How to Save Money for Your Vacation


There are two main components to travel: One, planning the trip and two, saving money for your adventure. Here at Travefy, we can definitely help you plan your vacation with our app and itinerary planning tool. Saving your money, we can help with as well! In fact, we will help you hack your way to saving–by making more money than your income provides!

Check out our tips below:

1. Sell your clothes (old and new)

There are great apps that can help get your threads and accessories in front of lots of eyes. Apps like Vinted and Poshmark let you upload pictures, a description, and even set a price for your clothes, accessories, and/or shoes.

You can also set up a store on Etsy or eBay and sell on there or head to a local second-hand store that buys clothes.

2. Get a travel credit card

*Gasp* You’re saying you want me to spend money to save money? Short answer: Yes.

Spend like you normally would and use your credit card for everything. Of course, pay it off right away once you use it. Do your research and find the right credit card for you – once you do, you could end up getting a flight completely free! Some credit cards will even give you a major point boost when you open a new card and put enough money on it within the first couple months. Check out Nomadic Matt’s blog post on finding the right credit card for you.

3. Share what you love and make money!

Okay, hear me out on this one…Do you enjoy using Travefy? Did you know that you can join our awesome Affiliate Program for free and maybe throw out a tweet or two to your friends and family and potentially earn commission?!

We created our Affiliate Program with the traveler in mind – when you get someone to create a Travefy account and they create a trip, invite friends, maybe book a hotel through Travefy, and use the expense tool, you will earn commission from them? It’s seriously that easy.

Get more information and sign up here!

4. Make better food and drink choices

This is a dead given, and you’re probably rolling your eyes because you may have been lectured on this before. But think about it. Buying a $4 coffee every work day is around $100/month – that’s $1200 a year! That’s a flight from the U.S. to Europe. Opt for the free coffee at work or if they don’t have it, invest in your own Keurig and keep it at work (this will also probably make you a very popular person at work).

For food, make it ahead of time and meal prep for the week. Even if meal prepping isn’t your thing, buy frozen entrees when they’re on sale and stock up. Of course, PB&J is always a good idea, too. 😉

5. Ditch your ride

This might be hard for some, but if traveling is worth it (which it is) then you’ll have to make the sacrifice. In fact, you might find you prefer riding the bus or your bike to school/work and find it more relaxing than being stuck in rush hour for an hour.

You’ll save tons of moolah by not buying gas, paying insurance, and taking it in for the dreadful oil changes that quickly turn into more investments. It’s like the salesman says, “I raise you one oil change for a new air filter, tire rotation, and new spark plugs.”

6. Find your craft and sell it

Really good at jewelry making, concocting candles, or creating new design prints? Follow your hobbies and make a business out of it! Sites like Etsy thrive off sales like this. What’s really great is the fact that instead of going out on the weekends, you can stay in, save money, and in return make things and sell it online! Here are 10 tips on starting an Etsy business.

7. Pick up a job or freelance

Snag a weekend job bartending or scout Craigslists for odd jobs. There are also loads of sites to help find freelance gigs like Upwork, Peopleperhour, SimplyHired.

8. Work abroad

If you’re planning on traveling for a long time and not exactly sure when you’re coming back – consider working internationally while you travel. You can stay in one location for a while and grab a job there and earn money. Bonus: You’ll probably make tons of great new friends and get the local’s perspective on the best places to go and eat.

Check out sites like Explorers Connect or Teach Anywhere for ideas and employment opportunities.

9. Give up the gym

This isn’t your opportunity to become a couch potato, unfortunately (although, I won’t judge your Netflix binges). Instead, ditch the membership and workout at home, run outside, grab a friend and play tennis, etc. There are tons of ways to get your heart rate up without spending loads on a monthly gym membership. Check out YouTube for workouts, they have everything–quick workouts, long, muscle-focused, and different types of cardio like HIIT or endurance workouts.

If you’re like me and feel more motivated when working out with a group of people, check out local Groupon and LivingSocial deals for gyms in your area.

10. Work remotely

The final and most interesting concept: Keeping your day job in check and seeing the world…at the same time! It’s possible. A ton of workplaces are embracing productivity changes in how humans function and work, and maybe, your boss will allow you to work remotely. Of course, time changes might be a factor, but there’s always a hack for everything and it never hurts to ask! This will give you the opportunity to keep making money even though you’re jetsetting the world.

One of Travefy’s own, Nate spent over a month in Hawaii and working remotely. You can read about his trip here.

Do you have a good money saving trick or tip? Share it with us in the comments below!

Update: January 2016

We are not currently accepting new affiliate partners.