How my husband and I afford to travel and how you can too!

One of the biggest questions that Ron and I receive, is how in the world we afford to travel the world? What we have been telling people since we first started traveling is that we are very good at budgeting and saving. For most people, that answer is just not good enough. So I am going to take some time and break it down point by point how we save enough money to travel the world.

First point that I will briefly touch on, is that traveling is NOT as expensive as everyone thinks. For example, I was able to find our flights to Bali, Indonesia for $300 each!! This is a combination of being flexible and just me being an amazing flight-finding genie. Next, once we arrive in Bali, our first hostel that we are staying at is around $7.00 a night; most people spend more money on their morning cup of Starbucks coffee. It is possible to travel very cheaply if you just put the time in to find the deals and do your research! For those of you that are interested in saving money for travel or just saving in general, the following is a list point by point of how my husband and I came up with our money to travel.

1. Coffee

A few years ago we bought a cheap coffee pot for the house to save us from spending an astronomical amount of money on coffee every morning. Seriously, I know how many people are addicted to their morning caffeine fix, but take a minute to think about how much money you spend in a week on your morning coffee, a month, a year? It’s pretty crazy once you add it all up and think about it. You may not be able to recreate your perfect triple venti half sweet, non-fat caramel macchiato at home but your bank account will thank you, I promise.

2. Lunch

I pack both my and my husband’s lunches for work. For my husband, I usually pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, bag of chips, blueberries and carrots. For myself, I usually mix it up with different sandwiches and veggies and fruit. Although my taste buds would absolutely LOVE getting Panera Bread everyday for lunch, my hunger for travel is much bigger than my hunger for expensive lunchtime food.

3. Dinner

I cook the majority of our dinner meals at home rather than spending money going out. We still go out to restaurants every once in a while but it is usually for a nice date night. We also don’t do get take out food or delivery very often. Okay, Okay, TOTAL honesty? We probably get pizza about once a week just because there is usually one day in the week when you come home from work and you are so completely exhausted that you can’t even contemplate trying to cook a meal; that’s when we turn to pizza. We usually get pizza from the little corner store right by us, which conveniently has amazing pizza that is also pretty cheap! In order to pinch pennies though on our pizza splurge, we always go and get the pizza and never waste money on the delivery fee.

4. TV and Internet

Yes, we pay for Internet but I’m pretty sure we have the slowest running Internet available. We don’t have cable, Satellite TV, Direct TV, or anything else. The only thing in the TV/entertainment realm we really pay for is Netflix.

5. Home Repairs

We do almost all our house repairs ourselves. Many homeowners spend thousands and thousands on paying someone to come to their house and do home repairs. Instead, Ron and I (mostly Ron) have been able to do all of our home repairs ourselves. For the homeowners out there, before you spend an excessive amount of money to pay someone else to fix your house, look up some YouTube videos and do some research. More than likely you will be able to fix the problem yourself. Worse case scenario if you can’t do it yourself, you can always look to friends that may know a special skill. Have a friend help you with your plumbing and you help them with their roof; you get the idea!

6. Clothes/Every Day Expenses

As much as I love to shop, and as much as I love my summer dresses, I usually don’t pay for something unless I can find it for around $10 or less. Most people spend a crazy amount of money on brand name or expensive clothes. Simply not going shopping unless you need something specific and keeping to a budget saves a ton of money over a year’s time.

As far as spending money on hair care products, make-up, lotions etc.; that bill for me is pretty much non-existent. I use coconut oil for moisturizer and lotion, which has a total cost of maybe $6 for something that will last me close to a year. I have a $3 tube of mascara, a chap stick, and one small container of foundation powder that I bough for around $8 and will last me at least 2-3 months. For the rest of the hygiene products like shampoo or toothpaste, my husband and I usually always buy on sale deals or use coupons. Other people I know may spend up to or over $100 a month on make-up and personal care items. If you can eliminate or cut back on these products you will be amazed at the savings. Now I know some people would have an anxiety attack over the thought of not being able to have their makeup or top of the line care products, but everyone has different priorities in life. For me, giving up fancy brand name products and make-up, is well worth the money saved that will be going into my travel account.

