I like to travel... like, a lot. There's so much out there to see, but obviously with travel comes cost, and for some, its not as easy to gather funds together. Here are my top tips on gaining some extra pounds towards that holiday.
1. Sell old clothes. This is such an obvious one but it really does help towards spending. I popped a batch of old clothes on Ebay last month and made almost £100, which for me is a few days spending money on holiday. I plan to do that several times before our holiday in November. Because I'm a regular user of Ebay, I know what will sell and what wont. Also think about the season that you are currently in at the time of selling. Don't try to sell winter clothes on the run up to summer because people wont be looking for them, and you'll only lose out on money. I've been able to be really strict with myself lately, and although I love that size 10 top that I've had 8 years, I just know at least for the foreseeable future I aint squeezing myself into it anytime soon!
2. Curb spending on non-essentials. Again, obvious, but hear me out. I don't expect you to completely cut out those meals out with your partner or friends as soon as you book a holiday. Your social life would become pretty dull if you were too harsh! But be wise - I know I can get very lazy on work days and instead of making lunch to take to work, I end up in Tesco's on my lunch break and before I know it, I've spent £4+. Times this by the amount of days you are at work per week and it soon adds up! If its hard work jumping from purchasing food every day to making your own food every day, just do it gradually. For example, if you work 5 days per week, try to make lunch 3 of those days, then the other 2 you can 'treat' yourself and be lazy. There will still be a small saving there. Gradually aim to decrease those supermarket lunchtime trips to zero and you'll soon see your bank balance increase! Also, try to use coupons/vouchers were you can, or Tesco clubcard points if you own one. I recently signed into my account and didn't realise that I had over £50 sat there! If I use the boost system, I could get at least 2 lots of meals for both me and my partner, for free! So your social life doesn't have to go down the drain completely when saving!
3. This depends on the time frame of booking your holiday to actually going. We booked our holiday in February and we are going in November. Therefore, in that timeframe I knew I had a birthday to celebrate and it was on the brink of being Christmas when we depart, so if your relatives/partner etc have a tendency to ask what you would like for your birthday/Christmas, ask for the currency of the country you are visiting! I recently celebrated my birthday and managed to rack up $120 from gifts, which equates to approx. £82. Again, that will get me a good few meals in New York! I prefer to ask for the currency as opposed to just 'money' because if I receive sterling, I am more liable to spend it! However obviously if this is for a holiday in the UK, you don't have much choice! I understand (and completely agree!) that money isn't 'exciting' to receive as a present, but knowing you're in control of what you spend it on is much safer than receiving a present that you may not like!
4. This applies more so to bloggers, but accept paid sponsorship where possible. I'm not massive when it comes to the blogosphere but I occasionally get contacted by companies to write paid posts. If its relevant to my blog to a certain degree, I will accept. It's money I wouldn't have had, and it gets set aside in the savings account! If you're not a blogger but have access to overtime at work.. do it! Doesn't take a genius to work that one out though!
5.
5.
No comments
Post a Comment
Comment away! I love reading them :-)