Travel

Funding Your Travel Obsession

If you’re as much of a travel junkie as I am then you know that traveling twice a year, or several times a year, can get quite expensive. Some trips may not require much in terms of money but others will require much more funding.

Money is one of the most common “excuses” or things that hinder a lot of people from traveling. The struggle is real and not a lot of people travel because of it.

For me growing up, money was the one thing that prevented our family from traveling often. My parents, raising two kids in New York City, couldn’t afford to take many trips where the travel expenses were too much for them financially.

However, as I grew up and obtained jobs, I slowly learned how to manage and save money for future travel excursions.

Set Aside Money

Setting aside a portion of your income, whether that’s 5% or 20%, is a great way to slowly save up money to put towards your next travel trip!

How much you’re willing or able to put aside will depend on your individual income and financial situation. Not only that, but where you plan on traveling and all the key components that go into traveling such as lodging, activities, etc., will come into play when you’re deciding how much money to set aside.

I’d recommend 5-10% of your weekly or bi-weekly income as a good starting place. But if you’re able to contribute more than 10%, or have to contribute only 2% of your income, that is ok. How much you contribute will either speed up or delay how fast you’ll be able to take your trip. This doesn’t mean it’ll never happen, you’ll just have to be patient and believe me I’ve been there done that!

Get A Second Job

Having a second job is grueling and I’ve had my fair share of working two jobs at once. However, that extra money coming in gave me constant reminders to why I got a second job in the first place

Having a second job with that extra income can help you so much with contributing money towards you travel goals! Whether you want to take on another job is up to you. But getting a second job with flexible hours or schedule, weekend shifts, holiday work, or seasonal work would help you to amass more money for your travels.

Work Overtime

If your current job offers you some overtime, consider taking it! Depending on the job you have, you may be able to get paid in extra time or paid in money. But if you have extra energy to work extra hours it is definitely an option to help bring in extra income to fund your travels.

Selling Items

If taking on extra shifts or jobs isn’t right for you, then consider selling some items you don’t want or need anymore. If the items you own have any monetary value then you can sell them to get extra cash.

You can sell items in person, through Amazon or eBay, or other seller apps like Mercari. Run a small business on the side? You can promote and sell your products to make extra money.

Limit Excess Spending

This is such a hard thing to do and I personally struggle with this on a daily basis. Temptation is real! But in the long run, it would be better financially speaking to limit or completely stop excessive spending.

If you have better self control then me, limiting your excess spending will put more money in your pocket. Instead of spending that extra money on items you want to buy just because you want to, you can take that money and put it in a savings or a piggy bank (no shame, I still use one myself).

If you really want that $100 pair of shoes, but realize you don’t necessarily NEED it, then take that money and set it aside towards your travel funds. You’d be surprised how quickly that money adds up!

Cut Expenses

This is something that is going to vary by person and circumstance. But if you have multiple expenses that you don’t really use or need anymore, maybe like cable since most of everything can be streamed for free online or through services like Netflix/Hulu, you can save a lot of money!