I love exploring new places, whether it’s a nearby city or another country.
I also love saving money wherever I go.
If you’ve also been wondering how to travel on a budget, this is for you! While the location you are visiting will determine how budget-friendly you can get, there are always ways to cut costs.
This is the outline I’ve used for anything from a weekend trip to a nearby city to a foreign country.
Planning to Travel on a Budget
Decide on your budget from the beginning
This is especially important for big trips, but ultimately applies to any plans in life 🙂
Starting with a general figure of how much you can spend on a trip will help you determine where you want to splurge and where you want to cut costs.
Budgeting for your trip should be part of your overall budget, but is helpful to create a separate worksheet to track expenses.
I generally use the following categories when outlining a budget:
1 – Transportation – Are you going to be flying or driving? Will you need a rental car once you get to your destination or is public transit available?
2 – Lodging – Do you want to stay in a hotel, a house, or someplace more exotic? The type of environment or the reason for your trip will help determine the level of lodging you want.
For example, if you are going to a city for a specific event, you may not care too much about what your lodging looks like as long as the location is good.
On the other hand, if you are going to be at the place you are lodging for a lot of the time of your trip, it may be worth it to spend a little more money for a more enjoyable environment.
3 – Food – I love to see how cheaply I can eat while traveling. This often includes grocery store trips and energy bars packed wherever they fit in my suitcase.
However, there are also times when I’ve wanted to try a nice restaurant. Planning to have snacks can save a lot of money to spend on food elsewhere.
4 – Activities – This covers a huge range of costs. It’s easier than ever to find free or cheap things to do or go all out on excursions.
Decide what is worth it to spend $ on
Maybe you want to go to a particular restaurant so you take less convenient transit.
Whatever it is, decide what your priorities are for the trip and put the focus of your expenses around the reasons for your travel.
Get to know the area you are visiting
This is so easy with Google Maps. Whenever I’m looking at a place to visit, I love to look at the location of where I’m staying, then what’s around, and distances to other points of interest.
Get to know where the public transit can take you or if it’s better to take a car. I have pulled up train and bus maps before traveling to a destination so that I have an idea of where I can go. This has also made me realize I needed a car in some situations.
Resources For Budget Travel
Airbnb/Expedia
Finding more and more lodging options that have their websites (sometimes posted on booking websites, but not always).
When looking for lodging, I’ve started general internet searches instead of just going to a site like Airbnb or Expedia. You never know what might pop up!
Find travel blogs that talk about the area you are visiting
I recently went to a mid-size city for a girl’s trip and found a travel blog completely dedicated to all things local for this city. They had tips on areas to visit and even where to park. This was a great resource!
Blogs dedicated to a particular area tend to have more “off the beaten path” activities and information. They also often talk about free or cheap activities. Locals also tend to know ways to save money in the area, so they can have a variety of money-saving tips.
Finding fun things to do for free or cheap
Poke around on FB and IG in the area that I’m visiting
For example, a local store might be having an interesting event that they put on FB but would never come up on a generic visitor’s website.
It’s so easy to find a variety of things to do by searching the area you’re visiting on Google Maps. From there, I will try searching for things that look interesting on FB or IG to see pics. Then, related recommendations start popping up!
Ask the locals
I usually ask store associates if they have any restaurant recommendations.
I recently went to another city that I hadn’t visited before and started talking to someone while I was out shopping. She lived in the area and had a lot of recommendations for things to do and places to eat!
Travel blogs are another great way to find updated things to do
I’ve used Culture Trip while planning for a couple of trips. I usually search “things to do in *location*” and if I find a blog that looks like it’s from a locals’ perspective, I usually take a lot of notes.
Requesting brochures from the local travel agency/department
When I went out west a couple of years ago, I came across the state travel organization and I signed up for some free brochures.
I found out about a few general destinations (and these brochures usually have great pics!) and searched about them further on the internet.
Keeping Organized
For any trip I take, I at least create a document in Google Docs or Word. If it’s a bigger trip, I’ll create an entire folder as a place to collect resources I come across.
Once I book lodging and transportation, I always put the addresses, times, and any other pertinent info at the top of the doc.
From there, I add fun things to do by area. I’ll add any specifics about parking or special rules I need to be aware of.
When I take a trip, I refer to this travel doc constantly!
Be Flexible
Things May not Go as expected
Plans change, transit doesn’t work out the way you expected, and you’re not as interested in an area as you thought you would be.
We visited Portland OR and intended to spend a couple of days in the city. However, after a day I felt like I had my fill. I had heard the coast was beautiful, so instead of spending another day in the city we took a little road trip to the coast and it was totally worth it!
The landscape was amazing and we ended up taking a hike with gorgeous views.
The Cheapest Option Might not be the one you’re expecting
Lodging
There are times when I thought an Airbnb would be cheaper than a hotel and it turned out to be the other way around – especially if the hotel offers free breakfast!
This can vary depending on location. It’s always worth it to check what amenities each place has.
For example – if you only need transportation between the airport and where you’re staying, it might be cheaper to stay at a hotel that offers a free shuttle instead of paying for a rideshare or a rental car.
Rental cars
It may be cheaper to get a rental car at another location. Rental cars are usually much more expensive at the airport.
On a trip several years ago, we took a train and a bus (then walked a couple blocks with our luggage) to an alternate rental car location. It would have been much more convenient to get a rental car at the airport, but we saved a couple hundred dollars by going elsewhere.
Look at all the options
No matter where you’re staying or what you’re doing, consider all the options. It can be overwhelming but you’ll discover new things and ways to save money the more you look into something.
What’s your favorite way to save money while traveling?
