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Everyone should be able to afford travel.
I’m going to be sharing a bunch of budget travel tips to make your next vacation a bit cheaper and more affordable! One of the biggest reasons I started this blog was to show my readers that you can be prepared for the future financially AND enjoy the present.
Traveling is one of my biggest passions. I used to worry about spending money on travel when I should be saving. However, I want to help you be able to do both and show you it is 100% possible!
Just because we’re on a budget doesn’t mean we can’t travel. It’s the opposite.
I budget to travel more and not stress about it.
I don’t want anyone thinking they can’t afford to travel. It can even sometimes be cheap to travel! There are a plethora of places to travel cheap!
- Related Post: How to Find CHEAP Lodging
- Related Post: How to Save Money While Planning a Trip
This post is specifically dedicated to show you how to save money when travelling. Meaning if you’re already abroad! But, if you haven’t left home yet there are even more ways to save money while planning a trip! I have a post for that too, I got you 😉 let’s all travel on budget!
Table of Contents
Get to Know the Public Transit
A Lot of people are really intimidated by public transit. If you’re from the US the reason you’re intimidated is because the public transit in the US sucks.
Sure if you live in big cities like New York or Chicago it might be alright, but it doesn’t compare to most cities abroad.
Public transit is a very cost efficient (and time efficient) way to explore a city. Do not waste your money on taxis!
Don’t Eat Lunch
Ok I know what you’re thinking, “WTF are you talking about??”
One of my favorite parts of traveling is eating food. And I would NEVER suggest not going all out trying a new cuisine. What I’m saying is, prioritize your meals.
Some food expenses math.
Let’s say you’re spending 5 -15 dollars on breakfast, then another 10 – 20 dollars on lunch, THEN another 15 – 30 dollars on dinner. Well what about a snack? A coffee break or ice cream, because it’s hot outside. Add another 5 – 15 dollars for that.
That’s already 35 dollars per day on the low end and 80 dollars a day on the high end. That means if your trip is 7 days you’re spending 245 dollars on the low end up to 560 dollars on the high end!
Obviously these prices will vary depending on where you are traveling but regardless, these costs can add up quickly.
What am I suggesting?
Go to the grocery store.
If you are going to ignore my suggestions, I would recommend going to the grocery store anyway. It’s really cool to see grocery stores in other countries! To see what kind of food there is, what snacks they have, it’s just another small window into that country’s culture.
But anyway, go to the grocery store, pick up some stuff for breakfast and lunch. Maybe some bread, some pasta, whatever you want, I’m sure you can even get some pre-made food.
Then, when dinner time comes around you can GO BIG and actually order what you want to order without worrying about the price (as much).
You can see from the chart this results in some major savings! On the low end this will automatically save you 100 dollars and on the high end this could save much more!
I like this idea because I found myself wanting to try certain classic dishes while traveling, but obviously the good stuff is more expensive and I would run the numbers in my head to calculate what I had already purchased that day. When I started incorporating this, I would have delicious dinner meals and feel NO GUILT, because you shouldn’t feel any guilt. You’re on vacation, there is no time for guilt!
Take Free Walking Tours
This can also highly depend on where you are traveling, but it’s worth looking into; wherever you are.
What is a free walking tour?
It is exactly what the name suggests, it is a free tour around a city. All the free walking tours I took lasted between 2-4 hours. They take you around to the most popular spots (that are within walking distance) and the best part, they are FREE.
If you’re wondering why anyone would give a free tour, well it’s pretty simple. If there are 20 people on your walking tour and they each tip you 3 dollars, that’s 60 dollars! The person giving the tour makes their money exclusively off tips which is a win-win situation for you as well.
Most cities in Europe have several companies offering free walking tours. If you don’t believe me, I took free walking tours in 10+ countries while I was traveling in Europe, they are real and legit!
As a bonus a lot of tour guides will give recommendations for where to eat, so you might find an amazing spot you would have never found otherwise.
Don’t Buy Your Friends Souvenirs
When was the last time you LOVED something someone brought you from their travels?
It is very difficult to buy a good, useful, thoughtful, gift while abroad. If you’re going to get your friends some keychains… save yourself the money and just post a picture on your instagram story instead.
Your friends won’t be offended if you don’t buy them anything, trust me.
You’re also saving yourself the hassle of carrying a bunch of additional items in your suitcase.
Use a Credit Card
There are many great travel credit cards and you should be using one of them if you’re a frequent traveler! These credit cards can give you a substantial amount of points when, aka free stuff, if you use them for all your travel expenses.
It might not seem like you’re saving money by doing this,, but it can result in free flights later on, which in the long run can save you wayyyy more money.
I personally use the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Capital One Venture Card.
There are too many details to dive into so I would suggest checking out these posts from NerdWallet and The Points Guy to find the best travel credit card for you!
A couple things to note and some useful tips for when using a credit card abroad:
- When given the option to choose which currency to pay in, don’t choose your own currency, choose the local one!
- Make sure there are NO FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEES.
- Some credit cards offer you perks, like using airport lounges on your travel days, so make sure to take full advantage of all the free stuff!
Exchange Fees
DON’T EXCHANGE MONEY AT THE AIRPORT or in advance.
Apologies for the all caps. But, everytime I travel I see someone exchanging money at the airport, right after landing.
If you exchange money at the airport or even earlier, in your home country, you are not getting the best exchange rate available. This feels weird to say because I love planning in advance, but this is something I would recommend doing once you’re abroad.
Withdrawing money from an ATM once abroad, in a non-touristy part of the city will get you the best exchange rate. You don’t want to lose your hard earned cash!
If you’re wondering why you would have to exchange money at all, most travel destinations around the world still operate mostly with cash. Additionally, it’s never a bad idea to have some of the local currency in your wallet just in case.
Lastly, if you are withdrawing from an ATM abroad make sure your bank will not charge you. Most banks charge $5 per withdrawal in foreign ATMs. I would recommend looking into getting a Charles Schwab debit card that reimburses atm fees.
Final Thought
Anyone else getting excited to travel again?!
If you prioritize your spending, save money for trips and stick to my travel budget tips, I guarantee you’ll start realizing it can be cheap to travel.
I budget to travel more! Let’s travel on budget!
What is your next travel destination? Let me know in the comments!
If you want access to all of my budget templates for google sheets, sign up for my email list!
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