I got asked a lot of times how I am able to travel. How do I afford to go overseas when I don’t make much? Some of my close friends would even joke I have a secret sugar daddy who is sponsoring my trips which I just laugh about since it is NOT true.

Traveling is deemed as privilege and luxury especially to where I am from. That’s a sure thing if you are hustling an 8-5 job and you are not paid well, you have bills or loans to pay or a family to support. Traveling would be your least priority.

I am lucky enough since I am making decently more from standard living cost. I don’t pay rent and I don’t have much responsibility so I am able to save up and build a stable travel fund. It also takes a lot of cutting back and sacrifices but it’s a matter of priority and consistency. I am sharing to you the following ways I learned from my personal experience in order to save up for my travels and might work for you too.

HAVE A SEPARATE BANK ACCOUNT FOR YOUR TRAVEL FUND

As an adult who works hard to make ends meet at the same time preparing for the future, it is practical to have multiple bank accounts for your investments, long term or short term goals, emergency fund and also your travel fund. Treat it like money dedicated just for traveling. In that way you won’t feel guilty when you are traveling since you are being responsible and smart in your finances. You won’t be broke too after every travel since you know you have your other accounts filled. If you have a bank account only for traveling, you don’t have to re-adjust your budget, pull out money from your savings or worse borrow from someone.

• I would suggest you use a passbook over an ATM so it won’t be accessible whenever you are tempted to withdraw it and use it in unnecessary things.
• I’m not sure if there’s a psychology behind it but whenever I see the numbers in the passbook, it makes me happy and motivates me to increase it.

ALLOT A SPECIFIC PERCENTAGE OF YOUR PAYCHECK ON YOUR TRAVEL FUND

I was asked a million times before how to save up for traveling and I always tell them that it is like a tithes in the church, or monthly insurance that you deduct on your paycheck. You set a percentage and you have to be consistent in depositing it in your travel fund. There are many ways on how to divide or allot your paycheck on the internet. There’s a 20-30-50 rule, a 10-20-20-50 rule and a lot more. There are tons of financial advice that you can read or watch on the web depending on the goal you are achieving and the lifestyle you are living. You just have to live below your means to make ends meet and be religious on putting that money on your travel fund.

DO SOME SIDE HUSTLE OR HAVE AN EXTRA INCOME

In today’s world where inflation is fast and high, you hustle a lot but it seems you still don’t have money then consider making money on the side. . Anything that can be turn into extra cash, whether a hobby or a passion you have been working on or simply selling your pre-loved items is extremely encouraged to build or increase that travel fund. In my case, I teach online in the evenings or weekends when I’m free. I also do sponsored product reviews and freelance writing gigs. Even though I don’t make much on these side jobs but it can pays my get together with my friends, daily expenses for a week or increases my travel fund especially if my travel is fast approaching.

KEEP TRACK OF YOUR EXPENSES

The number one advice I would give whenever people ask me how to start saving up. Whenever you keep track of your finances you will realize how much you are spending on unnecessary things. Then you will realize what if I just put that on my bank account or use it for my travels. There are many money tracking app you can download. I personally use “money manager” because I can set my budget on each month. It has calendar where it shows how much I spent that day, week or month. It also has statistics categorized how much you are spending on households, social life, apparel, beauty, health etc. You can also input your savings so you can monitor how much money you are making, saving and spending. With this simple tip you can jumpstart your adulting 101, improve your budgeting skills and also increase your travel fund.

CUT BACK ON UNNECESSARY EXPENSES

Along with tracking your expenses, it will also make you cut back on things not part of your necessities. A lot of my friends told me it’s difficult to save. I always answer, yes! It is difficult to save when you always get your coffee every morning to collect your stickers to get a free planner. It is definitely difficult to save when you go shopping every paycheck. It is totally difficult to save when you eat out three to four times a week.  And it’s more difficult to save when you are always queuing in the cinema just to keep up with the latest movies.

Disclaimer: I am not shaming those people who do these. You have all the right to spend your hard earned money to whatever you like but if you are saving up you might want to do some sacrifice by cutting them back or having these in moderation. Before buying or doing something, weigh it first if it’s a need or want and you will be surprise how much money you can save.

MINIMIZE EATING OUT OR TAKEAWAYS

Surely, there are pros and cons of eating out especially for those who don’t cook like me. It is delicious, convenient and time saving. But think about how much money you kiss goodbye in one sitting on your favorite restaurant compare to making it at home. One of the tip I learned when I was saving up to finance my travels is to make my favorite food in small batches at home. That way, when I crave for it, it is ready to be made or reheat. I realized the three meals I make is equivalent to one meal I pay in the restaurant. Sure thing, we can’t get away with eating out especially with get together but if you can make it two to three times a month and just put those bucks on your savings since you will be eating out when you travel anyway.

P.S: I’m a huge snack person so, I buy my bulk of snacks in grocery store good for a week plus I make my own drinks. That way, I don’t spend a lot on grabbing these food in cafe or cafeteria.

DON’T BE A SLAVE TO CONSUMERISM

Yes gurl!! Been there, done that. Youtube, instagram and my favorite celebrity made me buy stuff. My friends have these cool things so I should also have them and so much more reasons to buy stuff that aren’t really working or needed in our life. The power of digital marketing and influencers these days makes us have this “buy buy buy” notion as if we “need need need” them not thinking it’s just a “want want want” instead of just “save save save” to make travel happen.

HAVING AN UPGRADE IN INCOME DOESN’T MEAN AN UPGRADE OF EXPENSES

The title says it all. It happens especially to single young adults and professionals who got a promotion or salary increase. We tend to think since we have more money so we can now upgrade our phone, our car, our wardrobe etc. We miss the point that as long as our stuff is still running or hanging in there and we are still surviving with the lifestyle that we have, we don’t need to upgrade. We don’t need to change our old stuff and old lifestyle just because we have more money. Our extra money, we can use it for investment, savings or add it to our travel fund.

HAVE A TRAVEL JAR

I would credit this tip to Laureen Uy. I learned it when I was watching her youtube video about saving money for traveling. She mentioned that at the end of the day, whenever she has loose change she always put it in her travel jar so that whenever she travels, she use those coins for food and drinks. I do that too. I set a daily budget and when I have something left for that day I put on a jar in my room and I use that money for food or additional budget for souvenir shopping when I travel. You wouldn’t realize how far those coins can get you. It might even fund your transportation allowance for your next travel.

So these, my friends are the things I learned and I am practicing for five years of traveling and having a wanderlust lifestyle. I hope it helps you and motivates you to start saving up for your travels.