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Know How to Save Money on Vacation

Updated on June 21, 2018
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My passion for cooking leads me to travel to different places, eat authentic local dishes, and inspire everybody to cook amazing food!

Fries and Burger Food Cart in Bruges, Belgium
Fries and Burger Food Cart in Bruges, Belgium | Source

Many people think that traveling means too much expenses. As a result, they find it hard to plan a travel even once a year. What they didn’t know is that travel doesn’t need to be extravagant. They only need to know how to save money on vacation. Below, you will learn different Ways to Save Money on a Tight Budget.

1. Limit your clothes

As you make your own plan such as activities, foods and other itineraries, you must first consider what you need to pack. Make sure to pack things that you only need during your travel. Try to consider the number of days you will stay away from home. This will let you know how many clothes you need to bring. I even know some travelers who even plan their OOTD (Outfit of the Day), as they can simply mix and match their clothes. Also, you can just let someone do the laundry for you in case you run out of clothes. Otherwise, find a laundromat so you can do it by yourself if you’re traveling on a budget.

2. Make your own activity

Create your own list of activities for your trip. You can get tour packages online, but most of these are quite expensive. So why not do it yourself. It will take lots of researches, but you can eventually come up with the best list of your preferred activities.

When it comes to planning, what you need to do is check the place, learn how to get there and know if you need to pay an entrance. Discounts on entrance fees are applicable when you travel as a group. In case you want to visit the Titanic Experience in Cobh, Ireland, the museum offers Family Ticket Package.

3. Take public transportation

Traveling in a public transportation may not be easy because some signs or instructions don’t have English translations. In this case, make sure to at least the basic of their language so you can talk to the locals. Otherwise, install a handy language translating application. Despite of this language barrier, traveling on a budget with the use of public transportation is far reliable and cheaper than taking a cab.

Tuktuk in Lisboa, Portugal
Tuktuk in Lisboa, Portugal | Source

4. Bring snacks and drinks

Always bring with you easy to eat snacks. These snacks will suffice your hunger. What you can do is to look for a grocery store where you can buy any cheap snacks for your next day travel. You may include drinks as well because it may cost more in some places like Cannes, France, I've paid 2.50 Euro for a 500 mL juice drink.

Aside from saving money, taking snacks and drinks with you can maximize your travel activities. In this way, you don’t need to stop over just to look for restaurants or for foods in the middle of your activity.

5. Allocate a Budget

Never go beyond your budget. Make a daily budget for your whole trip. This daily budget includes your accommodation expenses, entrance fees, food expenses, transportation expenses and even souvenir expenses. Stick on this how to save money on vacation tip, for sure nothing won’t go wrong during your travel.

6. Avoid eating in fancy restaurant

One of the most important ways to save money on a tight budget is to eat in a regular restaurant or in an eatery. You can find lots of eateries where you can still enjoy the authentic foods of the place. Have in mind that you don’t need to pay hundreds of dollars just to try their local dishes.
Many might think that they want to eat in a fancy restaurant rather than in a side walk eatery to avoid any possible food contamination. This reason doesn’t make sense to me as a Chef. Why? Because you really don’t know what’s going on inside the kitchen. There is no 100% assurance whether you’re eating a high quality standard of food or not.

Allow me to share my food adventure during my last trip in Penang, Malaysia. My friends and I decided to eat outside and then we saw one eatery outside the port area. The place is just an open space where most locals eat. What we did is we simply roamed around the place and observed the service. Then we agreed to eat there because of great choices of foods and clean place. Luckily, we didn’t feel ill afterwards. Being in an unfamiliar place can imposed danger to a traveler, but just be vigilant.

Cruise Terminal in Fira, Santorini
Cruise Terminal in Fira, Santorini | Source

7. Forget going to clubs

It is okay to drink a bottle of their local beer, but you need to stop from there. Always have in mind that you travel because you want to discover and to enjoy the place. Forget your club hopping attitude way back home. Remember that you are traveling on a budget so you need to stretch all your funds in order to maximize your travel.

8. Buy what you really need

Lastly, do not buy anything you want when you’re traveling on a budget. If you’re into souvenir collection, simply collect one kind of item such as magnet. The first time I traveled, I tried collecting magnets, spoons, miniatures of their famous spots and their currencies as well. Just imagine how much money I need to spent just to get all of those. So it’s better to stick on one kind of souvenir item.

In addition, some places offer cheap clothes or other stuffs. Again, you need to allocate a budget. Don’t just pick something and buy. You may hop from store to store and look for discounts. This what happened to me during my One Day Adventure in Fira, Santorini. The place has been well known for series of shops, so I’ve decided to check most of the shops before buying what I really want. Yes, it can be time consuming, but absolutely worth it.

Now, you’ve learned 8 ways to save money on a tight budget while having your vacation. Like what I’ve said, you don’t need to zero out your bank account so you to travel. All you need to do is to think smart, to make sacrifice and to know how to save money on vacation.

A
Cannes, France:
Cannes, France

get directions

Favorite Place of Stars

B
Fira, Santorini:
Thera 847 00, Greece

get directions

Shopping Place in Santorini

C
Cobh, Ireland:
Cobh, Co. Cork, Ireland

get directions

Last Port of RMS Titanic

D
Penang, Malaysia:
Penang, Malaysia

get directions

Food Paradise of Malaysia

© 2018 Travel Chef

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