Have you always wanted to travel around the world on a long-term adventure, but thought this would be impossible unless you won the lotto?
Well, let us persuade you that it can be done. Through smart planning, dedication, and strong will you too can turn your dream of full-time travel into reality. But before you start fantasizing about living on paradise beaches, the first step is taken at home by making some easy lifestyle changes.
The hardest part of full-time travel is the first step – which is setting yourself up with enough financial backup.
Of course, this will be different for each individual(s). We did it as a couple, if you are a single traveler then this will be more demanding but still achievable.
We put together a list of our own experiences and tips to save money and make full-time travel possible, so you too can follow your dream.
This is how we achieved it, and we are living proof – It Is Possible!
1. Choose a Bank With High-Interest Rates
Firstly, you are going to need a lot of savings for full-time travel. But how much interest rate does your bank offer on your savings?
This is something that many people wouldn’t even think about and just take for granted. But changing banks is probably the smartest move we made regarding saving for full-time travel.
After a bit of research, we learned that the bank we were with offered pretty much nothing regarding interest, so why would we stay with them? Instead, we signed up with the Australian bank – UBank.
Some banks only offer up to 1.0% PA, often even less. UBank offers 5+% PA, that’s a massive difference! After traveling nearly two years at the time of writing this article we are still getting around $1000/month interest (Australian dollars)….this covers nearly half our monthly spending!!
Compare what banks offer the best interest rates in your region
2. Live Off One Wage
Second on our list, is to live off one wage (assuming you are in a couple). Before you start thinking, they must have had really good jobs with a big fat paycheck every week. Not true, we both held jobs within the average wage bracket (70K AUD per annum).
If there is a big difference in wages then we would advise you to live off the lower wage and put the higher wage into savings.
Below we will go into more detail about how we managed to live off one wage. Which, did not stop us from going out socializing, eating nice food, and going away on holidays or weekend breaks.
3. Come up With a Savings Plan
This is a big one that you will need to plan out for yourself with realistic goals.
If you set your target to start your dream of full-time travel 3 years from now, then you still want to have fun for those 3 years! So don’t starve yourself and be miserable during this period.
We created our own savings plan with realistic targets for each month. However, not every month will be the same target.
4. How Many Paydays in the Month?
Start your savings plan by checking out how many times per month you are getting paid.
Normally this will be 4 paychecks per month, but there will be other months when you will get 5 paychecks in the month.
For example, your goal each month is to achieve 2000 (4 paychecks of 500 per week). For the months with a fifth payday, your target will be 2500 per month. There are usually 4 of these months every year.
What your yearly goal should look like then is 8 months of 2000, and 4 months of 2500 – That’s 26.000 per year in savings if you can afford to live on one wage.
Sometimes you will know in advance what months will be more expensive due to bills like insurance, tax, birthdays, or getting your car serviced. Make sure to take this into account when setting your monthly goal. Don’t put pressure on yourself!
5. Work Some Overtime!
This may not always be the case for everybody as some jobs offer overtime, and others do not. But if you are lucky to have the opportunity to work overtime then take it!
Think of the bigger picture, do you want to go home and sit on the couch watching TV after a day’s work, or a few years from now sit on a lounger with a beer overlooking a spectacular view…..
Whenever you do get to work overtime, put all of that extra earned cash into the savings pot.
At the end of the year, those additional hours will add up to a decent amount of extra saved money that only makes your savings interest go higher.
6. Take Control of Your Bills
Ask yourself the following questions – Do I use it, and do I need it?
So many people pay a monthly subscription for a gym that they may use once a week or even once a month. If you are a dedicated gym person that goes several times per week then, of course, continue. But if you rarely go then why are you wasting your hard-earned money on something you are not using?
Do you have a subscription to Netflix, Stan, Disney, Prime, and many more? Do you really need all of those subscriptions…….
Don’t be afraid to ask your mobile phone company what they can do for you. Compare your monthly package to what other phone companies offer. If there is a better package out there, then contact your mobile phone company and tell them – “This company is offering such and such, can you offer the same or make me an even better deal to stay with you”.
You do not owe your mobile phone company anything! This can be applied to bills such as electricity, mortgage, insurance, etc.
Be smart when it comes to buying clothes, is it worth spending 100 Dollars on that dress you will wear twice a year? Can you buy shoes online for a cheaper price? Kate became a regular at the second-hand store/charity shop!
Sometimes, at the end of the month, we would have almost nothing left in our current account, and that’s OK! All of our bills were paid, our fridge was always well stocked and the next paycheck would only be a few days away.
Don’t ever put yourself under pressure to hit a target if it is unachievable. Just allow yourself extra time to get to your dream of full-time travel.
Budget, Budget, Budget – Small Changes Make a Big Difference
To get to your savings target you must prioritize what you spend your money on.
You may have to sacrifice your weekly steak dinner and cocktails, however, this does not mean you will be without fun whilst you save money for your dream of full-time travel.
This simply means you begin to improvise and come up with new fun activities!
Making the following small changes to save for full-time travel will make a huge difference.
7. Picnics Are The Way Forward!
For us personally, not going out for dinner was never a big sacrifice we had to give up because we didn’t really care for it anyway.
Spending money on two steak dinners was nearly the same amount we would spend on weekly shopping. To us that doesn’t make sense.
Instead, we would buy two steaks in the supermarket and find a beautiful place to cook them up and hang out there for the day.
If you live in a country where the weather doesn’t always allow for picnics, then simply cook a delicious meal at home.
Another example of what we often did was, instead of going out for a Chinese meal, we would get a Chinese takeaway and find a nice place in a park, a beach, or a viewpoint to have our food. For us that was half the cost, but double the fun – Win, win!
