How to save money for travelling?

Saving money is the hardest part about travelling.  The pennies do not rack up very quickly, especially when you have a mortgage and bills to pay.  Apart from stating the obvious like get a second job, reduce those mental nights out and stop buying the latest gadgets, these are a few things that helped me save money.

1. Get a terramundi pot

So a terramundi pot is a money box that you have to smash to get the goods inside.  Not to mention perfect gifts for any occasion as someone is always saving for something.  Mine was given to me by my mum and dad as a Christmas present a few years back when the next trip was just a dream.  They had it custom designed saying 'here we come New Zealand'.  Lovelypop (http://www.lovelypop.co.uk/) offer lots of beautiful designs from the Guernsey Round Chimney Pottery and you can even design your own.   Shaun and I promised to put money in our pot each week.  Each weekend (when we would remember which honestly wasn't often) we would both get our wallets out and match whatever notes we both had and put it in the pot.  I hardly ever have money in my wallet so the most was £10.  Also, whenever we had a night out we would get home and empty all that loose change you get in your pockets and the bottom of your handbag into the pot.  Frequently, for Christmas and birthday presents we would receive foreign money as we tried not to collect too many belongings so all this went in too. When we opened our pot maybe a year and a half later we guessed maybe £100.  We smashed it open and out fell over £1000!  I'll try and put the video up for you.  It's quite impressive because there are lots of Guernsey one pound notes.

2. Open a separate savings account

So we all have that one savings account we transfer money into each month.  What I usually do is set up a separate account purely for travel and my original savings account is for money you need during the year for wedding and birthday presents, big nights out etc.  A little trick is to set up a direct debit to transfer £10 a week.  You won't even notice it's gone and by the end of  the year you will have racked up £520.

3.  Get creative

Get your hands dirty and start up-cycling old furniture, making jewelry or start a blog about something you know.  I am not that creative so instead I had to start selling my belongings well in advance of leaving.  I put up random clothes, shoes, even half used makeup and people bought it!  I used our local version of E-bay which has a group of Facebook.  I even got rid of my car to save a few hundred pounds on insurance and petrol (which Shaun thought was ridiculous!) and got out on my push bike instead.

4. Travel cheaper countries

So, as you may have noticed, I tend to travel the cheaper countries which in turn makes my money go further.  Of course, we would all love to road trip across the USA in a Cadillac and spend weeks island hopping in the Maldives but your money isn't going to last you so long.  Stick to the cheaper countries like Laos, Cambodia, Ecuador, Peru.  Not only can you stay here longer, these places can be relatively tourist free and you will get a real cultural experience.

5. Get out of the city

In addition to cheaper countries, spend less time in the city and more time out exploring.  This is a given for me as I don't really enjoy the hustle and bustle of city life anyway.  People out of cities tend to appreciate you being there more and you are less likely to get ripped off by taxi drivers and on excursions.  Accommodation will be cheaper and better local food! If you have any more tips on how to save money I'd love to know? A la perchoine, Jodie x