Top 10 Budget Tips for Traveling

1. Predict Every Cost 

This is the major key to budgeting a trip! Predict EVERY cost. If you know you like to shop, budget it in! Don’t skimp on your budget, it’s always better to have more money left over than to overspend and stress about money on your trip. Plan out your trip day by day and estimate how much you will spend each day based on what you’re doing. It is more work on the front end, but it is important to know where you are going to have to spend money and where you’re not. 

2. Have Your Trip Money Saved Before You Leave

To avoid financial stress, save all of the money you will be spending on your trip before you leave! Knowing that you already have the money, you’ll be able to enjoy your trip more with less stress! We like to put all of our purchases on 1-2 credit cards while we are gone and then just pay off that credit card when we get home since we already have the money. A bonus is that you get miles, points, or cashback on your purchases! The reason we put it on credit cards is that if there’s a discrepancy or your card is stolen it is usually easier to claim with a credit card company rather than the money already being gone from your checking account.

This is not sponsored, but we love Discover as a credit card with good rewards. Discover is a great credit card to start with! I have the Discover It Miles card and after a year was able to get $500 worth of flights for FREE with the miles I earned on my card from my regular spending. There’s even a lock button on the app, so if you lose your card or it gets stolen while traveling you can just turn it off. They have great customer service and super-easy online banking services. The only downside is that Discover isn’t accepted widely outside of the United States of America.

If you have any questions about Discover let me know! I’m always excited to help people get free money!

3. Avoid Baggage Fees

My favorite, and easiest, way to avoid baggage fees is to just never check a bag! When you are purchasing your plane ticket double-check what kind of baggage is included with your ticket. If you’re like me and like to travel cheap with economy tickets, usually only a carry on bag is free. I have a super nice carry on suitcase that I know will fit in almost any overhead bin avoiding the chance of a flight attendant telling me I have to check it because it’s too large!

If you do have to check a bag, just purchase it when you book your flight. They can up the price of a checked bag after you purchase your flight, sometimes you can pay almost double by waiting to pay for your checked bag. And if you’re checking a bag, weigh it at home on your bathroom scale before heading to the airport. Most airlines max out a carry on bag around 50 pounds. Just weigh it at home to avoid the stress of having to rearrange stuff from your checked bag to your carry on. 

4. Book in Advance

This one is simple! Book well in advance! It’s usually a good rule of thumb to purchase a domestic (within the USA) trip 2-4 months in advance, and an international flight 4-8 months in advance. I like to book a trip as soon as I decide when I can take the trip, have the time off of work, and have the money saved. I’ve booked trips 9 months in advance and have gotten super cheap flights that way!

5. Know Admission Costs

Most experiences like museums, shows, or other attractions will have admission costs. Create a list of all of the attractions you want to see and then go to their websites to find their prices. Sometimes experiences are just out of our budget and we decide to leave it for next time.

My favorite example of how tricky admission prices can be is the Blue Lagoon! They advertise that their admission prices start at $59! But that’s if you go in for the last 2 hours they are open. We wanted to be there for sunrise, so we got the earliest ticket for the day at 8 am and paid $96. There are also other packages you can get that are even more expensive.

ALWAYS do your RESEARCH for admission prices! You don’t want to get your hopes up and then realize you can’t afford to do something.

6.Figure Out Your Service & Data Plan Before You Leave

Service providers can be tricky sometimes with traveling data usage and international fees. Make sure you know what your regular plan covers while you’re traveling. I know with my plan I only have service in the United State, but Adam’s plan includes Canada and Mexico. So every-time we go to Canada, we just use Adam’s phone for everything.

Most provider’s also have travel plans or travel day passes. With my plan I can pay $5 a day to use my normal plan abroad. This can add up so fast! And usually while we are traveling I don’t use my phone much anyway, so I usually opt for just using wifi when I can find it.

When we went to Iceland, we all split the cost for a hotspot which in Iceland was super helpful for navigation. It was $50 for 4 days split 5 ways. It was super affordable and we were able to have service almost everywhere to use GPS and to google restaurants or operating hours of attractions. I would definitely look into the cost of hotspots when traveling if you feel like you need the navigation help or just want to have service everywhere.

7.Check Your Cards For International Fees

Along with your service provider, check your credit cards! A lot of credit card companies have international transaction fees. On average foreign transaction fees can be anywhere form 1-3% and that can add up quickly when you’re gone for long periods of time!

Just double check before leaving which of your cards do and don’t have fees. Sometimes it’s better to just use your debit card to avoid fees if your bank doesn’t have any fees rather than using a credit card, for the points, that does have fees.

8.Budget for Alcohol

If you like to drink make sure you are thinking about that when it comes to your budget. Alcohol can be expensive! We personally include it in our food budget, but we usually don’t drink so much that it makes a significant difference.

If you are going to be budgeting for going out to restaurants, alcohol can rack up your bill so fast! We usually limit ourselves to 1 drink at dinner because we are cheap and like to get home safely!

Personally, we are just more comfortable drinking at home in sweatpants on the couch, but if you’re a partier make sure you accommodate your budget for that! We won’t mention this much in our budget breakdowns because we are not big drinkers.

9. Grocery Shop

A huge part of our budget is usually food. We are food people and LOVE to explore different cultures local food specialties and restaurants. Depending on where we are going, how long we will be there, and what food the place is known for, we will usually grocery shop for certain meals to save money.

My favorite is breakfast, breakfast is usually pretty similar everywhere, and I like my dippy eggs a very specific way. Buying eggs and toast and cooking breakfast most days saves so much money! We will usually grab coffees which are only about $10 versus an entire breakfast for $40.

I don’t know if I need to say it, but sandwiches are the ultimate budget saver. On our road trip, we ate so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (maybe some Nutella sandwiches too when I was feeling indulgent), and it was the best!

I am going to write an entire blog on saving money on food while traveling so stay tuned for that!

10.Find Free Things To Do

It sounds obvious, but the number 1 thing you can do to maximize your budget is to not spend money on EVERYTHING. This is great for us because we love a lot of outdoor activities, like hiking, that are usually free or only require a small parking fee.

If your budget is tight, but you really want to visit somewhere, you can block your time out so that you are still able to do your top big price tag experiences surrounded by many free activities. You’ll feel like you did so much with such a small budget!

There are so many free things to do everywhere you go. Some of our favorites are hiking, sight-seeing, walking tours, parks, and some museums.

To leave the blog off with a bonus tip: “Take Only Pictures Leave Only Footsteps” (Don’t buy souvenirs)

We save so much money by not bringing more than our memories and photos home with us. We will occasionally splurge on something nice, but you don’t need a keychain or shot glass from every single trip!

I hope that you can apply these tips to your next trip as you figure your budget out! Let me know if you have any questions, I would love to hear about what trips you’re planning for the future!