How To Travel On A Budget

Love to travel? Don’t have much extra money though? I feel ya, sister! (or brother) Being a single mom has not made traveling easy for me. I have most of the bills and all of the chores that two people used to share and it can be disheartening at times. The first five years after my divorce I wasn’t able to do anything but things started looking up and I started to make it a point to travel and take my son places I wasn’t able to when I was a kid.

If you really really want to travel and just don’t think you have the extra money, here are a few tips on how to travel on a budget.

1. Research

You have no clue how many good deals you can get if you just research a little. Don’t just look at the first flight you see and say ‘Nope, can’t afford it’ and forget about it. There are so many ways to get cheaper flights, cheaper hotel rates, and even cheaper tickets on attractions. You just have to be willing to dig in and research. I’ve never booked a hotel through their own site. I almost always use Booking.com which typically has great deals and the more you use them, the more “levels” you build up and you can get room upgrades and more! Also using things like AirBNB and VRBO can help you find great rates on accommodations, especially if you aren’t wanting the boring hotel room.
For flights, I like to use Kayak.com. They show you flights from all carriers and their calendars are color-coded based on prices. You can also sign up for alerts on specific flight destinations that will alert you when a flight has increased or decreased. It will also tell you if the flight is likely to increase or decrease within the next week. Also, take into consideration other means of travel besides flying or driving. I recently fell into travel by train, specifically the Amtrak, while looking for flights to Boston. Taking the Amtrak from Washington, DC (which is a 5 hour drive from my home) to Boston was only $101 total round trip for my son and I. Total! Yes, we will have to drive to DC which will probably cost about $60 in gas and park in the Union Station garage for 3 days which (with a Groupon coupon) is only $53. The total cost on travel is about $215 total whereas the cheapest flight to Boston (out of any of my surrounding area Columbus, Pittsburgh, DC) was $182 per person and I would still have to pay for my car to be parked and gas money to drive 2-5 hours still. So the total would likely be somewhere around $450. That’s more than double the cost of traveling by train. Plus it’s just a different and neat way to travel!

2. Find ways to make extra money

There are lots of ways to make extra money besides getting a second part/full time job. Donating plasma is one thing I have done to make some extra money. A lot of times they have bonuses at certain times of the year! I know this past year, new donors made $100 each donation for the first 3 donations, then $55 each for the next 3 donations, and $100 each for the last 2 donations in a month. That was over $600 in a months time and only takes about an hour each time (after your first time there). Of course, these payouts might be higher or lower in your area. Another way to make extra money can be by signing up to do DoorDash, UberEats, Uber, GrubHub, etc. Yes, you have to have time to do this BUT you get to choose when you work and you can sometimes get very generous tips! Having yard sales and offering your services as a babysitter, lawn care, dogsitting/walking, and house cleaning are just a few other easy things you can do to make extra money.

3. Cut unnecessary expenses

Do you really need 6 different streaming services or the newest iPhone? I know it can seem like such a small bit of your budget but every little bit counts and soon enough you’ll be able to put $100/month in savings towards your traveling budget. Maybe you can even sell your car and get a cheaper one? That could save you $200+ a month! Check for good deals on car insurance, set some of your utilities on a budget plan, budget for groceries better, and sometimes credit card or cell phone companies will give you a discount on your bill for signing up for autopay.

4. Share the cost with a friend(s)/family

Find friends or family members that are interested in traveling as well and make plans to go together so that you can share the costs! You will likely have more fun when having others around but even if you like to do your own thing, you can always plan to share accommodations but plan activities separately. If you’re going to be in any one place for awhile, you can share the expenses on groceries as well.

5. Make a budget and stick to it

The best thing to do is make a budget for your trip and stick to it. Are you going to be doing lots of sightseeing and just need a small place to sleep and take a shower? Don’t waste your money on a lavish hotel then.
Remember you don’t have to eat out for every meal while you’re on vacation. Plan the days you’ll stay in for dinner or pack a lunch. Go online to look at the menu prices for places you’d like to check out. Have a plan for how much you want to use on food and try not to go above that. A lot of people think they can just pick up something quick and cheap while they are out and about but end up spending twice as much as they thought. Been there, done that! You might also try to find a hotel that offers a free breakfast but only if its still budget friendly. It’s okay to buy a box of poptarts or donuts and have a cheap and easy breakfast before you even walk out of your room. Most hotels these days are equipped with microwaves and mini fridges so there shouldn’t be a problem with having a few groceries in your room.
When it comes to activities, look online for different things you want to do while at your destination. You likely already have an idea of the things you’d like to see or do on your trip. If you’re going to a big city like Los Angeles, New York, London, etc. I’d suggest looking at GoCity.com and checking out their deals on passes that get you in to many attractions within the city. I have personally done this and saved A LOT of money and because I got a 3 days pass (or higher), I got free admission to Universal Studios which was a huge savings. Even if you don’t do this, go online and check out the prices for your activities so you can budget sufficiently without any surprises. If possible, prepurchase tickets so you don’t miss out. Nowdays, with COVID, a lot of attractions are requiring you to prepurchase tickets at timed intervals to make sure the crowds aren’t as bad.
Don’t forget to budget transportation, and not just how you’ll get to your destination but how you’ll get around at your destination. Some places you won’t have to worry about this too much if most things are within walking distance. Check out Uber rates and metro/bus tickets or passes and pick what works best for you.

As a take away, make sure you do your research, make a budget and stick to it, and plan for unexpected expenses to come up! I hope these tips have help you learn how to travel on a budget.

Happy travels!