Five ways to increase your travel fund
When I made the decision to go travelling, I knew that I had to cut out my highest expenses and find alternatives to save money. I thought it would useful to others to share the top five ways that I have increased my travel fund over the last few months.
- Find cheaper accommodation – If you are renting, chances are the rent is your largest expense each month so it makes sense to try and reduce it. Until March I had decided to rent property in London and was paying a hefty sum for the privilege. I was lucky in that my parents were kind enough to invite me to move back to Scotland and live with them for a few months to save money. Due to working on a freelance basis I can work from anywhere, so as soon as a new tenant was found to take over my lease I was able to move.
- Cancel your gym membership – When you consider what your workout routine consists of, it should be easy to find alternatives out with the gym. I was a member of Fitness First and visited it almost daily for a weights workout and a little cardio. After moving back to Scotland, I cancelled my membership and started going out cycling and more recently I’ve started doing a predominantly body weight work out at home in place of the weights routine. Yes, its more limited than the gym, but it does save a fair bit of money each month.
- Cancel your mobile phone contract – Despite having lots of included minutes, texts and a data allowance, I managed to exceed my limits every month without fail which always resulted in a large phone bill. I switched to a pay as you go package a few months ago and I am now a lot more aware of what the phone is costing me and I have found that I don’t use it anywhere near as much, I rarely need to top it up.
- Sell your belongings – After moving in with my parents, I found that I was no longer using my TV, consoles or home cinema equipment so rather than it sitting unused whilst I travel, I made the decision to sell it. I advertised my TV, consoles and home cinema equipment on Gumtree and within an hour, offers started to flood my inbox. Gumtree is similar to Craigslist in that it allows anyone to post classified adverts for free and puts the buyer and seller in direct contact. Within a few days everything was paid for and the buyers had collected their purchases. Through selling those items alone I have raised close to £1000. After selling the larger, more expensive items I decided that I should also try and sell my DVDs and CDs. I recently found Music Magpie which works by giving a quote for each CD, DVD or game you want to sell after identifying it by barcode. Once you have received quotes for everything you wish to sell, you confirm the sale and Music Magpie sends you a free post label to send in your unwanted items free of charge. If you are selling a lot of items, they arrange a courier to collect everything which is certainly a lot easier than carrying a hefty box down to the post office.
- Fewer nights out – Nights out at pubs or clubs are always expensive. When in London, I would inevitably end up in the pub a few times a week. Even without drinking alcohol it always ended up costing a bit by the time I’d had a few soft drinks or a pub meal. Living at my parents has helped in the sense that its a bit of a mission to get to and from Glasgow where the majority of my friends in Scotland live, so I have had very few nights out since I moved back.
Although all of the above have saved me a considerable amount of money, there have been a number of negative effects as a result. Moving back to my parents has meant that I’ve lost a lot of my independence, but its a small price to pay when I consider the fact that I will soon be travelling around the world on my own. Cancelling my gym membership has resulted in my fitness decreasing a bit because I tend to avoid going cycling when the weather is poor, which in Scotland is the majority of the time! Having fewer nights out has meant that I haven’t seen as much of my friends as I would have liked, but it has made me appreciate the few times that I have seen them that bit more. Overall, the good out weighs the bad.
What have you done to increase your travel fund?
Posibly related posts:
Hey Dan. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—I love when the topics of personal finance, frugality and travel intersect! They’re some of my favourite topics. One small tip to add to the list—cancel cable television and watch your programs over-the-air. My wife and I just did it. One added benefit—more time for blogging and traveling vicariously through other people’s blogs!
Very impressed with this article! I am also impressed you did it doing all legal things =)
ah i wish i could do some of those things!!
I find that cooking and learning how to make a meal with a variety of foods or what you’ve got around the house on a consistent basis is a big saver.
It’s amazing how much you could save by canceling the gym membership. You can get a lot of exercise simply by using your own home (running up and down stairs and so on). Of course, you’ll probably have to invest in an exercise mat and some weights, though even weights could be replaced by cans from your cupboard.
Anil beat me to it, but I agree on the cooking part. And recipes for cheap meals are all the rage now.
Here’s my tip: bring your lunch to work and stop going out to lunch with coworkers.
Also, I’m going to be gone for a year and my car is pretty old, so I’m selling it before I leave while I can still get some decent money for it. No sense in having it sit here for a year and depreciate in value.
great tips! when you live life simply, those things don't seem to mean so much anymore. AND, being able to travel is worth it!
[...] about going on an extended trip? Check out Dan’s Five Ways to Increase Your Travel Fund or BootsnAll Travel’s 28 Ways to Save Money for [...]
Great post on saving. I have cancelled gym membership, cancelled phone bill which felt great. Instead of not going out though i have cut back on going out partying but i've decided that when i do go out it is to a bar not a paid in nightclub and i cut out the alcohol from the night out. this saves me from 30-50 a night especially when going out in dublin city. Sometimes in irish culture this can label you as a social outcast but the people who think of you this way are not your real friends because the sacrifice of a few beers is always going to be worth it when you planning an extended trip abroad.
cool post
i am seriously thinking of canceling my gym membership for the same reason. i hardly use it, and i have other ways to get my workouts..
I totally agree with Anil and Akila. I'm 62 and have traveled a lot in my life. Eating out eats up your $! Here in the States we have CSA programs where one commits to weekly boxes of food that cost around $35 a week, often from organic farms. If you eat everything in the box you save a lot! (Esp. if you're a vegetarian.)
A friend I work with came to the conclusion that stopping at the ubiquitous Starbucks here in the US every day for a latte and scone added up to REAL MONEY by the end of the month! My Morocco trip converted me to the Italian Bialetti coffeemaker, so get up 10 min. earlier and make a great cup – take it with you when in a hurry.
I drive an '86 Volvo and my wife an '84. Her's is too old to even be considered for the Cash for Clunkers program! And it's the biggest clunker on the block! BUT the carbon footprint for it was laid down long ago. I probably spend $450 average a year to maintain each, so that plus gas saves thousands over a new car every couple of years.