How to Trick Yourself Into Saving Travel Money
Can’t Save, Can’t travel? Think Again.
Are you missing out on all your dream destinations because “travel is just way too expensive”?
Fair enough, luxury 5 star hotels in Monaco may be realistically way out of your reach, (and very much out of mine) but, travel doesn’t have to cost a bomb for you to have the time of your life, and all it takes is a little self-discipline, a few little changes to how and what you spend, and the dedication to reach your ‘travel fund’ goal!
So, here are my top 10 tips on tricking yourself into saving a little (or a lot) extra, and avoiding the huge bank loans…
First of all, open another bank account that’s strictly for your travel expenses. One that you can’t access easily, one that you can’t get to with an ATM card, one that you can’t dip into while doing your online banking. Think Post Office, or Credit Union.
Next set up a standing order from your regular bank account. Whatever you think you can afford, whether it’s €10 a week or €20 a week to start, aim to change that up to €40 or €50 a week when you’ve made some changes to your spending routine. Before you know it you’ll have a nice big balance to go towards your trip of a lifetime. Just think, if you had a standing order of €20 a week, only 10 months later that has turned into €800 saved! €50 a week, and in 10 months you have €2,000.
Get a money box. You know the ones that you have to open with a can opener so you’re not tempted to dip in. Simply throw in your pocket change or any coins you have in your purse at the end of the day, and you’ll be surprised how much you actually save. I did this a couple of years ago when I was saving to go to the USA, and to my surprise, when I opened the tin after about 6 months of throwing in coins, I had €300!
Get a Revolut Card. If you haven’t already heard about Revolut, basically it’s a prepaid debit card that you can use as contactless, ATM withdrawals, and online payments that you can control from the app on your smartphone to top up your card, view your transactions, control your spending, and use abroad in over 150 currencies without any hidden fees or exchange rates. Perfect for people who travel regularly. My favourite feature from Revolut, is that you can save while you spend with a Vault. You open a vault with your saving goal in mind, let’s say ‘travel money vault’ and you can set it so that every time you use your card, the amount is rounded up and the spare change is added to the vault, you can also make recurring monthly payments or make one time payments, so before you know it, and if you use your Revolut as your primary card, you have a couple of hundred saved without even realising. Added bonus, you can save in a foreign currency of your choice, so when it comes to actually going abroad you have the bulk of your spending money already in the relevant currency. Genius!
One4all Gift Cards. Now this one might work for you if you like to book your trips through a Travel Agency, as long as your travel agent accepts the cards, and most do. You know those Christmas savings clubs where you pay a small amount every week and then receive the items you chose a few weeks before Christmas? I know it might seem off putting to plan what you want for Christmas a full year in advance, but, ‘Christmas2u’ also sell €100 One4all cards. So for only a small cost of €2.34 a week, in 42 weeks you’ve bought yourself a €100 gift card! Throughout 2020 I paid for 2 of these cards, and for a few euro each week that I didn’t even miss, now I have €200 to go towards the deposit for my next trip! Ask around among your friends to see if there are any Christmas2u reps in your local area. Merry Christmas to you!!
Unexpected cash. We all love to receive birthday and Christmas presents, so maybe for your next special occasion, you can throw subtle hints to friends and family that you would like something towards your next trip. Cash (that you would promptly lodge into your travel money account), Airline vouchers, travel agent vouchers, One4all cards, or even foreign currency. I know I’d be delighted to receive a $50 bill in a birthday card… hint hint!
Claim your tax back. Who would think that over paying tax could be a great way of saving money! And you won’t get it unless you ask for it. If you haven’t claimed before, you can claim tax that you have overpaid for the last 4 years. You can do this easily through revenue.ie (Ireland), it’s just a short form to fill out, and within a couple of weeks you may be receiving a nice surprise cheque in the post. Also you can claim tax back from your medical and dental expenses, so it’s a good idea to hold on to all those receipts and send them in at the end of the year. It’s always fun to receive that cheque in the post, who knows, it could be €50 or it could be €500 or it could be nothing at all, but you won’t know until you make that claim.
Little sacrifices. This may be difficult for most ladies but think about it, do you really need a full head of highlights, mink lashes, and those nails? Would you sacrifice all those little luxuries for a chance to spend a month living the life and exploring Bali, or two weeks in the Bahamas? If you’re a regular visitor to the Beauty salon or hairdressers, just add up what you would spend on all those treatments over a year, you may indeed get a shock! Now, there’s an extra, let’s say €50 a month to add onto your standing order!
Costa Coffee or Costa Rica? How much do you spend on take away coffees, or lunches in a week? Try taking a packed lunch to work, and look forward to your delicious home brewed coffee after a hard day’s work. Just think, if you have your lunchbreak out 5 days a week spending roughly €4 on a fancy coffee, and a fiver on a sandwich, in a year you’ve spent over €2,000 just on lunches! Pack a ham sandwich and opt for the instant coffee, and add another €30/€40 a week to that standing order.
Think about what you really need, and spend wisely. I never preach to people, and I would never tell anyone to give up their gym membership, give up Netflix, or stop going out at the weekend because we all need an outlet and it’s essential to our mental health and wellbeing to have something to keep our minds and bodies occupied, and have something to look forward to. My only advice here is to weigh up what you really need, and what you don’t need. What I mean is, if you’re only getting one or two sessions from your gym membership every month, and you don’t actually enjoy going there, then you stop giving the gym your hard earned money. If you would enjoy a night at home with a bottle of wine and a take away with a friend rather than going out clubbing and spending €100 on endless rounds of shots because it’s become a weekly routine, then stay home. Sit down and think about where your money is going, and assess whether or not it’s worth it for your happiness and wellbeing. Win, win. You’re looking after yourself and saving money too. In the end, it might mean the difference between a weekend eating Italian pizza, or a weekend in Italy eating pizza! Speaking of food, my top tip number 10.5 for saving money is – never go grocery shopping when you’re hungry! (guilty)