Traveling has become an integral part of our lives. We all love to travel but traveling needs a lot of planning beforehand. When you start planning for your trip the first thing that comes to our mind is the budget. How much it will cost? What If I tell you that you can save while traveling?
Yes! You heard it right. You can save money while traveling if you follow some of my tips given below. All the tips mentioned below are from my personal experiences. So let’s get started with these ten exclusive traveling tips.
1. Travel Budget
To fix the travel budget, the first thing is to add on your usual expenses like hotel and food, then see how much you left over for your trip. If you have dollars amount in your mind then calculate the expenses on tickets and lodging once you there and keep that money aside. Or you don’t have that much to create your budget you can try out these apps like Trip advisor. The main thumb rule is to budget a minimum of 2 to 2.5 times the cost of accommodation with one night’s worth of food.
2. Digital Money
The safest way to travel is to withdraw your money from ATMs with debit cards or credit cards. This the easiest way as you found ATMs all around the world. The main hurdle in digital money is to search the banks with low international fees so that you can save money for your trip. For example, ALLY BANK is the best option for travelers as it doesn’t need a minimum amount to open the account and they don’t charge an ATM fee. After choosing your bank, you can link your current account with saving account, another easiest and safest way to secure and transfer your money through internet banking.
3. Cash as a King
We all need cash in our life. In traveling it is better to have some cash as most countries deals in cash only or sometimes if you don’t find ATM or ATM is out of cash. So if you are carrying cash you have to take proper care of it from thefts. Split up the cash into your clothes, hotel room lockers, or in your luggage bags.
4. Alternative Payment mode
Instead of debit cards, you can use Prepaid Cards that you load with money and use it as a debit card only. But when we compared the transfer rates that are not less than the bank rates, so it is not worth bothering. For extra support you can use Paytm, Google Pay or Pay Pal accounts for an emergency.
5. Notify your Bank
No matter where you are traveling, the foremost thing you have to do is to notify your bank. As banks do whatever they can to protect your money from fraud. When you travel if banks spot any unknown transactions from different locations, they will inform their fraud detection system and might shut off your card. But when you inform them earlier, they add a record of your account.
6. Know the Exchange rates
Besides the transfer fee, you should know the exchange rates also. As exchange rates are constantly fluctuating, that will help to have access to them. This will help you to spend appropriate money than more you needed.
6. Places to withdraw money
Once you reach your destination, the foremost thing to do is withdraw your money as soon as possible. However, every airport has ATMs at bus stations or borders. There are exchange booths also but they have bad exchange rates usually. Choose wisely from where do you want to exchange or withdraw your money at your destination. You can rather book a cab straight to an ATM which is on the way to your hotel.
7. Eyes on expenses
Now the question is What if you will run out of cash in the mid of the trip?
It’s important to have an eye on your expenses and know how you are doing against your budget. This will prevent you from stressing your mind thinking whether you can afford this item or spoil your fun activities. You can track your expenses by writing down every penny in your phone or install any tracker app to keep safe. This will tell you which part of your spending is eating your budget.
8. Travel offseason
This is the best way to manage or save your money. Not only India, but many other places are seasonal places like the Greek Islands. You should know exactly when to book tickets, accommodations and when to avail offers of different agencies. Believe me; it makes a huge difference with seasonal trips.
9. Haggling – Key to smart savings
Sometimes it’s fun for someone or its pain in disguise. Haggling is key to shopping in different countries. If there is a price tag on an item then you have to pay the entire amount but if it’s not then the price is negotiable.
10. Spend up the converted currency wisely
It’s worthwhile to have some currency on hand but it’s better to spend up all the converted currency before you leave. It gives you more opportunities to roam around for the best rates and allows you to ignore the pain of dealing with exchange fees counters and having limited options.
The traveler who dreams to live their life to the fullest by exploring different countries. These things need to be taken care of in every situation whether the travel is within the country or outside the country.
