Tools for the Thrifty Traveler: Track Your Expenses to Save Money and Stay Within Travel Budget

Traveling is a great way to explore the world you live in, to meet new people and to experience new things. Nearly everyone loves to travel at some point in their lives, but if you have a tight travel budget to work with, you need to make sure you stay on top of your money situation before you even leave.

Save Money and Stay Within Travel Budget

While almost anyone can travel somewhere nice on a small budget, there are things you need to be aware of: you need to have a budget in place for your spending on the trip. You need to know exactly where your money is going at all times so you don’t end up having to find more money or skimping on something you want to do because your funds are low. Here are a few tips on tracking your expenses.

Practice Before You Leave

Nothing can be more frustrating that not really knowing where all of your money is going. Sometimes, you’ll have a money leak somewhere in your life and you just can’t figure out where. Tracking all of your expenses is a great habit to get into and will prepare you for your travels.

For a few weeks before you leave, account for every dollar you spend. If you don’t spend that much money, you can keep track of it in a notebook, but if you’re like most people — buying little things each day — you might want to create a small spreadsheet to track your expenses. This can give you an immediate picture of your finances and where all of your money is going. Then, you know where to tighten your belt for your travels.

Use Plastic

Traveling with a lot of cash on hand can not only make it difficult to keep track of, it can also be dangerous. Credit cards can be a very smart financial decision when you’re on the road or in the air.

Even if you have a bad credit score, there are plenty of credit cards out there you can qualify for. If you don’t have one, try to get one well in advance of your trip. This will help get you in the mindset of using the card and with technology the way it is today, you can easily track all of your charges on your mobile devices from anywhere so you’ll also know your situation.

Plan and Budget Accordingly

If you want to keep accurate tabs on your finances while you’re traveling, you need to have a travel plan and a travel budget. This way, there will be no surprises.

Sure, things come up sometimes where you need to spend extra, but if you know ahead of time what you plan on doing and how much money you plan on spending, it will be a lot easier to stay within your budget than if you just “wing it.”

Plan ahead next time you’re getting ready to travel and you’ll keep your expenses under control.

Jack Rowe is a world wanderer! A young traveler on a very tight travel budget, he shares his tips and travel stories with others who would love to travel but aren’t sure how to do it with little money. – Travel Feeder

About The Author

Cecil Lee

The author is an avid traveler and photography hobbyist who loves to share with others his travel and photo-taking experience in many popular tourist destinations around Europe, Asia and Australasia. Read the exciting stories with many photos captured on his journeys.