Irrespective of what you do and how much you earn, it is human tendency to save money wherever possible. But is budgeted travel just about cutting short each of your expenses? No. Budgeted travel involves a lot of things and the first and basic lesson to learn is “Plan well ahead of your trip”.
PLANNING
The first and most important key to budgeted traveling is planning well ahead of time. And believe it or not, the season during which you travel matters a lot here. Do you love to travel during the summer? So does everyone and it is very less likely to find cheap flights or accommodation in summers If you are not a winter traveler, don’t be disappointed!! You might still be able to travel for cheap with flexibility. Choose a working day and take a few leaves to travel. A few days off work is definitely worth the money you save. Destination matters a lot too. There are millions of beautiful places on earth and not all of them are famous or very crowded. Traveling to a less popular or crowded place might prove to be much cheaper. And in fact, smaller towns might offer something much different than the cliche popular places.
SMART THINKING
If you find an early morning flight for $100 and a later flight for $120, which flight would you take? Obviously the $100 flight right? Wrong..Budgeted travel is not just about cutting short each expense on your trip. It is about keeping the entire trip’s budget low. It would make no sense to take an early morning flight and spend $50 for a morning taxi due to unavailability of public transport in the morning when you can save more by taking the later $120 flight and spend just $5 for public transport. Think about your trip as a whole and make a day to day itinerary with an expense estimate for each day. Calculate the total at the end and make sure it is well within your budget. Always make sure you have some money set aside for some last minute unexpected twists during your trip.
ACCOMMODATION
Let’s get this straight. You can’t always feel at home when you travel. So why not compromise a little bit more and look for cheaper accommodation as opposed to the fancy and cozy hotels? Here are some alternate options:
Airbnb
This is the most popular alternative that has sprung during the recent times which adds a touch of homely stay to your trip. This could prove to be cheaper if you are usually traveling for more number of days as many hosts usually give out discounts for longer stays.
Hostels
Hostels are the best alternatives for travelers with a very tight budget. Plus, on the bright side, you get to interact with other travelers and learn their stories. Hostel World is the best place to look for hostels. Note that there are hostels that offer private rooms as well and not just dormitories if you are looking for a peaceful stay.
Couch Surfing
Do you know that you could stay for free when you travel? This a new trend that has come up recently that lets travelers stay for free at certain places where hosts are ready to offer free accommodation. It all sounds insane but trust me, you might actually find great friends when you do this. You can check out couch surfing websites here – Couch Surfing
CHEAP FLIGHTS
This plays a crucial role in keeping your trip’s budget low. Finding a cheap flight is not an easy task but a few tips that we have given out below might be helpful for your next trip.
Which website to use
Many people prefer some specific websites to find cheap flights. We personally feel that Google Flights is one of the best tools to find cheap flights and compare flight prices for different dates when you know where you want to go to. Enter destination A and destination B and open up the calendar. That would give you the prices for different dates. As alternatives, we also suggest using Skyscanner, Momondo, CheapOAir and Kiwi. Hopper is an other option that predicts when the flight prices would go low and gives you an idea of the best time to book a flight. Always make sure you compare flight prices on different websites before you go ahead with your booking. As we pointed above, always try to travel on odd days. Your trip budget would automatically go low.
Use an incognito window always
Do you know that cookies in your browser can affect your flight prices? No kidding. Repeated searches from Destination A to B can cause the prices for flights between these destinations to go up. Always try to search for flights in an incognito window.
Use travel credit cards
The biggest mistake that many people make is to use debit cards or non travel credit cards for booking. Do you know that the points that you earn on travel credit cards can actually help you with your next trip? We booked almost 15 night’s accommodation using the points that we earned on Chase Sapphire Preferred. For beginners, Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the best travel credit cards that you can get. Plus, did you know that you get 60,000 bonus points when you spend 4000$ in the first three months? If you are a travel couple, you are in luck. Take turns to apply for the credit card and get 120,000 points just like that!! That’s almost worth $1500 guys.
If you travel frequently with a specific budget airline company, you would benefit from applying from applying for the credit cards that the airline company has to offer. Although, this is not a very ideal option as you might not always find the best prices for that flight every time.
