Do you find yourself wishing you could travel more, but always feeling like you can’t afford it? I’m going to share with you the everyday items that are most likely killing your travel budget, which you can cut out and immediately see a positive impact. Below I will share with you the top ten unnecessary expenses to cut from your spending so that you can afford to travel the world!
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What if I told you that it is completely within your reach to travel more? No, you don’t need to add another full-time job to your schedule and no, you don’t need to be a millionaire.
Many people have wondered how I can afford to travel so extensively across the world, solo, and on a limited budget. I don’t have a rich uncle, I’m not a trust fund baby, and to be frank, I’ve worked in visual and performing arts all of my life (which doesn’t pay well in the USA). My trips are more often than not solo, so there is no one footing the bill but me.
While I may not bring in the largest paycheck every month, I am extremely frugal and budget just about everything that I spend.
I’m not sure that I can call myself a minimalist, but I really stopped buying many “things” years ago, and don’t feel restricted in the slightest. In fact, I feel better the less I buy.
Have you ever heard the saying, “I’d rather have a passport full of stamps than a house full of things”? Yeah… that’s me. Through and through.
As a travel addict down to my bones, I play the game of pros and cons. Anything that I am even considering buying, my first thought is if that “thing” is more important than travel. More often than not, the answer is no.
If the concept of budgeting or being frugal is new for you, or if you simply enjoy the luxuries listed below, you may not be crazy about all of the items on this list. But I challenge you to cut at least some of them to start out with, and see what it does for your travel budget.
Furthermore, I recommend that you open a separate bank account for travel. Take every penny that you would have spent on the items below, and put it into that bank account instead. Then you will get to see firsthand how much you are saving – AND how much that little travel nest-egg is growing.
Now, on to the list of ten unnecessary items to CUT so that you can afford to travel more!
10 Unnecessary Items To CUT So That You Can Afford to Travel More
Restaurants
First things first – Most people I know go to restaurants frequently. Whether it’s going in for a sit down experience or take away or even a drive-through… going to restaurants in any way will typically cost way more than it would to cook your meals at home.
I’m lucky in this regard, because I actually enjoy cooking my own meals. But even someone who doesn’t like to cook can learn a few simple staples or crock pot type meals. Once you get in a routine of cooking it’s really not that big of a deal. Plus you know exactly what is in your food and you can make it much more healthy.
Now don’t get me wrong. When I have friends in town or a special event to attend, or even as a special treat, then yes I do occasionally go out to restaurants. But the trick is making that more of a treat then a weekly norm.
Cable television
These days, there is just no excuse to be paying a high cable bill. Or really any cable bill at all.
With drastically cheaper alternative like Netflix and Amazon prime, it’s just a waste of money to have cable. Even if there’s a particular network that you enjoy, it will most likely be cheaper to pay for that individual streaming network then an entire cable bill.
As a huge bonus, both of the services mentioned above can be used when traveling. Part of the reason I ever subscribed to Netflix was because I can simply download a ton of shows and movies to watch during 10 hour and 24 hour flights. It may not make my economy seat any more comfortable, but it definitely helps the time to pass more quickly.
Cable is absolutely an unnecessary expense that you can cut to afford travel more frequently.
Social Drinking
Sorry folks! This is a huge waste of money that can seriously prevent you from traveling.
The amount of money that many people spend on alcohol every week is shocking.
Drinking is not really important for me, so it’s never been something I spent much money on. And, once I started teaching and performing athletics professionally, it was even less so.
Much like restaurants, alcohol for me is typically reserved for special occasions like weddings. I realize that most people will probably not actually cut this one out, but it is worth recognizing just how much you spend on alcohol per month. For many people it could be the cost of a cheap flight.
Upgrading cell phone and electronics
Are you someone who always needs to have the newest iPhone or electronics? If so listen up! You are probably wasting a ton of money!
Better to upgrade only when necessary these days, due to the insane cost of most decent cell phones. How they get away with charging more than a computer is honestly beyond me.
My rule of thumb is, keep my phone until it physically doesn’t work anymore. And I kid you not. I was probably the last human being on Earth to get a smartphone because my other phone before that lasted forever. This saved me money, and possibly made me a better traveler in a way, too! I wasn’t reliant on my cell phone for language help, maps, or apps.
However, that phone did eventually die and now I am just about useless! Haha. But the point is, I saved hundreds of dollars by keeping a less technologically advanced cell phone for over 6 years. Hanging on to older electronics can really help you save money and travel more.
