Secrets behind the fairytale life of travelers; How to save money for travel

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Living the life of a travel is not easy. People say it’s a fairytale life. But behind that there are many dark secrets which nobody knows.

Traveling is something that makes me feel alive. It’s not that I love to do, it’s like breathing for me. I have traveled consecutively for 20 days but never felt home sick. The world is my home and all the people are my friends and family members. I never feel like I am away from home when I travel, it’s just like am going from one room to another. Unlike few others, boredom has never stuck me.

People those who work 24/5 tell me-“Dude you only have a life”.

This is how the discussion would begin-

“You know, he is enjoying his life. His trips will be to Bangkok and Pattaya. Whenever he finds time he would travel. I wish I could have this type of life. He is really free, no responsibility, no commitments. Seriously his life is a fairytale”. When I meet someone, before I greet, I could expect “where are you heading next” and “where were you in the weekend”

Excuse me guys… Travelers are also normal human beings.

Life is not easy; it’s really challenging, full of sacrifices. It’s not a pleasure always and not like what it seems. The main issue is the money. So now is the time you have to differentiate between Requirement and Want. After reading my articles and places I have visited you all must be thinking that I have enough money to travel but unfortunately truth is far from it. Saving money for travel is really a conscious effort which I am doing for past 6 months. So I will share some of the tips by which you can save money for travel.

1) Say goodbye to shopping

 

Now shopping has become luxury from necessity so you need to think twice before buying because there is a difference between “What you want and what you need”. Now forget about your favorite brands. Even when the products are in sale you are not in a position to buy them. I used to be a shopaholic but now there is no connection between me and shopping. Even at the time of sale I think twice/thrice before buying anything. It’s just a matter of compromise. Now I have only that amount of stuff that is required. Earlier I had shopped worth Rs 25,000/- in a day but now even for Rs 2,000/- I think twice. Air tickets have surpassed my shopping and spending the day with camera on the deserted street of a city at odd hours has surpassed the fun of the glamorous shopping malls.

2) Stop eating out

 

Eating in a cosmopolitan city like Bengaluru will be really costly. When I first moved here, I used to eat out and that to in good restaurants and on weekends hopping to different cafes spending almost Rs.600-700 per day. I continued doing this for couple of months and then realized that I would run on a deficit if I continue.So I made some arrangement at home and hired a part time cook. That was not worth too. Now I started cooking myself saving Rs. 2000 per month. Brought up in a family that served sumptuous food, I enjoy eating but hate cooking. I chose to eat cheaper food despite knowing that the quality was poor. Brunch replaced by breakfast and lunch. Weekend eat outs on good restaurants has also faded. I almost save Rs.500 per weekend by doing this. By doing all I realized my health was affected. A traveler needs to be physically strong. So I will say skipping meal and saving is not worth.

3) Avoid going to Pub and nightclub with friends

People just wait to live their life during weekend. So everywhere friends meet at some nightclub just to chill and spend time. You all must be knowing Bengaluru has the highest number of pubs in South East Asia, so one cannot stop himself to hop from one pub to another every weekend. I was never a pub lover but still had been visiting them almost twice a month with friends. I was spending almost Rs.3000/- a month. But now I have stopped to save money.

People started speaking- “Your life is bore and you are becoming a boring person now a days” and even friends stopped talking to. These thing will happen but never feel bad as you are going to enjoy when you will buy the air ticket and travel from the money you save.

4) Save for budget trips

  Instead of traveling on weekends save money for the trip which are on your Bucket list. Weekend trips will not fetch you anything as you are spending and you don’t have time to see the place also. I was spending almost Rs. 10,000 every quarter. But now I stopped completely and started saving money for my dream trips. We could use the money to avail the discounted air fares. You would become a stranger to your friends as you are no more freaking out with them but still it deserves a worthy travel to the dream destination.

5)  Open a separate account to save particularly for your travel

In order to save particularly for travel one should open a separate account. Start allocating the funds on a regular basis. And don’t touch it until the day comes for which it was meant for. I also have a separate account and I am doing the same. This is the best way to accumulate funds.

6) Sell the stuff which you don’t require

Now since you have decided to travel you have to get away with the things that you don’t require. Many people have inclination towards something that they love very much and even when they don’t require they will keep it with themselves. Yes, it happens out of love and affection. But once you make your mind to travel, in order to save extra penny, definitely you will do.

7) Stop using credit card

Now it’s time to get rid of your credit card. Stop swiping it whenever you buy anything. Because now you want liquidity and control over your expense. We always tend to use credit card because we get many benefits like cash back, reward points, credit, discounts, gift cards etc.. But we never realize that we are losing money out of it. I know many people who are fascinated by credits. They are born, only to use credit cards. Even they buy food also by credit.

I have never used credit card in my life till date. Whatever I buy is out of debit. If you don’t have money you cannot buy, that is what I love about debits. Also, it helps to keep an account on my spending. So I never travel with money that I don’t have.

People tell me that I am really wealthy because whenever I travel, I travel by flight. I am not wealthy. I am just smart enough to save money so that I can take a flight whenever I travel. People spend a lot on all the rest and when it comes to travel they will travel by the cheapest mode of transport available. For them money is more important than time. For a traveler time is more important than money. Money once spent can be earned but time once spent can never be earned. One day they will definitely realize the importance of time than money and make up the time left for the passion they carry and not the fun they wish.

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