8. Your Daily Lunch At Work
Are you one of those people who never brings lunch to work? Instead, you get a sandwich from the deli, a delicious takeaway, or sit down in that lovely cafe around the corner.
If that is the case, then how often do you do that and how much does it cost you per week? 10 per day, 50 per week, nearly 2500 per year?!
All that money can go into your savings account towards your goal of full-time travel.
How easy is it to make your own sandwich, bring your own snacks, or put the rest of that delicious home-cooked dinner into a Tupperware box for your lunch instead?
Not a lot of effort, but a lot of saved money. The same goes for your daily coffee treat, all that spending adds up over time. Of course, treat yourself now and again, but do not make it a daily habit.
9. Weekly Food Shopping & Rewards Card
Check online which supermarket has the best weekly deals, if there is an expensive product like Listerine, a particular shampoo brand, toothpaste, coffee, or food items on offer that you love, then stock up on those items.
Often these items can go for half price, so why pay twice the amount if it can be avoided?
Don’t forget to apply and use your rewards card, it’s FREE MONEY!
We ended up having over $800 on our rewards card when we hit the road for our Australia lap which covered over 6 weeks of food shopping.
You can also use your rewards card at certain petrol stations when filling your car up. All of those small amounts of points will build up over time.
10. Smart Spending When Socializing
Going to a bar with your friends can be a very expensive night (especially with some of the friends we have!!)
But it is possible to spend a little money, and still have drinks + food, and most important of all, fun! This is why we’ve provided some simple tips to help you save money on a night of bar hopping.
- Before you hit the town on a night out, have some pre-drinks at your house or a friend’s house.
- Or even better, stay there for the night and party in your comfort till whatever time you like. Alcohol from a shop is half the price compared to a bar.
- Just like the weekly offers on your food shopping, there are great deals available on alcohol every week. The same rule applies, if there is a particular beer or spirit that is on offer for a good deal then stock up on that brand – just don’t drink it all in one weekend!
- Remember to check the back of your shopping receipt, often there are great offers available on alcohol.
- If you go out for drinks, go to a bar offering a happy hour, promos, or specials.
- Have food ready for your return home. A pizza from a supermarket is a lot cheaper than a takeaway pizza. Just don’t be that person setting off a fire alarm at 3 AM!
- Lastly, if you can’t afford it, then don’t drink – Simple!
Just like going out for drinks, going for a meal can be an expensive activity.
- Many towns and cities offer great dinner deals on Groupon, Living Social, and Yelp.
- Check out what restaurants offer a lunch special.
- Lastly, cook it yourself. Impress your partner and prepare some perfect steaks with a bottle of wine for a fraction of the cost.
See, it is possible to have drinks and mouth-watering food whilst saving for your long-term goal of full-time travel. Not once did we feel we missed out on anything we wanted.
11. Be Fuel Efficient
Fuel is expensive these days and can be a significant cost in your weekly budget. But with small changes, you can save money that over time will build up to large amounts.
If you fill up your car at the nearest petrol station without any research then you are going to have to change that habit.
There is a great website called Petrolspy. Simply put in your location and find out where you can get the cheapest fuel. Sometimes the difference can be 20 cents per liter – that’s a tenner for 50 liters of fuel. 10 euro saved per week is over half a grand per year.
Obviously, don’t drive a million miles out of the way to get the cheapest fuel……
When possible use one car – we ended up selling one car earlier than expected but couldn’t turn down the opportunity. From then on, we took turns carpooling to work. Either by driving to work together or by catching a spin with a colleague. For short distances consider walking or cycling instead of using the car.
12. What to Do With Unwanted Items?
You are starting to pack up your home to head off on an adventure of a lifetime. What are you going to do with all your crap that is worthless?!
Just chuck it all in the bin, surely no one else wants this stuff right?
WRONG!! Someone will always want your unwanted things and more importantly, give you money for your crap!
We made an extra $600 on items we presumed were rubbish and that were destined for the dump.
Instead, we decided to advertise them on the local marketplace on Facebook “just to see”, and would you believe it, we sold our crap! More free money for full-time travel!
Bonus Tip!
What Countries Are Cheapest for Full-Time Travel?
Where you travel will have a big impact on your budget. For example, you want to travel to beach holiday destinations with white beaches and turquoise water.
Do you go to Thailand or do you go to French Polynesia? Both are paradise destinations, but Thailand will be a lot cheaper!!
There are many countries and areas where your money will go a long way on full-time travel.
South East Asia is one of our favorite places in the world and arguably the most affordable destination on the planet.
Some other very affordable destinations are; Egypt, South Africa, Oman, Kenya, Zanzibar, Indonesia, Central America, and The Baltic States.
It is still possible to score great deals in countries where travel costs can be high. We stayed in a luxury villa in Kenya for over two weeks with our own kitchen, a massive kingsize bed, Netflix, and a swimming pool for 22 Euros per night while the same type of villa was 140 euros next door! All it takes is a bit of time and a small bit of research!
Sounds Quite Achievable, Right?!
There is no magical wand to start saving lots of money without making changes to your daily habits. But the majority of these tips are quite easy to achieve. It just takes commitment and a lot of common sense!
Even if you are not saving for a long-term goal such as full-time travel, you should still apply many of these tips such as stocking up on high-priced items that are on offer, ditching unnecessary bills such as unused gym memberships, and the most important one of all – find a bank with a high interest on offer!
We really hope you too can fulfill your dream of full-time travel.
Once you are on your adventure you will have to be smart about spending your money to make it last a long time.
For 20 simple money-saving tips on the road, have a read of the following.
We would love to answer any questions or hear some of your suggestions and comments.
Slán go fóil
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