Our Top 5 ‘Alternative’ Saving For Travel Tips

One of the main reasons people don’t do long term travel is because of saving for travel in the first place!

The first time we went travelling in 2011 we decided that we would need £5,220 for three months in Asia and 6 months in Australia on a working holiday visa (inc flights etc). We worked for 3 months in Australia and separate to the £5,220, spent our Australian earnings travelling the east coast of Australia for 7 weeks (50AUD each a day).

This time, in 2018 we have saved for a lot longer and have a much bigger trip planned. But regardless of what your plans may be, here is our list of alternative saving tips. By alternative, we have tried to avoid the obvious such as not going out for as many meals and not buying Starbucks everyday!

Get clever with your money and you can end up here in Gili Trawangan!

1.Work in a different country

This is an unusual one but it worked for us. Australia is an expensive place to travel. In a restaurant in Manchester, my wage back in 2011 was £7 per hour. The wage in the restaurant I worked in in Melbourne paid $25AUD per hour. While living costs were higher in Australia, overall we ended up saving more than we would have in Manchester. We found that Australia paid for itself.

This is not without risk. I would not suggest leaving a secure well paying job to take this tactic. For me, a restaurant is a restaurant and I was confident I could walk in to a restaurant in Melbourne and get work. Do your research and balance risk vs reward.

2. Talk to your bank

Over the last five years I have earned over £1,500 in interest and cashback incentives through having the correct bank accounts. I chose an account that had 3% interest (now 1.5%), and that has cashback on all your bills. I also simply asked the bank what other accounts would be good. They advised that I open an eSaver account which I can gain 5% interest on £200 per month for 12 months – 5 minute job with a £65 gain.

Many people just don’t ask. But its worth the conversation.

3. Change your attitude on your living situation

To save £5,220 each we changed our attitude when it came to somewhere to live. We understood scaling right down served as a means to an end and ultimately it would not be a home for life. We took on a studio apartment in an undesirable area at £325 per month inc bills. This played a massive role in allowing us to save. We may have lived without a real living room for 6 months, but it was completely worth it!

4. Topcashback.com

Most of us will travel by train, have to stay in a hotel from time to time or shop online. For all of this you can earn cash back just by visiting the online site via topcashback.com. Our most recent example was a booking made on Hostelworld – the offer was 44% cashback on your booking deposit which earnt us £23 for one booking. We will continue to do this across the year for any hostels we book and it will soon add up!

5. Create a cashflow

How can you book your flight in 6 months without knowing how much money you will have? You need to create a straightforward spreadsheet planning your income and outgoings each month. Once you have done this you can then work out what you can tweak to get to your target. If you know that your personal spending money for the month is £100, why not take this out as cash? Some people struggle with being aware of how much they are spending, having cash makes you more aware because it runs out!

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