The ability to save money for traveling is one of the hardest parts of the whole travel planning process.
Do YOU find it hard to save money for traveling?
If you answered yes, you are not alone. Saving money, in general, is not the easiest thing to do, but let us tell you, it is not the hardest thing to do either.
It just requires you to step out of your comfort zone, analyze your financial situation and make a few adjustments.
Easy right? 🙂
But now seriously. We believe that everyone can save money for traveling. For someone, it will be harder than for somebody else. Someone will have to sacrifice more than others. And someone will need more time to save money for traveling than others. But the most important thing is, that it can be done.
Most people fail because they lack motivation. They think they want to save money for traveling, but the temptation to spend money now rather than saving them, cause their failure. And that is what this whole saving journey is about – the motivation.
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So let´s get real. Here are 5 BASIC STEPS you need to take to finally start saving money for traveling.
1. Have a decent plan
We are not far from right saying that saving money for traveling without a plan is impossible. If you do not know how much your traveling will cost you, how will you set up your budget and saving goals?
It is not as much about scheduling every day of traveling, rather than having decent expectations about average costs. Do you know how much money will you need every day on average? Do you know how expensive the country really is? How much money does a food cost per day on average? Answers to that kind of questions will help you to save money for traveling. The best thing to do it is through thorough research. Collect as much information as you can about the destination you intend to go to. Do not forget to create some kind of backup plan, like having an emergency fund if anything goes wrong. Also, think about all the costs that go with the traveling in general. Like costs of vaccination, visas, travel insurance etc.
This research will help you to determine how much money you need to save. And what do you know? Maybe you will find out that even luxurious destination like Bora Bora can be done on a budget.
2. Set up realistic goals
The hardest part about setting up goals is not to come up with them, but to stick with them. A lot of people put themselves under enormous pressure just to keep up with their own goals. The reason why they struggle is that they set the bar too high right from the beginning. If your goals are not realistic, you are inevitably going to fail.
So, dream big, but allow yourself enough time to achieve your big dreams. Otherwise, your own dreams will sooner or later discourage you and you will give up. That is why most people quit on their goals. They are not simply able to follow their own overly optimistic plans.
It is hard enough to change your life, save money for traveling and accomplish what you desire. If your goals are unrealistic, you are on the road to failure.
Motivated people can always walk further than unmotivated ones. So set up for yourself realistic goals. There is nothing wrong to admit that you can not afford to travel to certain destinations, YET.
Keep in mind these two questions – Where would you like to travel? Where can you afford to travel?
We are sure you will find heaps of countries/places where you can travel for less now and save money for traveling to further destinations after.
 3. Short-term goal vs long-term goals
In general, people are very impatient creatures. They want something and they want it now. And unfortunately, building a saving account allowing you to travel is not gonna happen overnight.
A great thing to do is to divide your travel goals into two categories – short-term goals and long-term goals.
Especially, long-term goals are very important for you to be able to save money for traveling. The long-term goal is something you would like to accomplish in the future and it requires time and planning. Sometimes you would like to travel to a further destination but you just do not have enough money now. That can be pretty upsetting and discouraging. But if you set up a long-term plan how to save money for traveling to this country today, you will stay motivated along the way. And you will save that money.
Determine where would you like to travel in a few months, next year and in five years. Plan it, make a budget and stick with it. You will feel more motivated if you know why you are saving money. Also, you will associate your savings with a specific locations/destinations and that will motivate you even more.
4. Track down all your spendings
This advice requires a little bit of boring work, but it really will help you to save money for traveling. The secret is to track down all your spendings, so you gain a full knowledge where your money is going every month. You would be surprised how many people do not actually have an idea, how much money they spend and for what. Trust us, without this, you will never save money for traveling.
Do you know how a majority of people live? They get their salary, they shop, they use credit cards, they pay their bills and at the end of the month they are usually surprised, how little money they have left. Some of them might even spend more than they have got. That is not the way you do it.
Remember, if you want to achieve your dreams, you need to act differently. Just because the majority of people live like that does not mean it is right. Do not be afraid to think outside of the box, it will pay off. Most of the people are afraid to think differently and to exclude themselves from the crowd. And the sad truth is, that most of those people will never afford to travel.
So, track down all your spendings and analyze how much money you can save if you cut down your expenses.
5. Budget your life
After you track down all your expenses, you will have a clear idea about how much money you earn and spend. Based on that you are ready to set up a budget for yourself. Again, try to be realistic. When you are done, try to stick with it. And at the end of a month do a review. Did you save exact amount of money that you had budgeted? Have you even saved even more? Did you save less? Why? If you find out that you saved less than you had planned, do not be disappointed. Maybe your budget is just too restrictive and you are not able to keep up with it. That is completely fine, just review your budget and do some adjustments.
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