Traveling on a Budget : 9 Great Hints to Budget

Travel Budget Strategies

Traveling on a budget is a skill that allows a person to see the world for virtually any price, provided they’re willing to spend a little time calculating their trip.  Once the major expenses are categorized (transport ticket and lodging) everything else falls into place quickly.

1. Create a Buy List
2. Make a Time Budget
3. Make a Meal Plan
4. Purchase Flights First and Lodging Second
5. Travel Light
6. Research
7. Track Expenses
8. Walk Frequently
9. Hunt for Hostels

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Creating a Buy List

Budgeting for a trip is very easy when you’re sitting at home.  The first two large expenses, transport and lodging, can be sorted out well in advance.  The place where most people lose track of their budget is when they’re on their adventure.

Creating a Buy List can help with this.  A Buy List is simply a series of things a person wishes to do, see or purchase while abroad. 

Want to get scuba lessons off the coast of Columbia? Determine the price in advance.  The same thing goes for a shopping spree in Hong Kong’s night market, Korea’s kimchi festival or visiting the Pyramids in Egypt. Having a list of special activities can help a person traveling on a budget manage events accurately.

Your budget for specialized activities is important, since it allows you to prioritize things that specifically require money.  For example, traveling through Northern Ireland might cost a bit using tours to see the Giant’s Causeway, which might make it challenging to afford the Aran Islands or the Burren. Knowing the best place for your money is important.

Make a Time Budget

Many beginner travelers overestimate how much time is in their day.  Actively create a time budget to understand how much time you’ll spend at each location.  

For example, visiting the Grand Palace in Bangkok might seem like a two hour affair, but in reality it probably takes up half a day. Between the entry line, the intricate artwork inside, the unique historical markers and the other attractions just outside, more time should be granted to prevent rushing or skipping over experiences.  

This has the additional advantage of lowering the cost of the entire trip.  A person who buys tickets or entry passes for four sights but only gets to see two of them for any meaningful amount of time is wasting their limited financial and temporal resources.  

Make a Meal Plan

The place where travelers lose absolute heaps of money is by eating out.

This is understandable.  It’s common to get tired out from daily explorations and most people traveling want to try all the new and exciting foods.

However, eating out for three meals a day is a huge financial hit.  A wise traveler preps their own food and brings their own meals.  A set of midday sandwiches can save literally hundreds of dollars in just a week of traveling.  Traveling on a budget means being carefully aware of food expenses.

Mark down the restaurants you absolutely must try and write down the foods you plan to eat for other meals throughout the day.

Flight First, Lodging Second

One of the absolute biggest mistakes when traveling is to pay for a hotel or lodging prior to securing a transit ticket.

Always, always, always purchase a flight or bus ticket before getting lodging.  This prevents a person spending money on a location that simply doesn’t have flights or transport available.  While this doesn’t factor into a list for traveling on a budget, it’s a very good habit for preventing accidental cancellation fees.

That being said, it’s also smart to look at lodging options before buying a flight to make sure there are affordable places to stay.  In checklist format, look for available lodging without purchasing, then purchase a ticket and finally return to purchase lodging.

For lodging recommendations, click here.

Travel as Light as Possible

Weight is more than just hard to move around.  Bulky backpacks and luggage also tend to cost more.  Airlines and bus companies charge extra fees for transporting goods.

Traveling as light as possible drastically limits your cost of transit.  If you can travel with a single carry-on piece of luggage, all checked baggage fees disappear.  Additionally, you don’t have to carry nearly as much around.  People who travel with less are also safer from theft or property damage.  

People don’t really need very much to survive, thrive or enjoy themselves.  Traveling as lightly as possible is a huge asset in terms of flexibility in motion and cost of transit.  The lighter you travel, the easier it is when traveling on a budget.

For the Leftfade Trails Vagabond Packing List, click here

Research

Researching is the best way to lower costs.  Going through other travel blogs can provide unique and handy solutions. 

Once, when trying to visit an island off the coast of Bali, I was entirely prepared to spend nearly one hundred dollars for a ferry tour.  Then, a friend of mine stepped in, saying she found a fishing boat which would take us along their normal route in the early morning for ten dollars.  If we wanted, another ten dollars would get us back home in the early evening.

Having a strong understanding of how much things cost is helpful.  Even if information is slightly outdated and prices have gone up, student discounts, coupons, promotions and other deals can mitigate this.

One trick while traveling is called the “Whole Wallet” method.  A person says they’ll give you a ride or allow entry somewhere for an exorbitant amount of money, which is meant to be haggled down.  

Naturally, this process takes a long time, but a person can stock a fake wallet with a limited number of bills.  They can open up the wallet, make a show of thumbing through it, and offer the full amount, which should be what you think is fair for the service.  Often, the person will accept this amount, seeing as there’s nothing else to be gained by haggling.

This method really only works if you have prior knowledge of the cost to do something, and then accurately stack your wallet with that amount.

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Keeping Track of Your Expenses

One of the best ways to manage money in all of life is through regularly tracking spending patterns. 

Keep a document, financial app or online banking application to track spending.  

Whenever you’ve spent money, always round up or stay level to ensure that forgotten expenses, unexpected miniature fees or lost change don’t offset your entire budget.

Walk While Traveling on a Budget

People in the modern era sometimes forget how effective humans are at just walking.  The fact is, a dedicated and healthy person can see half of Pari in a single day simply by waking up early and walking from place to place.  

Walking in major cities and through the quiet countryside is the best method for seeing the world and saving money.  It’s healthy, free and allows you to stop and see sights that would otherwise be entirely missed.  

Hostel Hunting

As mentioned before, two of your biggest budget expenses are lodging and transit.  You can dramatically reduce the cost of lodging through hostel hunting.

This involves visiting hostels and asking for spare rooms in exchange for work.  You can also do this through a homestay application, while visiting a hospital (cleaning bedpans for a bunk for the night), wild camping, or staying with local friends.

In all cases, if you can stay somewhere for free, one of your largest expenses for living and traveling becomes pure entertainment and exploration money.  

Budget Conclusions

Overall, it is easy and wise to travel on a tailored budget.  Budgets can be designed for any traveler anywhere in the world.  Be sure to allow your money to go as far as possible while you’re out enjoying your adventure.

Read more about firsthand low-budget travel experiences by following the Leftfade Trails Blog