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How to Save Money for Travel

How to Save Money for Travel

Tags: Cost of Living
Last updated by Kayley Harris on

With thanks to Ashton Rigg from Flight Centre

If you’re struggling to save or don’t even know where to start, follow these five simple money saving tips and you’ll be flush before you know it!
 

Be accountable for your spending

It’s incredibly easy to burn through funds with a tap here and a swipe there, and it’s not until you start being aware of your spending that you realise where all your green is going.
Download a free money tracker app and start logging everything you buy (yes – everything. Every drink, every bill, every vending machine indulgence). You’ll be amazed to see where your money is really going. Try the Pocketbook Personal Finance Expense Tracker – it’s an Aussie app with a beautifully simple interface.
 

When it comes to saving, start small

Saving $5,000 might seem like a huge goal, but what about $10 a week? That’s only two or three coffees a week. 

If you want to start even smaller, try the 52-week money challenge: on Week 1, you only have to put $1 away; on Week 2, $2 and so on. After Week 51 you’ll have with $1,378.
 

Create a new bank account

Create a new bank account that is ONLY for your holiday money and don’t – we repeat, DON’T – touch it. Consider setting up an automatic transfer the day after your pay comes in; it will deposit directly in your travel savings account without you even noticing.
If you can’t trust yourself to have another account you can easily transfer money out of it, ask a (very trustworthy) friend or family member to set up a new account for you under their bank profile and transfer funds to them.
 

Set yourself some spending limits

There are always corners you can cut to save money, even if you don’t know about them yet! After you’ve been keeping track of your spending for a month, see where you can afford to tighten up.
Bringing your lunch from home everyday might be too difficult, but what about once or twice a week? Giving up buying coffee isn’t realistic for everyone, but what about cutting down to every second day?
 

 Don’t forget your goal

Saving money to travel isn’t easy, but it shouldn’t be a soul-crushing endeavour either – think about that amazing end goal and don’t let those motivation levels wane.
Print it out and put it on your mirror; set it as your phone wallpaper; download a holiday timer; set yourself a weekly calendar event countdown. Do whatever you have to do to keep that travel goal top-of-mind and every dollar you’ve saved will be worth it!

TIP: don’t forget to check currency exchange rates regularly. You might need more travel money (or less!) depending on how strong the Aussie dollar is against foreign currencies and where you're travelling to. $5,000 here isn’t $5,000 everywhere.

FiftyUp Club Pty Ltd ACN 166 905 175 (FiftyUp Club) is a Corporate Authorised Representative (AR Number 465649) of One Big Switch Pty Ltd ACN 150 963 474 (AFSL number 455982). Any advice provided is general advice only and does not take into consideration your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any advice you should consider its appropriateness to your situation. 

Originally posted on .

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Lorrell
Lorrell from QLD commented:

I'm single, and have reached the "full pension" age. I understand what its like to save when not working, and going without a daily coffee will be like pulling teeth. However, I really want to go to Ireland, so I'm going to take up the challenge to save. Watch this space! 

Someone
Someone from VIC commented:

Very hard to save spare coins when you use the debit card for everything. But I like the idea of transferring money,even small amounts to a holiday account. 

Someone
Someone from VIC commented:

As a couple aged 66 on a full pension I was hoping this section on how to save for a holiday would be about people no longer in the work force. Any one can save when they get a reasonable income. 

Marilyn
Marilyn from NSW commented:

Save both 5c(they're worthless) and 50c pieces. You'll be surprised how they add up. 

Karen
Karen from NSW commented:

A few years ago I bought a china pig money box for an acquaintance for Christmas in a 'lucky dip'. Anyway the person who got it hated it so I swapped my gift for it. Ever since, every Sunday I empty my coin purse into that pig (keeping back just enough for the newspaper on Monday morning). You don't miss the money and you would be surprised how quickly it adds up. When I can't put an more coins in I empty it, bag the coins and change them for notes at the bank and it is never less than about $200. I then have 'free money' to buy whatever I want that I would not normally buy. You could of course pay it into an interest earning account for larger things like a holiday. 

Someone
Someone from QLD commented:

All of the above is usually how people in the over 50 age bracket live anyway - we do not need take away coffee and will usually be the only one's bringing in a lunch from home - while the 'young one's' waste money on the above. I would not suggest setting up an account with someone else, gosh, if you can't practice a bit of self control at this age then you should be ashamed of yourself. A good way to put away a few extra dollars is to check your bank account every second day (or your own schedule) and transfer the last 3 digits to a holiday account - let's say you have a balance of $345.64 in your account - transfer the $5.64 to your holiday account - on top of whatever regular savings you are putting in there - you will be surprised how these small amounts add up and you won't even miss them. 

Robyn
Robyn from SA commented:

can you please add an option to make the print in these comments bigger as they are very hard to read 

Jeanette
Jeanette from QLD replied to Robyn:

Robyn, go to the right top corner of the computer screen, click on the menu ( 3 bars) & it drops down. there's an option there to increase the size of the print eg 100% + until you can read it. This will be saved for this page. Hope that helps!. Jeanette 

Robyn
Robyn from SA replied to Jeanette:

Thanks Jeanette. 

Steve
Steve from WA replied to Robyn:

To enlarge print just press control + on your key board 

Robyn
Robyn from SA replied to Steve:

Thanks for that Steve, a handy tip to keep in mind as many pages have very small print. 

Gertraud
Gertraud from ACT commented:

I have a budget that covers regular, more or less fixed expenses throughout the year, including rates, electricity, gas, water, house and car insurances (I don't do health insurance), car registration, car maintenance, and birthday/christmas/easter presents for my kids and grandkids. It does not include expenditure such as food, fuel, clothing or miscellaneous expenditure. Each fortnight when I receive my super pension payment, I transfer $500.00 into a special account from which I make BPay payments for the invoices as they accrue. As I have four investment properties with mortgages, the savings account I use is an offset account against one of these mortgages. Another offset account is used for income from dividends, tax refunds and miscellaneous amounts - this is my "slush fund" - savings that have no particular purpose at present. A third offset accounts receives all rental income for my properties and from this I pay all rental property outgoings and slowly, very slowly, reduce the outstanding amount of my mortgages. I don't touch this for personal spending. 

margaret
margaret from NSW commented:

I would be a little careful about placing money in an account that is in someone else s name, because we have all heard of what has happened with personal loans and even homes, that have been a disaster and heard victims say" I never thought my husband, my little Johnny, my best friend since school would do that to me". Also consider the effect a new bank account with regular deposits from someone could have could have on a person registered with Centrelink or suddenly undergoing a surprise audit where even a small amount in an undisclosed account can create problems. Never-the less the other tips are excellent, although I find it better to deal in old fashioned cash, always carrying my EFTPOS card for backup only. At the end of each fortnight I make a note of how much I have over and after withdrawing for the next fortnight divide those few dollars between my Christmas and holiday saving jars. Even small amounts multiplied by 26 can be a useful amount. 

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