Everyone deserves to have the vacation of their dreams. To travel somewhere nice, explore new places, experience new things. Sadly, sometimes dreams are constrained by money. And it might be a bit tricky to create the perfect vacation with a tight budget.
As difficult as it might be, it’s not an impossible task. All you have to do is to apply these top tips on how to save money while traveling. Ready to learn? Read ahead.
Don’t travel during peak season
It’d be great to go on vacation during Christmas or in summer when the weather is the nicest, the hottest, simply the best. But these are the peak seasons when a lot of people pack their bags and go on a trip. Sometimes the demand even surpasses the supply. And it greatly affects the prices.
The biggest problem with peak season is that you’ll have to deal with increased prices everywhere. The plane tickets, the hotels, the restaurants – everything will cost more. You might not even notice how you run out of your budget sooner than expected.
If you can, travel in the off-season. It’ll help you to save money and have a bigger budget. You’ll be able to enjoy more things rather than spending everything on the expensive plane ticket. And you’ll get to truly experience the place as you won’t have to mingle with the tourist crowds.
Plan gifts and souvenirs in advance
When you travel to a new place, you’ll probably want to get something as a memento or a gift for your beloved ones. To avoid spontaneous purchases, plan it all in advance. If it’s hard to decide what to get beforehand, at least have an exact number of items you’ll be buying. It’ll help to keep your focus when you see all those shiny souvenirs and will restrain you from buying too many of them.
Also, be sure to look into the options for shipping internationally, if you’re visiting abroad or if your family and friends are living in a different country. You may get cheap shipping to Poland or any other destination from the country you’re spending your vacation in, compared to the region you come from. When traveling, every saved penny is worth it.
Choose a cheaper place to stay
Hotels are the first thing that comes to mind when you need a place to stay overnight. But they can be quite expensive, especially in bigger cities. And they certainly aren’t the only option. Instead, consider staying in a hostel.
In a hostel, you’ll be renting a bed only, not the whole room. So it’s obviously cheaper. The only catch is that you’ll be sharing a dormitory-style room with other guests. This could turn out to be both a benefit and a drawback, depending on your personality. But if you’re staying for a shorter time, sleeping in a shared room shouldn’t be a problem. It may even become a memorable experience as you’ll get to know various people. You may even get to share your joys and sorrows as common tourists.
If you’re staying for a longer period of time and are traveling with a bigger group of people, you can rent an apartment. It’ll be cheaper than staying in a hotel and will help to save money.
Eat out less frequently
Food also makes up a big share of traveling expenses next to the accommodation. And there are ways to save money here, too. When you go on a vacation, you may feel reluctant to cook your own food. But it’s a great way to save money.
Restaurants and cafes are very tempting when traveling. And there’s nothing wrong with trying one or two places during your visit. You have to taste new food, right? Just be careful of your budget. If you go out to eat several times per day, it’ll get super expensive.
Try to cook at least one or two meals per day yourself. And if you don’t really feel like preparing food yourself, look for cheaper places to eat. In this case, it’s best to avoid touristy areas and focus on the places where the locals go to eat. They tend to be less costly.
Look for free entertainment
The last thing to keep in mind is entertainment. Without it, the vacation wouldn’t be as fun. But fun and expensive are not necessarily related. There are plenty of free options in every region you may travel to. The key is to do your research beforehand.
Search for places that have no entry fee, such as museums, galleries. Look for monuments and other objects worth seeing that can be visited for free. You may even find quite a lot of local events where you can participate without any charge. Be creative and take your time to prepare in advance.
While a tight budget might be a hurdle to getting the vacation of your dreams, it can be compensated with creativity and a few money-saving tricks.