Boost your travel fund by cutting out these 10 things

When you’re saving money for travel, it’s easy to get a little impatient as you watch the numbers slowly rising each month in your bank account. If you’re putting away a chunk of your wages every month then that’s great! But there are other ways that you can boost your travel fund, too.

I’ve talked previously about splitting your expenses into Necessities and Luxuries in my post entitled How to actually save money for travel (check it out if you haven’t already).

But, in this post, I’m going to give you a list of 10 things that you can cut out of your spending habits right now to help you save more money and really boost your travel fund.

10 things you can cut out today to boost your travel fund!

1: Coffee

Okay, don’t panic, I’m not actually telling you to stop drinking coffee!

But we live in a world where it’s so easy to get coffee made for you and served almost instantly, that a lot of people just don’t bother to make it for themselves anymore.

Buying coffee on the go is certainly convenient sometimes, but that £3+ that you’re spending daily is keeping you from reaching your travel budget goal.

I’m willing to bet that you have coffee in your cupboard at home, so rather than spending a little bit every day at Starbucks, why not make a one-time purchase of a basic travel mug and bring your hot drink with you?

If you’re buying a £3 coffee every day, 5 days a week, cutting this out will save you £15 per week. That’s £60 per month and £780 per year!

(Also, Starbucks is pretty much global, so it’s not like you have to give it up forever. Would you rather be drinking it in your hometown or when you’re travelling the world?)

2: Restaurants and takeaways

It’s easy to find yourself eating out at restaurants or ordering in a takeaway after a long day when you really can’t be bothered to cook.

I get it.

But paying someone else to cook for you is a luxury that can easily be cut out if you’re serious about saving money for travel. This goes for lunch as well as dinner, so make sure you’re bringing lunch with you and not stopping in a nearby shop.

You could make cooking at home a little more fun by finding recipes for dishes from the countries you’d like to visit! Eating a Thai green curry and imagining you’re in Thailand already can also help to get your motivation back up.

Prepping your meals for the week the weekend before is a great way to encourage yourself to eat at home, too.

3: Shopping

I’m talking about shopping for pleasure here, not for necessity.

I know exactly what it’s like to be wandering through town when you see that there’s a sale on in your favourite clothes shop. You feel like you may as well go and have a look to see if you can find a bargain, right?

Or you see something in a shop window that you just know would look GREAT on you.

Or an email lands in your inbox announcing a new line or a special discount.

But do you really need any of those things? Maybe you’re saying yes, but you probably know deep down that you don’t.

You need food and you probably need toilet paper. You don’t need a cute new top.

4: Paid activities

A new blockbuster movie just dropped and people are rushing to cinemas to watch it on the big screen.

I know it sucks to miss out on things like this, but going to see a movie is so expensive these days! Plus, so many movies are coming out on streaming services now anyway, that the extra cost of going to the cinema just doesn’t seem worth it anymore.

If your mates are all going bowling, paint balling, or any other paid activity, it’s hard to say no.

Bet remember, they are your mates; you can still meet up with them another time for free and they will probably understand that you’re saving money and can’t join them right now.

5: Gym membership

Are you one of those people who signed up for a gym membership with the best intentions, but ended up using it a lot less than you thought you would?

I am in no way saying that you should stop exercising, but there are plenty of free ways to keep fit.

Running, cycling and hiking are a few great ways to stay active for free. I’ve also seen a lot of free outdoor gyms in parks and recreation areas.

6: Beauty salons

It’s great to support local businesses and I don’t want to tell you to stop doing that, but a lot of the treatments you pay for can be done by you at home.

When you’re trying to boost your travel fund, you can paint your own nails and pluck your own eyebrows.

I know that it’s just not the same as when it’s done by a professional but it can be another important stepping stone to saving money for travel.

7: Subscriptions

If you pay for a lot of subscription services, try cutting them down.

If you have more than one service for a similar thing, such as streaming services like Netflix and Disney+, choose the one you use the most and cut out the others.

Some services can be reduced down to the free level so that you can still use them; you might just have to put up with a few more ads than usual.

8: Nights out

Nights out on the town can work out very expensive. And every drink consumed takes the thought of saving money further from the forefront of your mind.

When you buy alcohol in the supermarket it’s usually much cheaper than when you buy the equivalent amount in a restaurant or bar.

So why not invite your friends around for a few drinks at home instead of throwing your money around in bars and clubs?

You’ll have plenty of opportunities to have a nice drink in front of a sunset when you’re travelling, and I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy it a whole lot more!

9: Bills, bills, bills

Obviously, you can’t just stop paying your bills. But you can be mindful about what you use.

Save on electricity and gas by turning off all appliances when you’re not using them. If you’re feeling a little cold, try putting on an extra layer instead of automatically cranking the heating up.

Switch your regular light bulbs out for energy-saving ones; this helps your pocket AND the environment. Win-win!

Have a look at your phone plan and see if you can switch down to a cheaper one. Try to save your internet usage for when you’re in WiFi so that you don’t need to pay so much for data. If you’re locked into a contract then this may be a little tricky but it’s still worth having a chat with your network provider to see if there’s anything that can be done.

10: Fuel

Do you drive to work every day? Do any of your colleagues live near you? Maybe you could set up a car share system where you split the cost of petrol.

After all, you’re all going to the same place, right? Why should you all pay for petrol individually when you could share and split it?

This helps everybody, as you’re not the only person who’s going to save money.

If you find that you’re regularly driving somewhere that’s within walking distance, ditch the car and get some extra steps in instead.

It’s more convenient to drive everywhere but it’s also a lot more expensive, so try to come up with as many ways as you can to save money on fuel.

Final thoughts

If you put these tips into action and cut your spending down, make sure you put those extra savings into your travel fund.

So, if you’re saving £15 a week by not buying coffee every day, don’t just leave it in your bank account to be spent on something else. Put those savings away!

I find that if I have money sitting in my bank account, it will somehow get spent without me even realising. If I’ve saved extra money, it needs to go into my savings account.

I know that saving money for travel can feel hard and even boring at times, especially when you’re cutting lots of things out to boost your travel fund, but I promise you it’ll be worth it in the end.

Keep your travel destination in mind as much as you can so that you can remember what you’re working so hard for. I find that a visual motivator works really well; so get your goal up on the wall where you can see it every day!

What ways have you found to boost your travel budget? Do these tips resonate with you? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

Want more like this? Check out these articles:

• How to actually save money for travel
• 14 Easy ways to save money while you travel
• 9 Essential free travel apps

All images in this post are the property of lastminutewanders.com

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