‍“People do not decide their futures. They decide their habits, and their habits decide their futures.”‍

     - F. Matthias Alexander

Savings, savings, savings.

They’re the most important part of turning your travel dreams into a reality.

But for many, it can take a long time to save up enough to afford an overseas vacation.

That’s why we’ve put together this guide for boosting your travel savings.

Follow the steps below and you’ll reach your dream destination in no time!

Contents:

• How to increase your travel savings
• 11 useful savings tips for travelers
• More ways to become a smarter saver

Ready to become a master saver? Let’s go.

How To Increase Your Travel Savings

Here at Flywallet, we don’t just want to help you save money for a trip.

We want to help you become a master saver.

“Teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for a day. Teach him to save smarter and he’ll take as many vacations as he wants.”

This blog contains 11 of our best tips for boosting your travel savings, so you can holiday for longer. Before we dive into the details, here’s a preview of the tips mentioned in this guide.

Our top tips for boosting your travel savings immediately:

• Create a budget
• Shop generic
• Set rewards for reaching specific milestones
• Clear your debts
• Round up
• Automate your savings
• Cook more, eat out less
• Watch your money grow
• Let go of unnecessary subscriptions
• Sell your old junk
• Trust the process

Now let’s break these down into actionable steps.

11 Useful Tips To Help You Save More For Travel

“Every cent you own and every moment you spend is always an investment.”

    - Natalie Pace

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1. Create a budget:

First things first: You need a budget.

A budget means that you won’t have to think so much about your savings.

This might sound a bit scary if you’ve never made one before. But if you want to get serious about saving money, this is the most important step.

Don’t worry, Flywallet is here to help.

Check out our guide on How to Make Your Own Travel Budget right here.

You don’t need to be a financial wizard to use this guide. It’s designed to be so simple that anyone can follow it.

Once you’ve got a physical budget and savings plan in place, it’s going to be a lot easier to start saving money for your next vacation.

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2. Shop generic:

Let’s be real. Fancy brands don’t look or taste that much better than generic ones.

Why spend $100 on a plain black Ralph Lauren tee, if you could get an identical one for $15?

We get it.

It’s nice to have nice things sometimes.

But saving for a trip is all about making small sacrifices in order to attain big rewards.

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Next time you’re at the supermarket or the shopping mall, consider what really matters to you. Is it owning a bag of expensive-brand pasta that tastes the same as the cheap stuff?

Or is it creating valuable, life-long memories in the destination of your dreams?

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3. Reward yourself when you hit significant milestones:

Consistent motivation is the difference between a successful saver and a failed one.

One way to keep yourself motivated to save is by setting up rewards for reaching certain savings milestones.

For example, if you want to buy yourself a new pair of shoes, make it a rule that you won’t buy them until you reach 25% of your savings goals.

This method allows you to keep saving the right amount of money and still treat yourself to nice things from time to time, without feeling guilty.

Win-win, right?

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4. Clear your debts:

Debts can be dangerous, especially when you ignore them for too long.

Money wasted on interest and late-payment fines could be money saved towards a trip.

You need to eliminate as many of your debts as you can - the sooner the better.

Make a list of all the things you’re currently paying off, including any:

• Student loans
• Personal loans
• Auto loans
• Credit card debt
• Mortgages
• Cell phone bills
• Utility bills
• Bank overdraft charges
• Medical debt
• Money borrowed from friends or family

Which of these is costing you the most?

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Look for the debts with the highest interest rates. But also take into consideration the deadlines for each of your debts.

The penalties for not paying something off on time can be severe, especially if you’re dealing with banks or moneylenders.

Focus on the debts that will create the most significant impact once paid off.

All that’s left to do is eliminate them one by one until you’re debt-free.

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5. Round up:

We all make dozens of purchases every week.

For every purchase, there is usually a little change left over.

When you pay for something with cash put the change aside rather than spending it on unnecessary things.

Every time you spend money online, round the cost up to the nearest $10.

Add the difference to your savings account and you’ll be one step closer to smashing your savings goal.

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6. Automate your savings:

If you’re worried about not saving enough to reach your goals, take yourself out of the equation.

There’s an easy way to do this:

Budgeting tools and automation.

Flywallet is a free-to-use, comprehensive budgeting tool designed to help future travelers just like you save more towards trips and secure the best deals on flights.

By automatically depositing your monthly savings into your flywallet, you’ll never have to worry about missing a payment.

Sign up with Flywallet today to start automatically growing your travel funds.

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7. Cook more, eat out less:

The average household spends just under $300 a month on eating out.

This can be significantly reduced by buying your meals from the supermarket instead.

If you’re not a kitchen wizard just yet, you can learn a new skill while saving money at the same time!

You don’t have to make everything yourself. But start to think of food and beverages bought at a restaurant or cafe as a luxury.

And, sorry to say, this includes coffee.

The price of coffee at some coffee shops is often more than an entire bag of the same stuff from your local supermarket.

And when you go to these places, you’ll be tempted to spend more money on one of the delicious-looking snacks they’ve got on display.

Brewing your own coffee also offers another opportunity to pick up a new hobby.

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8. Watch your money grow:

Sometimes what we need is a visual reference to stay motivated.

Check up on your savings account regularly to stay inspired by your progress.

You may even wish to draw or design a visual savings map that starts at $0 and finishes at your savings goal.

Add a mini-you to the map and move it along as you progress in your saving plan.

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Don’t forget that when master savers reach their final savings goals, they don’t stop saving.

There are also a bunch of ways you can continue to save money while you’re traveling overseas.

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9. Smash that unsubscribe button:

Unused subscriptions are like mosquitos…

They’ll keep eating away at you, even if you hardly notice they’re there.

Map out all of your current subscriptions, including:

• Streaming services
• Phone plans
• Magazines and newspapers
• Paid apps
• Fan clubs
• Meal deliveries

Once you’ve got your list, cross off all the ones you could temporarily live without.

Then cancel or pause those subscriptions (at least until you’ve come home from your trip).

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10. Let go of old junk (and sell it!):

We’ve all got skeletons in the closet.

But that’s no excuse for keeping extra outfits you never wear in there as well.

If you’re someone who struggles to let go of old things, here’s your opportunity for a bit of personal (and profitable) growth.

Pull out all the clothes, toys, tools, electronics, and anything else you never use anymore. Stop thinking of them as stuff you own. Instead, think of them as extra vacation days.

All you need to do is sell them.

There are plenty of ways to do this. You could list them on eBay or a similar online marketplace, throw a big yard sale, or even advertise them on social media for your friends to buy.

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11. Trust the process:

Lastly, remember that saving money is a long-term process.

You won’t reach your goal overnight.

But as long as you stay focused and commit to your monthly savings, you’ll be on a plane and looking down on your dream destination before you know it.