Here are some creative ways on how to save money for traveling without eating Ramen noodles everyday…
One of the most frequent questions I get asked when I tell people about how much I travel is, how do you afford it? While I’m still working on finding a Latin sugar mama, I’ve had to get creative in the meantime. Here are five ways I’ve managed to make/save money for traveling:
1. Pay for everything in cash and save your change
A great way to see the dollars stack up is to start paying for everything in cold hard cash. When doing so, you will most likely receive coins back for change which a lot of people just disregard as actual money and just consider it a pocket janglin’ annoyance.
Take a jar and put all of your loose change into it at the end of the day. Don’t touch it until it’s full and then go to a bank that lets you exchange it for cash or a bank check and, boom, you’ll have a couple hundred bucks saved in no time. I have an account at TD Bank and they have something called the “Penny Arcade” that you can just dump your loose change into and it will count it, no rolling needed! The only problem is the machine is geared for kids and is obnoxiously loud and embarrassing when dictating how to work it in a little girls voice. Oh well, win some you lose some.
2. Save half of whatever you eat at a restaurant
Notice how this tip is not called “Eat at home”. I’m a single dude, and buying the right ingredients to make anything taste decent ends up costing more money than just going to a reasonably priced restaurant and saving half my meal for lunch the next day. This will also keep you much “healthier” as you will be practicing mindfulness in not forcing yourself to eat everything on the plate. It will also leave a few extra calories for that greasy street food you’ll most definitely be eating after a night out in your destination of choice.
3. Don’t go to Starbucks every day!
This is more of a personal problem for me, but by not going to Starbucks or another coffee shop every day and making my morning coffee at home, I end up saving about a $100 a month! A couple months of practicing caffeine self-control will end up turning into a plane ticket. If you buy a bag of Starbucks coffee at the supermarket, not only will you get the same product, but if you save the bag and bring it to any actual Starbucks, they will give you a free cup of coffee!
4. Rent your apartment while you travel.
This is something I frequently do and, most times it ends up paying for my whole trip! Luckily I live where people vacation (South Beach) and there are always travelers looking for more affordable options than staying at a hotel. I use AirBnb.com to list my apartment and I receive lots of requests to stay at my place, especially for special occasions like New Years, the Ultra Music Festival, etc. Sometimes, I can get as much as $200 a night. Some people are creeped out by renting their place, but Airbnb offers $50,000 worth of insurance and I have a set of sheets just for when I rent out my place. If a tree fucked in your bed and you didn’t hear it, did it really fuck?
5. Freelance
While some people refuse to work more than they already do, most of us can squeeze a Saturday or Sunday in here and there and not feel like we’re being deprived. Especially if that work is something new, fun, pays well and is non-committed. More or less that’s 90% of all the work I do, but for someone unfamiliar with the world of freelancing, there are plenty of opportunities. Check out your local Craig’s List page under the “Gigs” category. There are a wealth of employers looking for event staff and help with promotions every day. Most of these jobs pay $15-30/hr and are only a day long.
I’m pretty involved in the promotional marketing industry, and if you’d like to read a bit more about how it all works, shoot me an email at Jeremy at TheWorldOrBust.com and I’ll send you an e-book I wrote about the industry (for free) and some great tips on how to find promo jobs.
I got plenty more weasely little tips for you, but for the chance that you might make it back to my blog, I’ll save them for a later time 
Do you have any great personal tips on how to save money for traveling?
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I am a frequent traveler too with lots of good tips!
One of tips I have is to sign up for online coupon sites like Groupon when you are planning to go to a new city. I am from Vancouver BC originally but I signed up for daily deal watching with Groupon, LivingSocial, MYA deals etc under Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Most of them are not helpful for us Canadian tourists but if you give yourself a few weeks head start before arrival you will stumble across a good deal. I bought Planet Sushi Groupon back in April. It was pretty expensive to go there if I didn’t have the Groupon, but they did have a dolce sushi which you cannot go wrong. It was a Nutella Banana sushi roll!
You’ve gotta try something new at least once when you travel.
Hey that’s actually a great one! Thanks for sharing
Jeremy recently posted..How to Save Money for Traveling
So, when family and friends stay with you, which sheets do they get??? Just wondering.
Ignorance is bliss right?
I actually used to eat ramen and pasta to save money but ended up cutting back as that was a little extreme (I did feed myself for $75/month, though.) Tip #2 is great. Portion control is good for staying healthy anyway, so take the rest home. And never waste leftovers!
Scott – Quirky Travel Guy recently posted..Enjoying a movie at the original Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin
haha wow that’s pretty impressive! Morgan Spurluck would be proud. Just ate half my dinner and put the rest in the fridge, but I have to admit, I’m still hungry dammit!
The one way I use to save money is the simple: buy less
Ask for every purchase if it is absolutely critical. Do you need that new shirt, another bag, that latest gadget, that DVD you will only watch once etc. Besides, it makes traveling easier. Now that I am traveling, everything I own is currently in locker which the size of one cubic meter 
Jarmo recently posted..Chocolate Hills, Tarsiers and Butterfly Bum Bum
I know right, you can save so much money by just not buying crap you really don’t need. Shit, I don’t even have a DVD player! buying those is the biggest crap shoot there is.
We used to save change when we were saving up to come to Turkey. Like the idea of renting your place out while you’re away. We live in a great holiday place now and have thought about it in the past. Now with the likes of Air BnB and Wimdu, it’s worth thinking about for us.
Julia
Turkey’s For Life recently posted..Datça Peninsula – Exploring Knidos
Yea between AirBnB and Wimdu you will definitely find a lot of people, it’s like free money!
My teacher told me if you go to a tourism place and you see there is a mall then you see where the shop keepers buy their lunch, you can get cheaper meal than meal in the mall. That my teacher said.
Anjieya recently posted..Objects that should be taken when traveling
Great tip, thanks!
Hi, I found your site through another site you post on, and had to check out your signature (which is your website) and I’m glad I checked it out! I like your writing style because no matter what I read, I find myself smiling! That’s funny about that machine dictating how to work it! Sometimes when I’m at one of the “self serve” checkout thingys at the local grocery store, I change the language just for the fun of it
Glad you like my blog David! Haha that’s funny you change the language on those things, I do it too! Good way to practice my Spanish.
I always forget to look back and see if the next person switches it back to English, or just leaves it
(They’re surprisingly hard to use when the language is different — the trick is to act like everything’s fine, act natural 
Great post about saving for travel especially while I’m getting ready to plan my 2012 trips! Another way to make travel affordable is by entering travel contests. Amble Resorts if hosting a contest where the winner gets a $1500 flight voucher. All you have to do is write a comment about a life changing travel moment. Here is the link: http://amble.com/ambler/2011/12/share-a-life-changing-travel-moment-to-win-free-travel/
While that is not technically saving for travel it is a great way to lessen travel costs!
Than to choose reasonably priced restaurant for your lunch you can cook the healthy food in your home and have it.you can save the money lot.
Thanks for the tip!
Jeremy recently posted..The 10 Best Clubs in NYC
Not only was this post informative, but hilarious too!
I can picture old women staring at you while dumping a jar of pennies into the counting machine….and the comment about trees in your bed….effin awesome! Had to forward that one to some friends.
Thanks!
Haha glad you enjoyed it
and thanks for sharing!