How to budget for your travels
As someone who travels quite a lot, sometimes weekend trips, other times week-long getaways, it is important that I budget carefully. With lots of learning and trial and errors, I have found ways to budget carefully for my travels so that I do not overspend. I think a lot of people assume that if you want to travel, you have to spend half of your savings, which is not true. Of course, everyones idea of budget differs, but here are some general tips on how to budge for your travels.
Flights and accommodations
When you have decided which country or countries you would like to go to, start your research. The best thing to do is start to look at general prices for flights and accommodation for the places you want to visit. By doing this, you will have a rough idea on how much you are likely going to be spending before you leave. You also need to know that these prices will often change around depending on when you book and when you are deciding to go. It is usually cheaper to book a good few months in advance as options should be cheaper and you will have more options in terms of accommodation.
After figuring out flights and accommodation you will need to budget for activities, transport, food and other spending.
Activities
Firstly, I recommend researching the activities available in the country you are going to. I know some people like to see what is around/ find things to do when they arrive, but if you are looking to make the most of your holiday and don’t want to overspend, I would recommend buying activity tickets before leaving (or at least look to see the prices). This way, if you plan what activities you want to do and how much each activity costs, you will have an idea of how much you are spending on them. Of course, leave some days available in case you find other things to do whilst your out there.
Food
Secondly is food. Food will differ between each person as it depends on how much you eat, if you eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, if you cook your own food etc. If you are looking for a cheaper option, I would suggest getting an accommodation that allows you to cook your own food so you are not spending so much when out and about. Alternatively, you can find hotels that offer breakfasts or other options. Whatever accommodation you have chosen, you will be able to figure out roughly how much you might be spending on food when out.
Travelling in groups
Travelling in groups can be a great way to save money. You are likely going to be splitting a lot of the costs, such as food, transport etc. Make sure that you have discussed with your group your budget as people often have different ideas of spending money. This way, if you establish early on your budget, you will hopefully not overspend. If you are splitting certain things in your travel, a great way to monitor your spending habits is to use splitwise. Splitwise allows you to enter how much something may have cost you and gives you how much each person would owe. To avoid anyone spending more than they should due to forgetting, splitwise does all the math for you.
Extras
If you are going for a long time, make sure you also budget some back up money. Even if you make a strict budgeting sheet, it does not mean it’ll go according to plan. Prices of things may be different to what you thought, or there may be some items you see what you may want to buy and bring home with you. You should also have emergency money for things such as transport.
Hopefully these tips will help you budget a bit more carefully for your next trip. Happy travelling! 🙂
