Believe me, I know that desperate feeling of wanting so badly to save money for travel but it just felt impossible. Now, I am so thankful to be at a more stable place financially and it’s my mission to help others do the same. Keep reading and we’ll dive into 8 ways you can start to save money for travel even if you’re broke.
*This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission on recommendations at no cost to you.
Cut unnecessary spending
The best way to instantly get more money in your pocket is by eliminating useless things that are taking your money. Things like cable, unused memberships, shopping sprees, cosmetic home repairs etc.
If you are truly in a place where you feel broke, then you have got to quit spending your money on things that are keeping you there.
Maybe having cable TV is super important to you, but did you know you can save over $1,000 a year by switching to a digital antenna? BOOM! Travel fund.
If you decide that keeping an unnecessary expense like cable TV is something you have to do, that’s fine, it’s your life. But then you have to know you are choosing TV over travel.
Other ways to reduce your bills:
- Arcadia – Create your free Arcadia Power account, get connected to clean energy and spend less on your power bill. Do right by the planet and your wallet. Sign up for Arcadia.
- Charlie – Not a savings app just a great way of getting messages to help you reduce your bills, save for the future and even find free money. On average people are saving $80 per week with Charlie!
- Cushion – Cushion syncs with your bank accounts and finds places to get you refunds on bank and credit card fees. Sign up for Cushion.
- Ting Phone Plans – Ting is a great way to reduce your mobile expenses each month. You could easily reduce your phone bill by OVER half. Try Ting now.
- Trim – This app takes a look at your spending habits and instantly finds different areas where you could be saving money! See where you could be saving.
Are you living above your means?
Sometimes you can do everything you can to reduce your bills but at the end of the
Three years ago our family of 5 sold our house to downsize. We did this for more freedom both time-wise and financially.
As a general rule of thumb, you should be paying less than 30% of your take-home pay toward your mortgage and home costs.
See how to execute a home downsize the right way.
Start a budget
Living on a budget is a lot more freeing than it is restricting. A simple way to get started digitally is by using the
Prefer hands-on budgeting?
Some people struggle when it comes to digital budgeting. I get it. That’s why I created a super simple, easy to use budget bundle that allows you to create a budget, build a savings, pay off debt and even plan and save for vacations!
Plan a travel budget
Do you have a place in mind that you are wanting to travel to? If so, really make sure you are calculating all of your expenses so that you can create a realistic travel budget savings goal to work toward. It’s possible to save money for travel even if you’re broke as long as you plan smart.
Take advantage of my Vacation Planner in my budget bundle to help you weigh your options so you know you are saving the absolute most money that you can.
Quick tips for a travel budget
When it comes to keeping a travel budget as inexpensive as possible, I often turn to Airbnb.
Start a small savings
Once you have reduced your monthly expenses and you know how much you are going to need to save for travel, just start saving. It’s as simple as that. No matter what your income, find ways to start saving small amounts.
Best accounts for travel funds
My top recommendation for savings accounts that work for a travel fund are ones that actually pay you when you save. That means, you put in money and the savings account puts in money too!
Unfortunately, the majority of savings accounts are paying you around .01% — these savings accounts are paying you 1.85% or more!
- Money market account – Open amoney market accountwith CIT Bank to get a 1.85% return on investment.
- Savings Builder – Get up t a 2.45% interest rate with CIT Bank by depositing only $100 per month into a Savings Builder account!
You shouldn’t save if:
Before you start an awesome travel fund, it’s important to make sure you are taking care of other financial aspects of your life.
This means, you are saving for retirement, have a solid emergency fund and
Need help with retirement? There is a great membership called Rule Your Retirement that will teach you all the best ways to get the most out of your social security, receive reduced benefits early, slash your tax bill and more.
Ditch your debt
Debt can be the biggest weight on a person when it comes to financial freedom. If you actually take a moment to calculate how much money you spend each month on debt you just mind find your jaw dropped on the floor.
