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Travel is something that is really important to me. I’d rather spend money on traveling than on more material possessions. That doesn’t mean I don’t buy anything ever, but it does mean I try to be smart with my choices. I won’t buy everything I see. But cutting down on spending isn’t always as obvious as not buying that expensive pair of shoes, or that overpriced face cream. It can be the every day small purchases that add up without you even knowing about it. But fear not, I’m here to help. Here are some of my top money saving tips to make sure you don’t miss out on travel.
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Make lunch at home
That “reasonably priced” $8 meal at the cafe near your work adds up when you do it every day. Instead, how about making you lunch before you leave for work. Make a sandwich, or a salad. Better still, make more food than you need for dinner so you have leftovers. I try to make foods that will travel well for lunch the next day – pasta, curry, soup etc. Even if you spend only $5 a day on buying lunch near your office that’s $100 a month ($1200 a year). That’s a vacation right there.
Skip that morning coffee
Much like the lunch thing, how about making your coffee before you leave the house in the morning. Grabbing your Starbucks on the go is convenient, but the $4 (or more) coffees add up. Maybe you can just treat yourself on Fridays instead of every day. My work has Nespresso machines so we can have coffee for free at work, and I know a lot of other companies have similar things, or at least fresh coffee for employees. Or switch to tea. A box of tea is way cheaper and all you need is hot water!
Have a vacation money box
This might be the best of the money savings tips my boyfriend has ever come up with. We were struggling to save for vacation so he suggested we set up a vacation money box. Not such a unique idea so far I know. But we live in downtown Vancouver and found we were going out quite a lot for dinner because it was easy. Now, every time we make dinner at home instead of going out we put $10 in our vacation money box. That’s a fraction of what we save by not eating out. Last year we went to Thailand and we had enough money for some of our hotels and most of our spending money just by saving this way for about 8 months.
Roll those coins
This might be one of the easiest money saving tips there is. I mean, loose change is heavy and awkward to carry around. Who am I right? The Queen? But an easy way for me to save is to empty my pockets and purse of change every few days and put it in a money box at home. You wouldn’t believe how fast I was able to save. Every few months I will roll the coins and deposit them into the bank. Even if you only get $100, it’s $100 you didn’t even really have to try and save for. But typically I end up with more than that. Give it a go!
Nights in are the new nights out
“Want to go out for dinner?”; “How about I meet you after work for a quick drink?”. Sound familiar? Instead of always going out to meet friends, how about inviting them over instead? Have a movie night or make dinner together. You’ll all save some money and still get to socialize. Find a movie you haven’t seen on Netflix instead of paying $15 each for the cinema. Or find another fun activity. Recently my friends and I bought cheap paint supplies and had a paint night watching Bob Ross videos on Youtube. How can you go out and still save? Here are some of my top free things to do in Vancouver that mean you can still go out.
Smarter grocery choices
I’m not saying don’t eat. But I am saying shop wisely. Shop around instead of going to the same store for everything. Buy things when they’re on special instead of only when you need them. If I see my favorite makeup on sale, I’ll stock up. Don’t need laundry detergent yet but it’s half price? Buy it! Maybe look at the no-name brands or supermarket’s own brand instead of the big names. Often it’s the same food but at a fraction of the cost. And always take your own bag so you don’t have to pay for plastic bags which here in Canada cost 5 cents each (plus, you’re helping the environment).
Savings envelopes
I heard about this money saving tip recently and have decided to give it a try. The idea is that you get a bunch of envelopes and write a different number on each. That’s the amount of money you will put into the envelope. I started by writing out envelopes with dollar amounts of $1 to $50. Each week I select two envelopes and put that amount of money in.
On weeks where I might be running low on money I put in some lower amounts. And on weeks where I’ve got a bit more spare cash I put in some higher amounts. That’s better than saying you’ll put away $50 per week and then on a week you don’t have money you skip it. By doing this at the end of 6 months you’ll have $1275. That’s a nice sum for vacation time.
Cut the gym membership
If you’re like me, you sign up to the gym with the best intentions. But other than the first two weeks in January you start going less and less. To the point where you’re paying $50 a month for “being too tired”. I’m not saying don’t exercise. No, that’s very important. But I’m saying think about how you’re exercising. Instead of paying for the gym see if your work has one. Mine does, and although not as extensive as a full gym it has what I need. At work I also take the stairs sometimes (to the 10th floor). A great way to work out on your break. Go for a run, or a bike ride instead, and save that gym membership for your travels.
Entertainment cut backs
Do you have Netflix? Amazon Prime? Disney Plus and cable? That’s a whole lot of TV. How much do you use each one? Consider cutting back on one (or more) of your streaming sites. They all add up. And each year new ones are being brought out and everyone wants them. Gauge how much you use them, is it worth having them all? Or if you prefer the streaming sites like Netflix, consider reducing your cable subscription to the basic channels instead.
Travel money saving tips that work
And there you have it. Some ideas for helping you save. If you can adopt all of these here’s a sample breakdown of what you can save:
- Making lunch at home – save $5 a day
- Skipping your morning Starbucks – save $4 a day
- Saving when you don’t eat out – put away an extra $30 a week
- Rolling change – save $5 a week
- Staying in instead of going to the movies – save $30 a month
- Savings envelopes $1-50 over a year – save $25 a week
- Gym membership – save $50 a month
- Buying bulk groceries or lesser known brands – save at least $5 a week
- Cut down on one subscription service – save about $15 a month
Total money you can save over one year just by doing all of these things:
$6655 IN SAVINGS
If you’ve enjoyed this post leave a comment or share using the social media buttons below. What are your favorite money saving tips? Will you try any of these?
