Many of us are skilled with making budgets. Otherwise we would not be able to save for our expensive hobby. Travelling that is.
I definitely try to prioritize and save some places so that i can spend in others. Really, my livelihood is traveling. It's part of my job, my passion and my ideal way to spend my time, so other than the essentials of food, rent, taking care of my dog, etc it is probably my biggest priority. I purposely don't spend money on expensive clothing, the latest electronics, a lot of expensive nights out, and other things that can add up so quickly so that I can save my money to travel. I teach classes at my local gym so that I not only make money from the classes, but I also get a free membership and that works out great! My family (brother, sis in law and parents) also has a rule at the holidays, birthdays, etc that we set a low limit or just all get together for a nice day together, rather than buying expensive gifts, so that we can all save money. It's all these little things that help me to be able to travel even on a not very high income. I will say though, that my one splurge does come when traveling. I enjoy nice hotels and meals when I am away (as long as it's not too long of a trip), but this comes after doing the budget travel thing by staying in hostels and taking very long bus rides between destinations (rather than train or fly) when i really first started traveling.
Reply to this Im interested in the whole budget thing. Some people take it to the extreme to the detriment of their enjoyment - afterall - you are there to experience and enjoy the country but if you end up saving a few bucks (or pence) and it takes you twice as long to get somewhere then surely this is false economy - granted this can occasionally lead to some nice cultural experience taking the long way round but not always!!!!
For instance in Ecuador a few of us in the group paid a taxi fair to get to the bus station which probably cost us a dollar more - but we made an earlier bus which got us to our destination earlier and in daylight without hassle or stress - whereas the "skilled budgeter" end up losing time taking public transport for cents just getting to the bus station and end up missing the bus - have to wait around a couple of hours in a dodgy bus station - and get to the destination in the dark having missed out on the best accomdation and probably arriving at a risky time of day. - Being a skilled budgeter is also knowing when to stop being tight to your own detriment.
I have done some traveling but this year am going on 1 year trip so I know this kind of situation will arise for me being on a tighter budget - but I have seen the flip side of what being too tight can do - lead you to riskier situations, missing out and spending far too much time in bus stations or rickety buses than enjoying the country.
Reply to this I think I am a pretty skilled budgeter... But I never let budget get into the way of something I want to do or see... I think the key to budgeting is having a bugdet in the first place... You should try to keep to it, but not at all costs... Say you have a budget of 10 dollars a day, sometimes you will spend much more, sometimes less... Because you have the budget you still end up living or travelling cheaper then if you wouldn't have it, just because it makes you think more about the money. Maybe you end up spending 350 0r 400 dollars a month if you try to keep to the budget of 10 dollars a day (but realizing that it's not all about budget) but if you didn't have that budget of 10 dollars a day, you might end up spending 600 or more dollars a month, because you don't look at the money at all...
So I have a budget of 10 dollars a day in India, I usually end up spending around 350 dollars a month that way, because I do what I want, see the sights I want to see, splurge at times, don't stay in the crappiest of crappy places and all that... Another secret to budgeting is (if you are travelling) going slow... And I don't mean taking a public bus instead of a taxi in town, but just staying longer in each place you visit. So one day you might have the expense of a train, a taxi or whatever to a hotel/hostel, food and all that, the next day, you do the sights, the day after you just browse around... The first day you are spending maybe 15 dollars, because of the hassles of getting to a new place, the price of the train, taxi and all that, the second day you might also spend 12 or so dollars, because of visiting the sights (if they are not free), but the third day you are just spending your money on food and lodging and you might only spend 5 or 6 dollars, so you make up for the days you spent more... The faster you travel the higher your budget will be... And the more you party, the higher your budget will be! I enjoy travelling slow anyway as it is much less stressfull so that is another plus...
Reply to this This is an interesting topic as I appear to have quite alot of people asking me how I can afford to travel just this week! This has ranged from the people politely enquiring as they may be planning a big trip down to some rude people just wanting to be nosy.
I think the key to being able to budget for travelling is to have a daily budget for EACH COUNTRY. This was a great trip I got before starting so I knew I needed approx double in Australia & NZ as I would need in South East Asia. Also travelling to Canada & the US I expect to need double again from what my Oz budget was. This means my ´very small pot of money´is divided up into countries rather than me blowing it all in the first few months.
I also am a real believer in having a kitty if you are travelling with someone. This means equal amounts from each party are paid for accomodation, food & travel so nothing to worry about when you are trying to work out who paid for what!
Finally I think there is value for money things you can do. For example, we would splash out where and when we want to, but also cook ourselves in our campervan or hostel to save money! This does not mean you have to eat noodles!!! Thrifty planning can get you a great meal in Australia for $5 if you shop near closing when food is reduced etc. We also choose what we want to do in each place on a long trip. E.g., there is a zoo & skytower in most cities we visit, we decide which ones we really want to see and go to them.
I think travelling is an amazing experience but one that should be enjoyed. If I was having to sit in each night and miss out on things because I only had enough money for accommodation, I would go home early and start saving for my next trip! :-)
Reply to this I am sometimes asked how I can afford it too. One time at work when somebody asked me that I told them I want to do an experiment. I added up everything I spent on travelling in the last year. I asked them to list their expenses for their social life and we added up what they spend at weekends over a year. It turned out to be just a few hundred euros less than I spent on travelling that year.
We afford to travel because travelling is what we spend our money on and we spend less on other things that other people do.
Mel
Reply to this My husband and I only do one "big" vacation every couple years. I have a designated amount in our monthly budget for that purpose and start squirreling away the funds for the next vacation as soon as we get back from one -- so essentially, we save for 2 years for these.
In terms of how to handle the spending once we're over in the other country, it's not hard at all. We each have an allotted amount of spending money that's just for whatever we individually want, including souveniers. Every other expense is already paid for in advance, and I also carry along a separate amount for our joint expenses like meals, intercountry travel, etc. That way, the spending money we each have is truly just that, and that makes it easy to keep within a budget.
Having said all that, I'm pretty frugal but I'm one who believes that there is little sense in going that far away from home and then being afraid to spend the money you need to spend in order to fully enjoy the experience. So I'm much less economical over there than I am at home. BUT -- that's in the budget, too.
Reply to this 
