I want to see the world, but I don’t want to be broke or come home with a big bill to pay off. You can find ways to travel or travel more often, if you do some planning and budgeting. I like to think 1-2 trips ahead and start working toward them. Planning ahead gives me a chance to do the research and calculate the travel costs for a trip budget. It also gives me time to find the best deals on items like airfare, hotels and car rentals.
One of the best things you can do to save money for travel, is have a separate dedicated travel account. There are two main things having an independent travel account does.
- It keeps your travel money separate and ensures that you maintain your budget. Your regular money gets used to pay monthly bills and travel money doesn’t get absorbed for other things unless it’s absolutely necessary.
- A travel account also allows you to see exactly how much money you have saved toward travel at any given time. This is helpful for setting a trip budget or knowing if you are ready to book your next adventure.
10 Places You Can Find Money for your Travel Account
- Bonus Checks, Refunds or Rebate Checks
- Cash gifts for birthdays, Christmas, etc.
- Deposit any overtime pay or tips
- Work extra shifts
- Take on some seasonal work (snow removal, tax prep, holiday sales)
- Money left after paying all your monthly expenses or from having an extra pay date in a month (a few times a year you get an extra pay week in a month)
- A specific amount or percentage that you have decided to deposit from each of your regular pay checks
- A part time job (my very part time job direct deposits my pay right into my travel account so I never even touch it)
- Change you have saved in a piggy bank or jar
- Money from selling items you don’t need
These are just a few ideas of places to save travel money from. Be Creative. You don’t have to have a separate account, you can use any system that works for you. But I feel having a separate account creates accountability for keeping all the right funds in the right places while encouraging regular deposits. It also makes it easy to see at a glance where you stand financially for any trips that you are planning. I have been using a separate travel account for several years and it works very well for me.
How do you save for travel?
Dream, Plan, SAVE, Adventure!
The World According to Dev 