Traveling with a budget constraint
Who said that the vacation of your dreams has to empty all your savings? That you have to enjoy all the luxuries both during the trip and on your vacation. As long as you can see and tour the place you’ve always wanted to go to, it doesn’t matter how luxurious your standard of living is there, right?
It shouldn’t, not in today’s market where jobs are hard to come by and saving money is harder. Planning a vacation meticulously with all financial constraints in mind will help you make the most of it, plus if you’re smart on the saving front, both in general and during your travels, you’ll also save money for other vacations. This article looks at the best ways to save money while on vacation.
Flexibility:
Be flexible when choosing your vacation dates: flight prices are highly dependent on the time and date of the flight and can vary considerably depending on these two factors. If you search hard enough, you can find the cheapest flight that fits your budget. While this initially seems a bit annoying, it is extremely beneficial in the long run. There are websites that can help your cause, for example Skyscanner allows you to find the cheapest flights from your chosen airport to a variety of different destinations. Be smart and try to travel during the low season as it is much cheaper, midweek flights also cost less than those flying on the weekends. Indirect flights are cheaper than direct ones. Keep these things in mind as you search for your ticket and you will surely save quite a bit.
An indicator to fly economically:
It’s wise to check all your point cards and see if you can take advantage of a free flight. Also, if you have points on several different airlines, you can go to points.com and convert them to the points you need, you can also buy points if you need them. This is usually much cheaper than flying direct.
not so fancy food
A good way to save money is to avoid eating three times a day in restaurants. Instead, go to the supermarket or local stores. They are usually much cheaper and fresher, ask the locals for the best food they have. They will point you to a good cheap restaurant that serves it. Street Hawkers are also a good and cheap way to eat, again ask for famous streets dedicated to food vendors. Once every few days he eats at a restaurant to get the feeling of fine dining. But eating local is much more fun.
The Tenant:
Book your hotel in advance as it will be a bit cheaper. If you search hard enough, you will find a good hotel at a cheap price. Another option is to find a local who can rent you a room, check out sites like AirBnB that list places locals are willing to rent.
Other tips:
There are several other little ways to save money. Make the most of free Wi-Fi facilities abroad, as your international data plan can be expensive. Wander to a coffee shop or hotel lobby to use the Wi-Fi facility. Change your currency while exchange rates are higher than average. You can also earn some money abroad while working on things like grape picking for a couple of hours. Weigh your luggage before you go so you don’t go over the limit and end up paying more.
