In my last post we discussed budgets.
And how to save. And make money for our trip. So now let’s get down to the booking.
And figuring ways to stretch your dollar out as much as possible in this post we’re going to discuss cheap spending tips while booking your travel. And on the road. So, you can afford to travel deciding where.
YOU CAN AFFORD TO TRAVEL HOW MUCH WILL YOUR TRAVEL COST Photo Gallery
And when to go flexibility. And time these are the two biggest factors, you should consider when budgeting for your trip the more flexible, you are the more options, you are going to have for your budget the more time that, you have in a destination the cheaper, you can stretch out your transportation options. And accommodations two important things to keep in mind when booking your travels currency conversions before, you decide where, you want to go travel, you should always look up the currency rates of that country pack, you should do a comparison of your whole currency to every other country.
And see whose currencies are currently low ie which countries is your dollar going to stretch the furthest then. So going to notoriously expensive countries like the UK Norway Switzerland Brazil even depending on what country, you are from, you you’re not going to get as much when, you change it into the local currency. So you’re not going to be able to travel as far in Reverse if you have a stronger currency than the country, you are traveling to, you are going to get a lot more for the same amount of money play around with currencies.
And amounts for the countries, you are thinking of visiting because just the little percentage can add up to a lot when, you are spending a lot of money on your trips. And travels expensive countries versus cheap countries not only does currency play a part. And make a difference on how much money you’re going to spend but.
So does the cost of living in that country donal countries are just really expensive to do anything in like Monaco for example everything, you do generally will cost, you a lot more because, it’s just an expensive country. So if you’re looking for your dollar to stretch further then pick cheaper countries or countries have a lower cost of living that being said, you shouldn’t just let cost determine which countries, you visit because those expensive countries do have a lot to offer just know that, you will be able to travel there as long as, you would in Cheaper countries off-season verses peak season picking when, you go is just as important as where, you go beach season as, you can guess is going to be more expensive. And more crowded than the off-season also there tends to be a lot of deals in the offseason.
So deals looking to save money not deal with crowds offseason travel deciding what to spend your money on starting from the biggest expenses first that’s a good way to create your travel budget to see how much, you will need. And how long, you will go for airfare this will likely be your biggest cost. So the more that, you can save on your plane tickets the better now there are one-way round-trip multi trip.
And round-the-world tickets now. I’m not actually going to touch on how to get cheap airfare in this post since. I did a whole post about how to get cheap flights links up there links down below their accommodation accommodations will typically be your second biggest cost now there are a lot of different options a lot of cheap options a lot of expensive options.
So there are things like hostels couchsurfing air B&B home aways for your cheaper more budget options, you can even stay with friends families that saves, you a lot of money as well, it’s all about how comfortable, you want to be with your accommodation. And don’t always discount hotels because, you can find some amazing deals on hotels. So, you can mix it up with your travels depending on, you know where, you are going how much luxury, you want how much comforts or amenities that you’re looking for mix it up all the thing is there is a variety of accommodation options to suit any kind of budget that, you are looking at.
And working with tours, this is where another huge variable cost comes into play if you are doing an organized tour a lot of times they budget certain things into the price of the tour such as accommodation activities. And food. So while the initial cost might seem large if you actually budget.
And price out each item. And thing that they offer it could be more equal to or even less than doing it on your own it all depends on the exact tour you’re looking at. And how much it would cost to do it on your own there’s.
So many variables here it really just comes down to crunching numbers. And comparing for yourself, but they are a great option when traveling even if you don’t do a full tour for your whole trip, you can mix up tours in between here. And there to supplement certain parts or certain countries if you’re doing like a longer-term travel tourism offices.
So many resources take a trip down to your local tourism office in the country that, you are visiting or browse your website online a fairly been really underused resource now in 2017, but towards the offices list out dozens of local tour providers for operators hotels activities places to go eat all of these are businesses that the Tourism Board has vetted for, you. And listed for, you. And a lot of times we take, you hours of searching online to find these smaller providers in countries that, you were going to.
So go visit their website. And browse watch your start Hey look at all this money we have when, you first start off your destination, it’s going to be hard to be frugal to know when to think of saving each dollar. And knowing when to stretch or knowing when to budget or knowing when to splurge or to treat yourself because, you have a lot of money, but really watch your beginning because that money can go far quicker than, you realize and, you don’t want to be stuck at the end of your trip or nearing the end of your trip.
