If you’re itching to travel, it’s important to plan ahead and know how to achieve the best savings. Don’t let your budget dissuade you from having a great time. From airfare to entertainment, we’ve researched and selected the best resources to get you started on your vacation with a budget-friendly approach.
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General Tips
- Travel on a Budget: Learn some simple tips about how to travel on a budget by checking for good airfares, using international airlines and more.
- 50 Thrifty Travel Tips: From the well-known traveler Rick Steves, this guide gives you easy ways to save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
- The Ultimate Travel Hack: This tip involves house sitting in another country. You can actually get paid for lodging!
- 5 Steps for Starting a Vacation Fund: Learn more about how to start contributing savings to a fund specially designated for relaxing vacations.
- How to Travel on $50 a Day: It sounds hard to believe, but you can travel on less than $50 a day if you make smart, well-planned decisions.
- Design Holidays: Design Holidays provide a range of luxury holidays in stunning luxury resorts such as La Manga Club.
- How Not to Blow Your Budget: Avoid the pitfalls that can lead to overspending while on vacation, including mastering exchange rates and setting daily cash allowance.
Destinations
- 10 Best Budget Destinations for 2014: This article breaks down global destinations that have special rates going on this year, including Venice, Seoul, and Buenos Aires.
- Pine Cliffs: The Pine Cliffs Resort is widely regarded as one of the leading and award-winning Luxury and Family holiday Resorts in Europe.
- Forte Village: Best online discounts to book Forte Village hotels, bungalows & villas.
- Chia Laguna Resort: Incredible views out to the beguilingly beautiful Chia Bay from their panoramic terrace.
- Monte Da Qunita: They provide luxury holidays to Monte da Quinta Resort Algarve.
- Ritz Carlton Abama Resort: Best online discounts to book the Ritz Carlton Abama Resort ocean suites, villas & hotel at the best rates around.
- 100 Best Things to do in Switzerland: If you think there is nothing in Switzerland except snow, chocolate and cuckoo clocks, you are in for a big surprise! Despite its diminutive size (Switzerland has an area of only 41.290 square kilometres), the country offers an amazing wealth of cultures, landscapes and activities. Rugged and mountainous in some parts, serene and leafy.
- La Manga Club: Tradition, history and modernity collide at La Manga Club in narrow stretch of land of the same name on the very tip of the Iberian Peninsula of Murcia.
Transportation
- 10 Ways to Save on Airfare: With these ideas, you don’t have to plan your vacation around specific seasons.
- One Easy Way to Spend Less on Airfare: From the popular travel publication Condé Naste, this is a simple tip on the best days to buy airline tickets.
- Five Ways to Avoid Renting a Car: You can save a lot by not spending for a rental car when you travel. Learn to take advantage of public transit wherever you go.
Eating and Shopping
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- How to Save Money on Food: Familiarizing yourself with a nearby grocery store is just one of the easy ways to save money on your food budget while traveling.
- 16 Ways to Eat Cheap on Vacation: Planning ahead, being flexible and hunting for bargains can be well worth the amount of cash you’ll save.
- Tips for Shopping Abroad: These tips will help you find genuine local goods, learn how to haggle and get your prizes home with you without breaking the bank.
- Tips for Buying Goods: Getting it home can be the most expensive part of shopping while on vacation. Learn more about how to plan for this ahead of time.
Entertainment
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- 5 Ways to Score Free Vacation Entertainment: Stepping outside of your comfort zone could help you save a lot of money while still having fun on vacation.
- Finding Cheap Entertainment on Vacation: By researching and asking the locals, you can score a lot of insider secrets on accessing entertainment without blowing your budget.
- Free Things to Do for Budget Travel: Find out the tips and tricks to getting free upgrades. There are also articles here on free museums and other free things to do by city.
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Tips for Traveling on a Budget
The best way to save money on traveling is to research and plan carefully.
You can start saving as soon as possible by putting aside a set amount of money each month toward a “Vacation Savings Fund.” Add any extra bonuses from work or cash gifts from the holidays to really get the savings growing.
If you’ve always had a dream destination, try to plan the vacation during the off-season. If you just want to get away to a warm place and don’t particularly care where, do some research on the most affordable places of the year. These destinations are picked each year for their especially low cost.
Search for airfare and hotels early. You can save money by booking in advance and by booking on the right days of the week.
Consider using cash back rewards or points from your credit card. Also check to see if you can qualify for discounts through AAA and other organizations that offer discounts or bonus points.
Familiarize yourself with the local language. Try not to rely on a Smartphone app. These apps can drain your phone and leave you with no battery when you need it most. Instead, try to bring a pocket book of common traveler phrases. You can save a lot by simply being able to ask the locals for information on how to use public transit, directions on how to get somewhere on foot, and where to find the best food for the best price.
Avoid renting a car. Rental cars add up fast, especially when you are lost and rack up mileage costs. Instead, rely on public transportation, bike rental and the occasional taxi. You might even consider getting a monthly rail or bus pass if you plan on traveling by public transit a lot.
Be savvy. Tourists are often the targets of petty crime and outrageous fees overseas. When you use a currency exchange, make sure to look for both the buying and selling exchange rates. Exchanges that only show you a selling rate are making a hefty profit. Also make sure to be wary of any shady beggars, pickpockets or “police officers.” Sometimes scammers will fake being a police officer, ask to see your wallet and run off. Similarly, pickpockets are usually working in pairs to have one person distracting you while the other swipes your wallet or purse.
Finally, make sure you set a daily cash allowance. Know how much have to spend and plan your day accordingly.
- Budget Resource Guides
- Other
- Telescopes On a Budget: Buying telescopes on a budget, telescopes for kids, and telescope history all in one place.
- Cycling On a Budget: General tips on cycling, buying on bike on a budget, and bicycle maintenance.
- Weddings On a Budget: Everything you need to know for saving for a wedding on a budget.
- Dogs On a Budget: How to raise a healthy dog on a budget.
- Surviving on a Student Budget: You may be poor but you can still survive on a student budget.
- Fax: Everything you need to know by saving with online fax. On a budget? you can save money when you fax from computer instead of a using fax machine. Other useful guides: How-to Email Fax, How-to Fax Online, and How-to Get a Fax Number.
- Payroll: Everything you need to know about payroll. On a budget? These are 6 different ways you can get free payroll software for your business and here is a guide on Buying Payroll Software. Recommended Articles: Everything about payroll tax and certified payroll software.
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