How to Save Money for Travel and Travel More for Less

Are you looking for ways to save money and make your dollars go further when travelling? As someone who’s never been exactly flush with cash, I know a thing or two about travelling on a budget and making that budget stretch as far as possible! In this guide, I’m going to share all the ways I have learned over the years to save more money for travel and travel more for less.

First things first, let me just say that being able to afford to travel at all means you are very privileged, even if you need to cut back on things and save up to do so. Some people are just not in a position to afford to travel and no amount of cutting back on a daily coffee is ever going to make a difference.

I also won’t be saying “save money by visiting cheap countries like…” because those sorts of statements only work if you have the privilege of coming from a country where your dollar is a lot stronger than other countries. For the citizens of those countries, they may never be able to afford to visit your country because they earn the equivalent of about a dollar a day in your currency.

I’m also very privileged in that I hardly ever need to think about how the colour of my skin, my gender expression or my sexuality might affect how people in certain countries might treat me.

But these tips will help those of you who, like me, have a pretty reliable job, can afford to cut back on some non-essential things and maybe save a little bit of money every month to travel. Here is how I save money for travel and how I make my money stretch a bit further while I’m travelling.

My Top Tips and Tricks for Saving Money and Getting Great Deals for Travel

1 – Go over your budget

The absolute first thing you need to do before even starting to ‘save for travel’ is to go over your monthly/yearly income and work out a few things. Those things to look out for include:

• How much is coming in each month?
• How much HAS to go out for bills, recurring expenses like food, etc.?
• Where can you cut back (are there any subscriptions you could do without for a while, can you try to eat cheaper or buy more off-brand items to save money?)
• How much can you put aside each month?

2 – Start putting aside a certain amount *religiously*

Once you’ve worked out how much you have ‘left over’ each month after you’ve paid all bills, rent, etc., and bought food, plus left yourself some money for having fun, figure out how much you can realistically save each month and start doing so. And I mean, do it every single month without fail! If you can make a separate savings account you can then transfer that amount and try to forget about it, don’t even let it register when you start thinking, “oh, I’d really like that new thing…”

Even if it’s a reasonably small amount, if you get into the habit of not even thinking about it as ‘spending money’ each month, it will start to grow, and you can use it later for your travels. Of course, this will only work if you are serious about saving it for travel and don’t dip into that amount unless you absolutely have to (for an emergency or something).

3 – Look into flights/points systems that work for you

Next, find out if there are any credit cards or other points systems/memberships you could sign up for to help earn points for flights. For some credit cards (like American Express) you can earn points for flying miles when you are shopping, so even if you don’t use it like a regular credit card, you can just do every single transaction through said card in order to accrue more points.

In the past, I signed up for the KLM/Air France loyalty program (Flying Blue) because we live in the Netherlands and KLM is the Dutch airline, so it made sense to do any online shopping through their portal and earn points. We also earned a big pile of points through booking one of our trips to Australia via KLM, so then we had points to spend on flights later.

You’ll need to figure out which cards and/or loyalty programs will be most relevant to you wherever you are living, but websites like The Points Guy can be a good starting point to find this out.

4 – Sign up for anything that offers sales on travel and accommodation for free

Another thing to research is any website or program that offers deals or sales alerts on travel, whether that’s accommodation, flights or experiences. Some good examples include services like Jack’s Flight Club, where you can say what your preferred departure airport is and then get regular emails alerting you of flight sales. Other examples include booking your accommodation through hotels.com, where you get one free night’s stay for every ten nights you book. I’ll include a list of great websites to check out/sign up for at the end of this guide.

5 – Travel light and book cheap flights

Aside from signing up for flight deals and alerts, you can also save money on flights by using Skyscanner’s cheapest month option, checking the cheapest times to fly on Google Flights, or going directly to an airline’s website for loyalty programs and sales. Another one of the best ways to save money on flights is to pack light, preferably carry-on only so you don’t have to pay extra for checked baggage. If you can learn how to fit a week’s worth of clothing in a carry-on suitcase, you can travel as long as you want and just do laundry once a week at your destination!

