5 Ways to Work Toward Your Next Vacation

So the biggest question I get in regards to me traveling as frequently as I do is: How do you afford it?

I guess it baffles me when people ask this question but I have come to realize not many people are mindful of their spending and are really unaware of where their money goes. So, to break it down for you, I thought I would elaborate about little tricks I've enabled this year alone that has helped me save up for my upcoming Europe trip this September.

1. Substitutions

Consider exchanging some of your normal purchases that are a little pricier for cheaper substitutes. One swap I made recently was in what company I go through for my car insurance. I was with a company that was charging me $105 a month, but realized I was paying way more than necessary. I browsed around and ended up switching it out for a cheaper company that only charges me $46 a month. That's over $700 saved annually on ONE thing I use and pay for every month. Imagine how much you can save when you start substituting multiple of your frequently used items? Another recent change I've made is in how I do my grocery shopping. I used to be really lazy when buying my fruit, constantly picking the prepared containers rather than just buying the fruit myself and doing the work. I would spend $8 every two days buying containers of watermelon. Now, I just buy a whole watermelon for $4 that lasts me the whole week. Same thing, just less money.

2. Get back in the kitchen

This is a pretty common trick used when trying to save money, but people don't realistically think about how much it saves. I got into the bad habit last year of never packing myself lunch at work and instead eating out with my co-workers almost every day of the week. My average daily lunch cost would range from $8-$15, which is about $40-$75 a week on lunch alone. Once I got more mindful of where my spending was going and started packing lunch for myself, I realized I was only spending about $3-$5 a meal on homemade lunch, or $15-$25 a week. That's a savings of $1300-$2600 a year if I can be sure to make it habitual to pack my lunch. Besides, homemade lunches are typically healthier as well.

3. Make a profit off of your clutter

I wouldn't say I'm a hoarder, but I've gotten in a terrible habit of never being able to let go of my old clothes. My closet is packed tight with clothes I've accumulated over the years but rarely ever wear, because I'm just waiting for the right time to come where I'll find the need for an old outfit. Well honestly, the clutter was making me claustrophobic and I started to see the potential value I could make off of my old clothes that I don't wear anymore. Not to mention I had an abrupt wake-up call when my closet shelf broke not too long ago after being heavily weighed down with my endless outfits. I started selling them online via sites like secondhand sisterhood, Facebook marketplace, the Letgo app, et cetera, and have made several hundreds of dollars off of things I don't use anymore (this includes other household items, furniture, tc.)

4. Find a simple side gig to make extra cash

Find a low commitment way to make money on the side that can supplement your travel fund. For instance, I signed up to be a dog sitter through a site called Dog Vacay (now called Rover) that lets me volunteer to watch people's pets when they are either in town on vacation or leaving town for a few days. I can pick which days I'm available and what stipulations I prefer for watching others' fur babies. It's very flexible and quite honestly, more enjoyable to me than what I would consider a regular "job." This is an excellent side hustle that I'll probably keep doing forever, and it has been a great supplement of income for my travel fund!

In addition to this, I have a part time job in which I serve a couple nights a week at a local restaurant, and that money alone goes a long way when saving up for a vacation. Sure, not everyone is interested in picking up a part time job in addition to their full-time work schedule (on top of school if you're anything like me), but it's definitely do-able and you just have to make sure it's a job you like. My part-time job is actually a really good getaway for me from my normal life routine and serves as more of a social job than anything, so I'm glad that I have it.

5. Physically put the money you save into a savings account

This is where a lot of people go wrong. People can take the necessary steps to cut back on expenses, pack their lunch, make feasible substitutes, sell their old belongings, et cetera; but if you don't physically put that money away, it becomes really easy to spend it on something else once you see your bank account growing. One of the biggest changes I vowed to make myself this year was to cut back on the amount of coffee I bought on the regular (such as Starbucks, Caribou, et cetera). I made a really bad habit of stopping at Starbucks almost every morning on my way to work because it was much easier than making coffee for myself at home. I got lazy, and I really didn't realize how much money I was spending on coffee annually until I added it up.

When I calculated average annual costs and realized the dollar amount easily added up to an all-inclusive, overseas trip, I realized I needed to change things up. However, I knew I wouldn't be nearly as successful if I just cut it out without seeing an actual monetary value for what I was saving, which would make it easy for me to slip back into old habits. Starting January 1st of this year, every day that I went without buying coffee, I physically moved $6 from my checking account into my savings account (as this was the average cost of one of my cups of Starbucks coffee). I also kept a running list of the money I was setting aside so I could see how I was doing from one month to the next. This became somewhat of an inner competition with myself. When I went into this resolution, I had still planned on allowing myself Starbucks 2-3 times a week, but as I saw my savings grow and the number increase on the money I've put away from coffee alone, I didn't want to allow myself to cheat as much. It has almost become a game to see how much I can physically save by the end of the year. Here I am only halfway through June and I've already put aside $744. All from COFFEE. (Edit:

By the end of 2017 I had saved over $1700 from skipping coffee and transferring that money into my savings account).

You can make this a habit with anything, but I think it is a great trick to utilize to genuinely be able to save and set aside money. It's useful to keep a running tally of the money saved as a little extra motivation to keep going with the goal. Maybe you put that money aside every time you make yourself a lunch, or when you skip buying drinks when you go out, or when you put back that new pair of shoes you strongly considered buying. Make sure you set that money aside and in no time you'll have the money you need to book a trip that is more valuable than any materialistic item you could ever purchase.