Clotheing and shoes
This is one that I definitely used to be guilty of. Years ago I would actually go shopping with one friend in particular as a way to hang out. I spent money that didn’t need to be spent on clothes and shoes that I didn’t really need to buy.
This became extremely obvious once I started moving so frequently and traveling frequently as well. I just didn’t need everything I had.
For one thing, it was a pain to move it from place to place. But also, a lot of it just didn’t get worn. Some of it I ended up donating and other items I was able to sell online. But I definitely never recovered whatever money I put out for those things.
Eventually I started a rule that I could only replace things once they were worn out OR when I brought something home I had to get rid of something so that the new item could take its place. So that would really make me think about if something from my closet should GO or was this item worth the purchase?
Especially as females, we really get used to excess clothing and shoes as a norm. But it’s really just a mind shift to buying manly what you need. Additionally, this mindset shift will help you travel with less, too.
Coffee
Are you guilty of buying expensive coffees every morning from your favorite coffee shop?
I’ve never been a coffee drinker, so thankfully I’ve never had to cut this habit! But so many people I know spend $5 (or more!) per day on specialty coffee drinks. This will add up like crazy! And this goes for teas or specialty juice bars as well.
As someone who travels a lot, I know that I can get an entire meal in Cambodia for less than the cost of one coffee in America. So even if I was a coffee drinker, that would turn me off cold-turkey.
If you are a coffee addict, start making it at home and you will quickly save a ton.
Movies
A movie can be fun here or there, but if it’s a weekly habit for you, then maybe it’s time to refresh your date nights.
With how much movies cost nowadays, I can barely justify going at all. In a typical year I only see 1 movie on average in the theater anyway. Again it’s just not my thing.
But let’s look at this from a mathematical standpoint. Where I live, going to a movie on a Friday night for one ticket alone would be roughly $14. If we multiply that by one movie per week for the year, you are spending over $700 (and that’s only IF you skip the snacks and drinks!).
When I see that amount of money, I immediately think about when I flew to Fiji last year for less than $300. I could have taken 2 trips to the South Pacific for the amount that some people spend on movies. Not worth it in my book!
Plus, if you’ve already taken my advice about Netflix, that movie will probably eventually end up there anyway!
Name brand items
Sometimes a name brand stands up to the saying that you get what you pay for. Sometimes it’s worth spending more cash to get something you know you can rely on. A perfect example is my Columbia Omni-Heat jacket that I have raved about in multiple blog posts. This jacket is somewhat pricey but so far they’ve never found anything that beats it.
But what about normal household items? Is there a reason that you need name brand dishwasher soap versus the half priced alternative? Do you need name brand Kleenex or will Target brand tissues do?
I find that for items that get used up again and again, typically the store brands are just as good. Sometimes they are even manufactured at the same exact plants, with the same exact ingredients, and a different label is just slapped on the store brand item.
In that case you are literally paying double just for the label. Better to cut this type of unnecessary item and save the extra money for your traveling fund.
Be mindful of wasting
Food and water and electricity are not free. If you pay bills then you already know this. But one thing we can all be more mindful of is wastefulness. You’d be surprised how this one can add up over a year.
I’m personally trying to be better about not wasting water when I’m brushing my teeth or washing my face. I’m already careful about what lights and electronics I leave running, particularly when I go to sleep or when I go out. And I try very hard to buy only the amount of food I can cook and eat without wasting.
This simple things are not only good for your wallet but are also just good for the planet. These are great practices to get into regardless of budgeting money to afford to travel.
Make up & Beauty items
Last but not least, make up and beauty items. By all means, do what you need to look presentable and to feel good about yourself. But most likely there is a way that you can trim down these expenses one way or another. The first is, Less is more. You don’t need 100 eye shadows when you probably wear the same 3 or 4 shades most days out of the year.
Not to mention, if your goal is travel, many climates just won’t be conducive to make up what so ever! For example, in the humidity of South East Asia it will just melt it off anyway. Yuck.
I would much rather you buy a few quality products that you use again and again rather than multiple large bulky palettes that you won’t even make it through before they expired.
Buy what you need, but don’t buy in excess. This is a good tool to help you save money and travel more.
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I hope this list of 10 unnecessary expenses to cut so that you can afford to travel more helps you out and gets you thinking about what items to cut from your budget. There are plenty more, but I tried to choose the most common ways you might be killing your travel budget.
As a fun experiment, I challenge you to average out your yearly expenses for each of these categories. Add up the totals. You just might be appalled enough to cut these items out for good.
Do you have an expense you cut out to save more money for travel? Let me know below!
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