Find the cheapest place to fly to
If you don’t have a specific destination in mind, always find the cheapest place to. Google Flights and Kiwi are great tools to use here. It gives you the costs to fly to a place for different dates. You can also enter countries or continents as the destination to get a list of places and flight prices.
Choose your airport
It might be cheaper to fly to a smaller airport away from the city rather than a crowded one. But, make sure it’s worth doing this. This is where SMART THINKING comes into the picture.
Book in advance
If you know where you are going to, book in advance. Don’t wait for the flight prices to go down. This is particularly useful when you know your exact travel dates. You can use websites like Hopper to get an estimate on the flight prices.
CHEAP EATS
Trying out local cuisines is the fun part of traveling isn’t it? What if you you don’t need a wallet full of cash but can still tickle your taste buds. A few tips below might help.
Find Deals
Yelp, Groupon and LivingSocial are all great websites where you can find some really good food deals. Always keep a an eye on some food coupons that some hotels and airports have to offer . If you are still out of luck, try to grab a local old newspaper and search for coupons. It’s definitely worth the time.
Know what you want to eat
Food planning can help you save a few pennies. You might want to try out the local cuisine in an area and you might find a thousand restaurants to choose from. But, three things to keep in mind here – Price, Distance and Ratings. Pick a restaurant considering these three factors and make sure you have a restaurant picked for breakfast, lunch and dinner on every day of your trip. Pre-planning is very important. You might not want to waste your precious time during your trip searching for a good restaurant.
Do what the locals do
Locals can be the best advisors when it comes to local restaurants. Check with a local on where you can find cheap and tasty food. They might give better suggestions than Google or Yelp.
Stop at a grocery store
Not everyone would want to buy something at the grocery store. But, grocery stores are the best places to pick up coffee, sandwiches, pastries etc. Even a single meal a day at the grocery store means more money kept aside for the other two meals. You might also find some local authentic treats at local grocery stores.
Street food
Street food is usually the best, cheap and most authentic food. However, be extremely cautious and picky when it comes to street food. The last thing that you’d want during your trip is to fall sick. Make sure you carry enough medicines when you travel.
USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Believe it or not – people spend more money on taxis than for the flight. If you are traveling alone or as a couple, avoid taking taxis, unless you have no other option. On the downside, being a tourist, private taxi hires can cost more than what you’d expect. So, say NO to taxis during your trip. Public transport is the best means of transport and most places charge reasonable fares. However, if you are a group of three or more, it might cost you almost the same to travel by taxi. So, weigh out the travel options you have and take an appropriate decision. Also note that the best way to explore a place is on foot.
AVOID UNNECESSARY EXPENSES
Most people don’t notice how much they have spent on a day until they have added up all their expenses. Always travel with a motto “I will buy only what I need”. Here are some things that you can avoid:
– Don’t pay for breakfast at the hotel. You can find cheaper prices at a better restaurant outside or you can pick up something from the grocery store.
– Don’t pay for all the attractions just for the heck of it. There is a common misconception among travelers that covering more places makes a trip more satisfying. This is not true. Pick only the places that you think are worth visiting and pay only for the attractions that you are really interested in.
– Buy only the souvenirs you need. You will find a lot of fancy souvenir stores that would grab your attention. Trust me, don’t get carried away. Set apart a budget for souvenirs when you travel. Also, buying something from the streets might cost you lesser than buying something from a big store.
– Avoid over tipping. In fact, some countries are completely against tipping.
AVOID EXCHANGING MONEY AT THE AIRPORT
Never ever exchange money at the airport. The exchange rates are horrible. Try to get money from a post office or order money online from websites like Travelex. If you don’t have time to do so, you will always find some good exchange offices outside the airport.
FINAL NOTES
The key to every budget trip is planning ahead of time. Nothing can save you more money that a well planned itinerary. With these few tricks to travel cheap, you can reduce costs and adapt the trip to your budget. Be stingy while traveling – It’s fun and worth the money you save for your next trip!!! Stay tuned for more budget travel tips!!
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