Travel Advice

This article doesn’t just apply to travel, it can help you save for any event in your life.

Saving can get quite daunting but I’ll explain two simple ways to increase your savings, which helped me save about $12,000 in 6 months. The two simple ways to increase your savings are:

1. Increase income

2. Decrease expenditure

I’ll break each of these down a bit more for you….

INCREASE INCOME

You will more than likely already have a job, so you could try asking your boss for more hours or a pay rise, but lets face it that is highly unlikely.

An easier solution is look at getting a second part-time job that only requires you to work weekends or at nights. The hospitality sector is good for these types of jobs, otherwise retail jobs are good for weekend work. It may seem like you have no social life as all you do is work, but just keep in mind that it’s not permanent and just keep your eye on the overall prize!

Another way to increase income is to sell any unwanted clothes or items online e.g TradeMe or ebay. However, this can be very time-consuming, answering questions, sending items and keeping track of payments, but it’s great for a bit of extra pocket money.

DECREASE EXPENDITURE

Everybody has different types of expenditure, but I’ll explain how I kept my own personal expenditure down.

I don’t drink coffee, but I love my hot chocolates. I tried to keep them to a minimum, but let’s look at the cost of buying one hot chocolate every day at work at $4.50 each. That’s $22.50/week. That’s over $500 in 6 months on hot chocolates alone.

I was more careful on my grocery shopping. I would write a list of meals for that week and only buy the ingredients to make those meals. I changed back to the budget brands, and said goodbye to any luxuries. I would take advantage of great deals on items I always buy e.g. pasta sauce, muesli bars. It felt like I was living my student days all over again. But all of these changes together helped me save.

Another expense I eliminated was my gym membership which at $20/week totalled to another $500 in 6 months. I was so busy at work that I was struggling to find the time to go to the gym anyway, so it was becoming money down the drain. I cancelled my membership and embraced free exercising by going on outdoor walks and downloading exercise apps on my phone.

I moved into a house that had cheaper rent. I went from $165/week to $150/week, which doesn’t seem like much. I could have chosen an even cheaper house, but I struggled to drop my standards in terms of living conditions.

I also kept my driving to a minimum. I used to pop to the shop and then later that day I would pop out to a friends house or to the supermarket. Since I lived a fair way north of the city, it became quite costly, so I’d plan my trips out and make it more efficient with as little backtracking as possible. If I forgot to get something, it would have to wait until the next day.

The hardest thing for me was reducing the amount I spend on clothes and beauty products. But I had to tell myself ‘will it fit in the suitcase?’ or ‘how heavy do you want your suitcase to be?’ Plus the less clothes I take over to Europe, the more I get to go shopping!

Finally, I had to keep my social life to a minimum which meant saying no to movies, or dinners. It was especially hard leading up to my final days and saying goodbye to everyone. But again I was smart about it. Instead of going out for a whole dinner with a friend, just go out for a drink. Or go out with multiple friends at once to say your goodbyes. I held farewell drinks with my friends, which was only a few drinks for me. I caught up with the few friends that couldn’t make it afterwards. Then I had a family farewell which was just a BBQ at my parents.

 

If you only do one or two of the things above, you won’t see much difference, but if you implement as many of these as possible, and some of your own personal expenses, you will see the difference.

Hopefully these two tips help you save and you’ll be on your way in no time!

 

I’m amazed by how many people that have not left their country to see what the world has to offer. But here are 3 reasons why I think everyone should travel overseas at least once in their life….

1. HEALTH

Many people say they can’t afford to travel. But travel may be a small price to pay to improve your overall health. Studies have shown that traveling has many health benefits, including:
• lower blood pressure – even decreasing the risk of a heart attack by 50 percent!
• reduce stress
• reduce symptoms of depression
• improve sleep quality
• improve mood
• improves relationships and marriages

A lot of these health benefits are due to the amount of physical activity you do while travelling e.g hiking, biking, or simply by all of the walking. I walked nearly 20km in one day while sightseeing in Paris. And we all know the simple science of…

Exercise = Endorphins = Happiness!

We live such high-pace, stressful lives that we don’t allow ourselves time to heal. Travelling allows us to slow down, avoiding burning out and helps us regain enthusiasm for life.

Which brings me to my next point…..

2. SELF-DEVELOPMENT

The biggest influence travel seems to have on us is our overall confidence. By conquering the unexpected obstacles and situations you encounter while travelling, you are building self-confidence. In a survey by Booking.com, nearly two-thirds agreed that traveling increased their confidence. You will also discover things about yourself during your travels. You may realise that you are more confident or maybe more cautious, more adventurous or fearful.

Travelling helps us leave our comfort zones and face some of our fears. If you are afraid of certain things like heights or fear of water, this is the perfect time to conquer those fears. Once you do it, you will feel invincible. Give yourself and your fears a chance and try something new on your trip! Not only will you will try new things but you will meet new people from a variety of cultures. You will create life-long friendships and meaningful relationships along the way.

Not only will you create life-long friendships, but the memories you will create during your journey are life-long and incomparable. Not matter how trivial or how many years pass, it’s still great to whip out your interesting travel stories.

3. EDUCATION

While you travel, you will learn about:

History              Languages              Geography
Sociology          Architecture           Food
Fashion             Art                            Politics

Travelling educates you in a hands-on way and teaches you certain things that no classroom will.

Thanks to the internet and social media, we are living in a world where it is becoming imperative for us to understand cultures and behaviour. For example, siestas may seem lazy to some but to Spaniards, family time is more important than maximizing work time. Being aware of cultural values and norms helps you understand people on both business and personal levels.

Travelling also opens your mind. Unless you’ve actually been to a country, all of your beliefs and views have been formed through what you’ve heard or seen through media. Travelling turns your ideas of places into well-formed perceptions.

So instead of reaching old age and wishing you had done that life changing trip, go ahead, get online and book that trip. It doesn’t have to be around the world, just go somewhere new! The travel bug is contagious, that I’m sure once you start, it will be hard to stop!

So go on….Learn, develop and get healthy! It’s the best investment you can make and it will change your life!