, you would have come across what is known as the sharing economy. Tech giants like Uber have revolutionised the way we travel, eat and stay. Airbnb, for example, is almost always cheaper than hotels, and you also get the bonus of living like a local. The Airbnb you stay at will usually be owned by a local, who will be able to tell you the best places to eat and drink on the cheap. For the adventurous, there are even couchsurfing sites, where you can couchsurf for free.

The sharing economy could also help you save, or even make money while you’re away. For example, while you’re traveling, you could rent out an empty room in your house for someone to use as storage on a community storage site like Spacer.

The bottom line is, if you can use sharing services like Uber, Airbnb, and even Vayable, you will be able to travel much cheaper.

Traveling with a small budget is not the easiest thing to do. It takes strict budgeting, time to save, and determination, but it can be done. By creating a budget, taking advantage of travel cards, being flexible and using sharing services, you can travel on just a fraction of the price a more traditional holiday would cost.

About the author

Cindy Parker is an avid writer and blogger; she loves writing about entrepreneurship and self-improvement. She prefers to spend her vacation time in exotic places. At the moment, Cindy is living in Sydney and working for Bizset.com.