7. Easy Money Savers

If you are at all interested in saving money on your everyday purchases, then listen up! I have made close to $1000 now just on different iPhone apps, grocery shopping apps, and a reward and loyalty program. For some grocery shopping apps, the savings may seem small at first, but after a year of using these apps, I have managed to get back over $200 dollars either in cash or gift cards. The grocery shopping apps include; Coinout, Checkout 51, Ibotta, Receipt Hog, Saving Star, and Fetch Rewards. If you haven’t looked into any of these yet you really should!

Next, if you have a fit bit or a step counter, you could be making money off of your steps!! Seriously, it doesn’t get any easier than just walking to be able to make money! About two years ago, I downloaded the Step Bet app. This is an app where you bet money to make your daily step goals that the app will set for you based on your current daily steps, and if you succeed, then you make your bet back plus more money! Each bet is usually 6 weeks long and I have made anywhere from $7 per bet to $15 per bet. Again this doesn’t seem like much at first but after doing bets religiously for the past almost two years now I have made a little over $150; easy money.

Lastly, I use Swag Bucks, which is a reward and loyalty program. Long story short, Swag Bucks rewards you for trying new products, such as razors, food programs, delivery services, etc. The website also has the option for you to complete surveys and explore other products that you can profit from. Since being introduced to this site a few months ago I have already made about $600 from just taking my time and exploring different products. Again, a super easy way to make some money!

8. Taxes

Every year for the past 4 years, my husband and I have put our tax refunds directly into our travel savings account. If you are lucky enough to get a tax refund, don’t even think about it, just deposit all of it into your travel or savings account, period.

9. Credit Cards

I am always using my credit card for every purchase that I make so that I can add up my cash back points little by little. If you use your credit card the right way you can make a decent amount of money over time. First, look into getting a good cash-back or points credit card that gives you perks and a good signing bonus. Next, use your credit card for absolutely every purchase that you make. Most importantly, always pay off your credit card every month so that you don’t acquire any interest. We rarely make a purchase that we cannot pay off right away!

10. Multiple Jobs and Working Your Butt Off

For the past 2 ½ years I have maintained my main job working as an Activity Coordinator for a senior living facility. Although I work full-time, I can always find more time for side jobs to bring in extra money!

First, during the holiday season last year I helped out at my old job, Fieldstone Winery. I love serving wine, so it gave me a chance to have some fun and make some more money. If you have any connections like this, or have worked as server before, you can always ask old employers if they ever need any extra help around the busy seasons. If you were a good worker, most employers would be more than willing to take you up on your offer if they need help.

Second, I was an International Coordinator for a company called Aspect Foundation. Aspect Foundation is a company that finds host families for international exchange students that come over to the US to attend school for a year. Starting off, I had a hard time making connections with schools to place students, but I was still able to work with one student every year and help out another coordinator, which also gave me the chance to make some more cash.

Third, I do Shipt shopping! If you have a good car and like grocery shopping, I highly recommend this! If you haven’t heard of Shipt, it is a grocery shopping service where you can accept a grocery shopping order, fill the order and then deliver the groceries to a customer’s home. Sometimes Shipt will offer promotions on weekends where you can make bonus money just by doing 5 or more shops during the day. I tend to either shop on weekends or do a shopping trip or two on my way home from work, and the money really adds up!

Fourth, from my husband’s perspective, he has a great job in heating and cooling. First, my husband works his butt off at his job. Second, he is so knowledgeable in the heating and cooling field that he usually ends up working side jobs for family and friends, which also brings in extra money. If you have a trade or a skill that is highly desirable or even if you are just an all around handy man, there are always people out there that need extra help and would be wiling to pay.

11. Travel/Savings Account

My husband and I have an account that is specifically for travel. Each time we get a paycheck we have a certain amount of money that comes out of our paychecks and automatically gets deposited into our travel account. This way you never even see the money in your everyday account and you don’t miss it. Not only does this help you budget for yourself or your family, but also with every paycheck, money is being put toward making your dreams come true!

 

Overall, saving made simple right? Not exactly, but if you are willing to make lifestyle changes, work hard, and be patient, your savings can really add up! If you have any questions or would like to talk to me more about saving please feel free to contact me or leave me a message! I am always happy to help others out who are trying to save to be able to do what they really want to in life!