Our family was spending around $1,200 per month on debt when we finally decided to start a debt payoff plan. We chose the Debt Snowball that is recommended by Dave Ramsey. You can check out a quick 5-minute breakdown of how this method works.
Find a flexible side hustle
Whether it’s to help you pay off debt or to save for travel, I highly recommend starting a flexible side hustle. There are so many easy-to-start side hustles these days, you are insane if you’re not taking advantage of them!
Maybe you’re saying, “I already work full time and have kids, there is no way I have time for a part-time job!”
What I’m saying is there are jobs that let you work whenever you want. Set your own hours and you can make extra money.
The best flexible side hustles:
- Travel Blogging – While you can make bank with blogging, a lot of people start as a side hustle while working another job. Not only that but starting a blog that focuses on travel can actually allow you to work with hotels, tour companies and more to help you land free travel and hotel stays! Learn to blog in just 5 days!
- Sell on Amazon – People are seriously earning bank by selling on Amazon. Get this beginner guide to learn how to get started selling with FBA.
- Instacart – Get paid to shop! Set your own hours and choose how involved you want to be! Learn more!
- Uber – Become a driver with Uber. Set your own schedule and get paid up to 5 times per day along with chances for additional incentives in your city.
- Rover – Babysit dogs or walk dogs and get paid for it!!
Learn to make money while you travel
Instead of just working to save money for travel, why not learn how to make money while you travel?
Passive income
Passive income is a serious game changer guys. If you haven’t heard about it, passive income, put simply, it is a way of putting in the work, finishing the work, and then getting paid for it over and over again. For example, writing a book. Once the book is written, an author can continue to get paid for it. Although, when it comes to a book launch, a lot of hefty promotion is required. But you get my drift.
Ways to earn passive income
So what are some great streams of passive income that you could be making while you travel? By now, you probably know my personal favorite is blogging.
Blogging -Running a blog allowed me to travel to Texas and Idaho for family members. When my stepdad fell ill, I was able to take a full week off to help him through hospice care and when I got home, I had still made money. This is how passive income works. Even if you’re taking a little time off, you still have the potential to get paid. Learn more about getting paid to blog.
Read about how I made $500 in one week without working.
Running an Online Store – There are so many ways to start running an online store. You can run a Shopify store, start your own online boutique, or run an AmazonFBA business.
Start investing – Investing doesn’t have to be a scary thing. In fact, it can be incredibly beneficial to you and is one of the most lucrative ways to get paid over and over again. Here are my top three recommendations for beginner investors.
- Acorns – Acorns is an investment app for people who have never invested before and are not sure how to start. When you make purchases, Acorns will round up to the nearest dollar and literally invest your spare change for you!Get $5 to invest right now!
- CD – By putting money into a CD with CIT Bank you can earn up to 2.5% interest!See all available options.
- Motley Fool Stock Advisor – If you have no idea how to start investing and aren’t sure who to trust to help you, The Motley Fool has a yearly membership called The Motley Fool Stock Advisor that gives you access to all of their stock investor tips that have an average return of 360% — That’s huge!
Airbnb – Putting your home on Airbnb is the perfect way to get paid to travel. You get an excuse to take a vacation and while you are away, you know you’re making money by hosting your home! It’s a win-win for everyone. Check the Airbnb calculator
There are endless amounts of ways you can be getting paid every day. Often times it just means taking a leap into the unknown.
Change your money mindset
Most importantly when it comes to planning to save money for travel, starting a new job or even learning to invest your money, the most important thing you can do for yourself is change your money mindset.
The bottom line is if you believe that you are stuck with money and there is no way out. Then you are right. If you start telling yourself you can win with money and that there is a way out, then you’ll be on the right track.
One of the best ways to change your money mindset is to pay yourself first with a smart savings account and by giving your money away. I know that might sound counterproductive, but I promise it will benefit you. The more you open your fist and lose your grip on money, the more easily it can flow out of your hand and right back in again!
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