How to Save Money While Travelling

If you plan on travelling this summer and if you’ve already paid for your accommodation and flight tickets, another important factor to be aware of while travelling is your day-to-day spending.

Sometimes if you’re not careful you could end up going over your budget during your travels, especially if you plan on visiting a touristy city and/or destination over the summer holidays.

If money is tight and if you’re worried about what your bank account balance is going to look like after you get home from your vacation, here are four tips on how you can save money while travelling:

Avoid the main streets

Restaurants, souvenir shops and even shopping centers like to boost up their prices in the busy main areas of a city or town just to nab tourists who are strolling around the area. One of the best ways around this is to avoid the busy commercial streets altogether and choose to purchase items away from the city center instead.

Don’t dine out at restaurants

Eating out at restaurants can put a huge dent on your finances if you’re not careful. If you happen to be staying at a hostel or even a rented flat during your holidays then purchase bulk items at a grocery store and then cook your breakfast, lunch and dinner at home. If you’re staying at a hotel and you don’t have a kitchen to cook in, try to avoid eating meals at your hotel or at expensive restaurants in the surrounding area and look for small cafes or even street vendors and watch your savings soar.

Stick to a strict daily budget

This point may seem fairly obvious, but it can’t be stressed enough. Sometimes it can be difficult to avoid purchasing fun souvenirs for you and your family members when travelling, so try to stick to a relatively realistic budget and stick to it. If you happen to go over your daily budget, then try to limit your spending for the following days or even weeks ahead, and avoid going into stores and souvenir shops to help resist any further temptations.

Be cautious with your money

If you plan on travelling to another country, you will probably have to take out large amounts of money at an ATM machine to avoid getting charged by your bank every time you make an international withdrawal. Unfortunately thieves in the area are well aware of this fact, and are notorious for picking our rich tourists who will more than likely have a lot of cash on them.

One way around this is to leave your money at home instead of carrying huge wads of cash on you, or look into purchasing some kind of money belt so that you can keep it hidden under your shirt while you’re sightseeing.

Also, put extra careful thought and consideration into what you are wearing, and try not to wear any expensive clothing, hats, jewellery, shoes or even sunglasses so you can blend in with the locals.

Bio: Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education where recently she’s written on occupational therapist jobs along with a piece on online LPN programs. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, playing piano, and working with origami.

Tagged featured, money, save, travelling