A dollar saved is a dollar earned!
Either you like to travel just for fun or you need to travel for your business purposes, travelling always makes a thrilling adventure. We all wish to take out some time from our humdrum, busy schedules and take one or two week holiday to freshen our mind and soul. However, the only thing that hinders us to pursue our dreams and passions is ‘money’. We tend to think that travelling entails hefty expenditures, outstripping our limited budget. Wrong!
You can travel while staying on your defined budget only if you know and utilize some really workable ‘saving’ tips and ideas while travelling. After all, saving is always a wise option to pursue your dreams. Read on the following to discover those ideas:
- Take cheap flights
Prices of flights vary significantly based on the month, day and even your travelling time. Try to avoid peak travelling seasons like Christmas, Easter and summer holidays. Do a bit research using different booking engines and compare the flight prices across an entire month. This way, you can find out the cheapest destinations, cheaper flights and cheapest days to fly.
- Bring your own food on board
Although, it’s obvious that a delicious smell of ham sandwich and crispy snacks covers would tempt you to buy them from airport restaurants and in planes, but it would be much wiser if you take your own snakes, nibbles and other food items on board. Prices of inflight meals and airport restaurants are often hiked up so you can save a good deal of money if you don’t buy them.
- Don’t stay in expensive hotels
Booking cheap and discounted hotels for your stay will save you oodles of dollars. Instead of choosing hotels in city centre locations that are overpriced, choose a hotel outside the city limits. Not only will you get best deals but also able to enjoy all the attractions in the day.
- Avoid train and high-charging taxis
Travel through trains with cheapest tickets or use public transports like buses where possible. This way, you’ll not only save money but can get along well with locals and know about more places. For taxis, you can share one if there’s a group of travellers and divide the costs. Another saving idea is to walk through the way if the distance is less. Strolling around is the best way to explore distinct architecture, enjoy new skies and visit exciting places of a new country.
- Eat and shop like a local
Avoid expensive restaurants, café snacks and touristy souvenir shops that charge way too higher. Instead, use local supermarkets and restaurants which are used by people who live there. One, you’ll save money. Two, you’ll experience new cuisines, distinctive culture and local tastes of local markets. And, three, you’ll able to buy discounted shopping items as some cultures allow bargaining. That’s a bit fun too!
- Send yourself money to get best exchange rates
Withdrawing money abroad is very costly because even if you transact using your credit card, banks will charge for every cash withdrawal along with a commission fee. Besides, exchange rates can fluctuate any time, so order your currency in advance to avail the best deal. But, there’s better solution to this problem. How about sending money online to yourself before travelling and then picking it up from partner agent in that country, say Philippines? This will give you best exchange rates and save you extra money. But again, you need a reliable platform for it.
International money transfer operators (MTO) such as Ria Money Transfer offers fast, efficient and convenient way to transfer money online and usually has great exchange rates and significantly lower fees than bank to bank transfers. You can also pick up the money in cash as they have over 365,000 pick up locations all over the world. Example, if you send money to the Philippines through Ria, you can collect your money anytime from a partner agent as there are almost 6000 pickup locations in the country.
Use these saving ideas and and get your backpack ready!
Thanks to our contributor-
Sharon