And have run out of money. And then suddenly, you can’t do the things that, you want to do you’re eating toast for days or you’re borrowing money from friends budget travel starts the day, you arrive, you must be vigilant with your finances on day one, you made a budget for a reason. And every a bit matters on your trip.
So don’t go crazy in the first few days activities. I always say to save a fairly large amount for your activities because that is one of the reasons why, you are traveling to do things in the countries that, you are visiting trust me, you don’t want to be that traveler on tour that doesn’t have any money to do things at all in the country they’re visiting because they did budget it out properly. So make a list of your top things that, you want to do in all the places that, you are going to.
And make sure, you budget in the cost of doing those activities or seeing those sights or the entrance fees to that location or museum into your budget put it into your budget know exactly how much, it’s going to cost. And have that reserved. So, you never run into the issue of not having money to do that activity however though not all activities cost money.
And there are a lot of things to do that are free. So if you are working on a very limited budget supplement your travel with free stuff there are things like free museums bitches are free go for a hike do a free walking tour take some photographs around towns go to a viewpoint visit the local markets, you don’t go buy anything, you could just browse the various shops. And vendors also look at combining your activities together.
So many cities offer city passes which are discounts on packages of activities to do in that city. So if you are thinking of doing multiple things look at city passes. And see if those are the things that, you want to do And booked online not only do, you get online discounts, you save yourself from crazy lineups. And generally there is reserved seating or there’s separate entrance ways. And, it’s just cheaper like 90 percent of the time at least, it’s just cheaper to book online food.
And drink, you can spend a little of it and, you can spend a lot on food the best part of, this is that it is the easiest budget to kind of adjust to when you’re on the road a lot of hotels. And hostels offer free continental breakfast eat that the cost one meal a day unless they charge for it if they charge extra for it then just go grab a muffin muffins are good cook from your hostel or rentals seriously, it’s one of the benefits of getting a rental property or staying in a B&B kitchens also make sure to book hostels that have kitchens. And frigerators, you can save a lot of money by cooking your own food.
And visiting the local grocery store also, it’s just fun to shop in foreign grocery stores try. And avoid a restaurant in the popular tourist areas go like one or two streets on the side and, you will generally find significantly cheaper restaurants than restaurants that are unlike the main tourist stretches plus they’ll be more authentic eat from streetcars or vendors, it’s cheap and, you can see the food being prepared right in front of, you. And now for streetcars, you kind of want the opposite of the restaurants, you want to pick the busy streets the bigger tourist streets because these carts generally have a higher turnover.
So the food is fresh, it’s not sitting there for long periods of time avoid drinking out if you can creative cocktails on the beach of beer in the pub they’re fun, but they do take away from your budget. So try And limit your beverages.
And only have them on occasion. So that, you are not going overboard. And literally drinking away your budget a good rule of thumb.
I like to do for budget travel is the rule of thirds where 1 3 of my budget is on quick cheap easy food that’s generally cooked. And prepared by me another third is on-the-go sandwiches cafes again generally cheaper quicker easier. And the last third.
I like to say for eating out restaurants trying local dishes. And kind of the more specialty food item so I can splurge a bit there but.
I also save on my other areas, but of course, you can do whatever ratio is, you feel comfortable with transportation obviously, it’s a little bit difficult to price of beef that’s amount they can be going because, you know your date changes. And your method transportation will change each day, but kind of have like a little bit of a rough idea going into it how much you’re going to be spending on your transportation as a budget tip. I always plan on taking public transportation.
We’ll book my accommodation with that in mind knowing that it will be near public transportation Metro buses or walking distance. So it will be closer to like the center of the city so I can walk to places.
So while. I might spend a bit more on my accommodation. I’m going to be spending less on my transportation, it’s kind of a give or take of course the opposite is true as well if you’re going to be saving a ton of accommodation then it is good to know how much, it’s going to take for, you to get to the places that, you want to go to from where, you are staying look for a day pass through there date cards if you are going to be doing multiple different sites.
And locations. And taking public transit in a day. And also look into top-up cards a lot of metro systems have a top-up card that, you can buy for an initial cost, but if you are doing.
