How Your Money Last

How Your Money Last -

I have a lot of questions about traveling in my inbox, but none more than how I made my money last. so long

Telling people I were traveling for three years (Note:.?! Now ten And where the hell has the time to go) usually makes them think , I'm rich. How else could I afford to travel so long?

I'm not rich and I did not win the Powerball! The truth is, it is no secret to travel and there is not any real secret to make your money last, also.

The way to make your money last is, intelligent and realistic to be over your budget and do your research.

If I go first started, I saw every penny and cut every corner. While I spent sometimes wasteful money as it went out of fashion, I made it on other days and was always in a household.

There are, of course, unforeseen circumstances (such as my camera in dropping water and need a new one) to buy, but I remain all in all, generally close to my goal. That's because I start with a realistic set of expectations expenditure

Here are five steps you can follow your money last, while you make along the way.

Step 1 - Know what you are willing to spend money.
When I travel, I need to budget not much money for accommodation, tours, or transportation. I think it is the cheapest accommodation around or I CouchSurfing. I do not take many tours and I go everywhere.

But I budget a lot of money for food and drinks. Why? Because that's what I want to do. I do not spend every night at home, so that I could fly to Australia and not go, nor did I go to France meals every night in a hostel to make. No, I do not. I came to live! I came to eat and drink in the culture!

If you can eat all your meals in a hostel kitchen then a small food budget for you. If you are planning on CouchSurfing every night of the week, then you do not need to consider for accommodations. If you are flying and know that you love to drink wine to Europe, you should expect that you'll probably buy some wine. Be realistic about what you want to do with your travel

Step 2 -. Research and plan before you go.
If you know yourself, it's easy to create a long-term budget, and this is where pre-trip research comes in. When I began my journey in 05 plans, there is no longer online much information as it is now. I spent much time leaders to read and search for any information I can find about the prices. I pieced together a complicated spreadsheet, how much I would spend every day at various places on how much I could save and what I found online

Maybe you do not need that to go crazy -. But if you want to make your money last, you need to know exactly how much you think you will spend.

get too many travelers through unexpected costs and their budget plans faster than Humpty Dumpty out of the blue. Sure, something always happen that you can not predict, but to get the people most of things out of the blue, they should have expected. "Impressive! The tour is so expensive. I blew my budget" "I did not expect, drinks would cost so much!" "This place is more expensive than I thought.". You hear these comments on the road a lot and my answer is usually: "Why" your research so do

Step 3 - ?. Create your ideal budget.
Perhaps the budget too much to do for you in reality, but it is important to know what you really want to spend money and create a budget that reflects this desire.

It's so easy to come up with this budget, as you and help you find the prices for everything you want online travel guides. There is no excuse for not knowing how much the things you want to do, should cost

step 4 -. Your expectations about your economic reality meet.
I cut a lot on my ideal budget and itinerary, how much I knew I really went for my trip to save. If I wanted to do the things that was $ 10,000 USD, but was trying to save only $ 7,000 USD, then I had to make cuts to match my financial reality. Here are some great articles on saving money to help you:

• 22 ways to save money before you travel
• How to avoid bank fees on the street
• 17 steps to the perfect trip

step 5 planning -. Keep track of your spending
Finally, once you have created your realistic budget and set on the road, you need to keep track of all your expenses. The people who have to go home early, are always those who have no idea how much money they spend on the road

Through each expense tracking -. From the hostel dorms for this snack you bought - you can see if you are on the right track or if you overspend (in this case, that you correct your spending).

This is the most important thing you can do take your money!

If you do only one thing, track your expenses! Sure, you have to remember to do it, and it's easy to forget, but actively do this is to ensure that you become a better budget travelers, and soon it will become a habit.

your budget will only last as long as you plan to keep it. If you plan your budget well, it will last until the end of your trip.

Have I ever go budget? Sometimes. I do it on other days. But it is much easier to make an additional drink as a tour to the Great Barrier Reef or constantly go over your budget accommodation - and by planning and tracking as a financial ninja, things are not likely to happen

. and it all starts with a simple pen and paper.

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