Before you read any further, did you read my post called Travelers Tips part 1? If not then you should stop now and go read the first five tips that I write about in my blog post where I tell you all about essential steps you need to do before you leave the house. I also have a YouTube video where I show you how to pack your bag and give you some fun commentary on the way.
Now let’s get cracking.
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So in my first post I talked about some things you can do to save money and making things easier on yourself for when you travel. This post I am going to go more in depth about how to save money and how important it is to make a budget for yourself. Money is always a problem to us while we travel and you want ways to save money while you prepare yourself for an adventure that you have been planning for months and months. So with that let’s begin with a priority to traveling, budget.
Tip 6: Set up a budget: After you have all of your essentials done and ready to go and you have checked your vehicle for any problems that may lead to a break down and more money spending we then move towards how much you can spend. I usually do this step two days before I actually leave for the vacation itself. I do this so that I can take my time and look at the places I may want to go before I decide to just "wing it". I think about how much I am wanting to spend vs what I think I may spend. For me I usually being around $400 to $800 depending on how long the trip is. Now this amount of money being spent is from my experience of being gone for up to two weeks. As the years have gone by I have greatly reduced my spending costs so that it is in more of my favor and this way I have a higher chance of putting some of that money I took out back into my bank account. This budget is also balanced around me mostly traveling by myself so please think about how many people are going and build your budget around that accordingly. For my money I split it up usually into two categories.
- Category 1: Necessities: Gas, Food, Water, shelter
- Category 2: Wanted Items: Shopping, souvenirs, lost and or forgotten items.
Both of those categories have been shrunk down over the years and I have found that these are what I prefer to stick to when thinking about my destination. Usually I give myself about a $100- $200 budget when it comes to category 2. Now maybe you are more materialistic then I am but really I don’t need much from a destination. My usual buys when I am on vacation are usually buttons (like the ones that you can put on jackets and stuff), t-shirts, mugs, key chains, and maybe a little tiny model of the destination. Of course it does vary with every new destination but those are the most bought items every time I go somewhere. They are easy for me to show and they don’t take a lot of space. With all of that in mind it also makes it easier to use the rest of the money I have left over for the things I really need in Category 1. Normally people have an issue controlling the money when it comes to food. If you are one of those people who eat out Every.Single.Day. that you are out and your one of those people who needs to cut back. Spending money in a restaurant adds up quicker than just going to a dollar general and getting supplies to make your own food. I normally buy items to make a sandwich or if you are one of those people who just can’t cook and has to have someone prepare it for you then I suggest going to a cheap sub shop where you can get a sandwich made for you for about $5 give or take. Or you can go to some fast food stops and get the cheapest thing on their menu. Honestly just buying some items to make your own food will be more convenient and in the long run save you some cash. Maybe you will even find something that you never knew you would enjoy eating.
The other big spender is usually gas. Recently have started using my credit card for my gas and that saves me $60 -$150 worth of gas when I am traveling. Now I can feel some of you doing the math in your head with that price range and the reason my price range on gas is in the $100 range is because of the type of car I have. When I travel I usually get about fifty miles to the gallon. It saves me time when it comes to stopping on a trip and it saves me money since I can go further without spending as much. If you are one of those people who has a car that isn’t as lucky then I suggest finding out how many miles to the gallon your car does and then doing little trips to figure out your price range and how much you do spend on gas.
Tip 7: Safety: I find this one to be really important to me and I say that because I do travel alone when no one else wants to go with me. Safety can be in all forms. I do a series of things to make sure I am well equipped and so that if anything happens I can take care of myself and in the process save myself some money when it comes to possible hospital bills. Now some of this may not apply to some of you and that’s ok. I am going to tell you guys some items I usually carry and how I handle myself when I am out in a new place. First I usually have a small knife in my car that is equipped with a seat belt cutter and a pointed end so that I can break a window in case if I get in an accident and need to get out of the vehicle immediately. Before you go to another state make sure that you check the laws on how long the knife has to be to be allowed for use. If you get pulled over for any reason you don’t want extra trouble on your hands which may cause you to get a bigger ticket then you were going to get or go to jail for something you can’t have in your car. Both cost money so always check before you pack one. The second thing I do is whenever I am going to a new location or to eat dinner with strangers I always text my father the address so he knows where I am just in case something does happen. Seems out there but honestly being safe is and having someone know where you are while you are away may save you someday. Last time I always tell people is to not text and drive. It’s the cliché of clichés but honestly it is so distracting and I have seen so many wrecks while I am out on the road. To prevent yourself from being distracted I usually turn on my gps and once I get to an area where I have to drive along a long stretch of road I turn off my screen so I don’t try and do other things on the internet while I drive. Then every hour I turn the screen back on to make sure I don’t miss the turn I need to make to get to my destination.
So those are only two tips for this one but two very important things to think about for when you do travel. I hope some of these tips do help you out in some way and make it easier on you when you travel. If you have any questions feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer.