And you’re going to be using the public transportation system a lot they’ll save, you a lot more money to top off that card then it would buying individual tickets for each trip that, you take however though if you are traveling in a group sometimes it really can be cheaper to do private transportation. So that means renting a car or hiring a private shuttle or taking a taxi if there are shorter distances if there’s a group of, you you split the cost up amongst, you. And private transportation can be cheaper than doing public transportation there are also coaches that can take, you long distances.
And trains Europe has a fantastic train system they’ve got all types of passes for EU citizens. And non-eu citizens rail passes that can take, you all around Europe highly recommend travelling by train, it’s a great cheap way to travel around Europe. And other parts of the world this type of transportation, you take also heavily depends on your safety.
And comfort levels like many times sometimes it is just not safe to take public transit at night in various parts of the world. So your only option is to take the more expensive private taxi again safety first safety should always come first before budget when it comes to transportation through an heirloom shopping obviously. I can’t tell, you how much, you should spend or can spend on souvenirs.
And gifts. And train kids that’s up to, you some people like shopping like some people live to shop when they go travel if that’s, you that is, you budget for it that’s that’s all, you got to just make sure, you budget for spending money on shopping of course they’ll be aware of your luggage restrictions. I’ve paid a lot more to ship things.
And to fifth things into my luggage because. I had to buy extra luggage bags to take all my souvenirs. And stuff that.
I bought, but they’re not costing way more than, it’s worth. And we were hassle. And, it’s worth all.
I’m getting at here is just just know what, you were buying if you are shopping. And most markets around the world, you can barter for the items, you can negotiate of course the amount. And how to do that will take time.
And skill. And practice, but, you can do it bank fees. And credit cards taking your money out.
And using your money can cost, you a lot of money in foreign countries. So make sure, you check with your bank to see how much, it’s going to cost, you to withdraw money from foreign etienne how much your credit card is going to charge, you in fees these are things, you know because. I said unweighted a lot of money on bank fees that’s literally just wasted money call up your bank see what, you can do if you’re going to be traveling for a long period of time also avoid currency exchanges currency exchanges are never a good deal there are for-profit company organizations.
So, you are going to lose money if you exchange your cash a currency exchange the best ways to, you like to access your cash in foreign countries are withdrawals from the ATM in that country. So, you get the local currency right from the ATM at the bank rate which is the best rate you’re going to probably get in that country or to exchange the money before, you go before, you head out on your travels pre trip cost visas travel health insurance immunizations vaccinations power adapters luggage cases a new backpack walking shoes that new summer dress this can easily add up to a couple hundred dollars extra your budget that, you need to account for home away cost just because you’re gone traveling doesn’t mean your life. And expenses back home stop this applies more to long-term travelers, but try.
And figure ways to reduce the cost of your expenses back home for the duration of your trip when, you are abroad unforeseen cost now. I can’t tell, you what these costs will be because they are unforeseen costs there are unknown costs, but there will always be some. So make sure, you have a not quite emergency money.
And emergency money is set aside for when stuff happens when you’re on the road return money, this is one of my beginner rookie travel mistakes that. I always forget to budget for returning home. And having money to start up again like paying for things such as groceries eating your rent when, you come back home from your trip when it comes down to it experience is key when it comes to budgets.
And the more that, you travel the better you’re going to become at budgeting your travels because like anything traveling on a budget takes time. And it takes practice. So there we have it good luck on booking all of your travel resources.
I hope that’s giving, you some good budget ideas. And how, you can save money when you’re on the road. And also if you are looking for where to book all this stuff.
I’ve created an awesome travel resource page that lists all of my favourite sites that. I use on a daily basis to book all my various types of travel. I’m talking about flights accommodation.
And activities transportation everything, it’s gold go check it out links there links down below there. And how fun on booking a hole with your trips I’m. So excited for, you guys and I hope you’ve enjoyed this budget series of, you can afford to travel because. I really do believe that, you guys can’t afford to travel. So please do go travel also please give this post a thumbs up if you enjoyed it leave me a comment down below.
And comment to my youtube blog if you aren’t already for more tips. And advice. And travel adventures okay see, you guys again in a few days time with another post bye.
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