6 – Find programs offering accommodation in exchange for something

To save money on accommodation, there are a number of websites and programs that offer free housing in return for your help or a bit of work. You won’t be having a completely free holiday, but it is a way to see the world and meet people while you travel. Some sites to check out if you’re looking to save include:

• TrustedHousesitters: Stay in someone’s house for free in return for watering their plants and/or looking after their pets.

• HomeExchange: Swap houses with other people around the world like in the movie The Holiday!

• Worldpackers: Volunteer on different projects around the world in return for accommodation and often full or half board (food) as well.

• Workaway: Another volunteering program where you can do some kind of work all around the world with provided accommodation and food.

• HelpStay: Yet another volunteering program in exchange for accommodation/food.

7 – Stay in budget accommodation (preferably with cooking facilities)

If you don’t want to volunteer, you can still save money by looking for more budget accommodation, like hostels or small apartments without any frills. One of the best ways to save money on eating while travelling is to make sure you book accommodation with a kitchen so you can cook for yourself, or keep an eye out for hotels with breakfast included, so you can at least save a bit of money on food that way.

8 – Eat cheap

Aside from making sure you have a kitchen or choosing hotels with breakfast included, one of the best ways to save money while travelling is to avoid eating out for every meal at fancy restaurants and just generally find ways to eat cheap. For example, many nice restaurants will have a special lunch meal deal, so you can still have a fancier meal ‘out’ but if you do it at lunch, it will be more affordable than dinner. Of course, self-catering by going to supermarkets or local markets is a great way to save money on food, and you can always enjoy your destination with a picnic sourced from the supermarket/market! You can also check out websites/apps like Too Good To Go for cheap food deals and take advantage of supermarket ‘meal deals’ like those found in Tesco’s in the UK or Albert Heijn in the Netherlands.

9 – Do your research

If you want to save money, make sure you research free attractions for your destination before you go. Write down the costs for your must-sees and then check if there are city or destination passes you can buy that offer savings for attractions. Some of this will require you doing the maths to see if a city pass will actually work out cheaper than just paying entry to the places you absolutely want to see. But there are lots of travel bloggers out there who have written lists of the best free things to do in a destination though, and make sure you check out “shoestring” guides or guidebooks as well.

10 – Make a travel budget

Once you’ve done all of the above and saved up the money for your trip, make sure you set yourself a travel budget each day to ensure you don’t accidentally go into debt once you’re out there travelling! After you figure out how much you have to spend, try to work out how much you should then spend each day and try your hardest to stick to that. So for example, one day you might splurge on a fancy meal but you don’t go to any paid attractions so that you don’t go over the day’s budget. But the next day you might pay to see a couple of museums you’re really interested in, so you only eat supermarket food for the day. I even have a free printable Travel Planner you can use, which includes sections for keeping track of your travel budget!

The Best Websites for Saving Money on Travel

There are many, many websites, apps and programs out there designed to help you save money for travelling. Some of them you sign up for to use for free, while some require a membership fee (or a fee for more deals). While a quick Google search will likely find you many more than I’ve listed here (and maybe more specific ones based on where you live), here are the ones I think you should definitely check out if you’re going to be travelling to Europe.

• Jack’s Flight Club: Cheap flight alerts for Europe, United Kingdom, USA and Canada

• Going: Cheap flight alerts from airports in the USA

• Matt’s Flights: Cheap flight alerts for USA and Canada

• Hotels.com: Lists over 325,000 hotels in approximately 19,000 locations – with one free night for every ten nights booked

• Hopper: An app that provides alerts on hotel and flight deals – sometimes for ridiculously low prices

• Secret Escapes: Deals for luxury hotels and holiday packages (including flights) in Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States

• Travel Zoo: Deals on holidays and experiences around the world

• Groupon: Deals for meals, experiences and accommodation in more than 500 cities worldwide

• Social Deal: Deals on meals and experiences within the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Austria and Sweden

• Too Good to Go: Discounted food in 19 countries in Europe and North America

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Do you have any more tips or tricks for saving money for travel? Let me know in the comments or pin one of these to come back later!