5 Ways we are Saving Money to Travel

Travelling, for us, is a priority. But we live on one low income which means we need to be creative in how we make travel happen. In my last post, HERE, I shared that we are going to Colorado this September. Some of our ways to keep travel expenses down will be camping at cheap and free sites, making our own meals, and driving instead of flying there. Regardless of how cheap the trip itself will be if we cut corners, the truth of the matter is that we still need a good chunk of money to travel. 

Here are some ways we are making it work.

 1. We put at LEAST 20 dollars away from every weekly paycheque. 20 dollars doesn't seem like much, but after months of doing that you will easily have a few hundred or more dollars building up. If we have extra money from a paycheque, we put in more than 20, and there has been the odd week we can only put in 10, but SOMETHING alway goes into the fund.

 2.Christmas money. Every year we get some money from relatives for Christmas. Sure, initially we wanted to spend it on things such as clothes or items for our house, but we reminded ourself what we wanted more.

 3. Points Cards. We are big fans of the PC Plus points program. Most people use these points for free groceries, but do you know you can use them to purchase a gift card from No Frills (or Loblaws, or Independent Grocers) such as a prepaid Visa? We save our points, buy a gift card, and use it for gas on our trip.

 4. Surveys. Okay, so this is not my favorite way to earn money, that's for sure. But it's something I can do at home in the middle of homeschooling my kids or tending to the needs of my family. It's not a lot of extra cash, but it's something that will make a difference on our trip.

  5. We don't eat out much. Nor do we go through drive thrus for coffee and donuts very often. Since Christmas our family has gone out to eat once, and my husband and I have gone out to eat a couple of times separately with friends. We even stopped ordering pizza for our family, and instead make our own homemade pizza. We are big foodies and LOVE to eat out, but we know we will love an adventure on the road even more!

 Saving for a trip you really want, especially when living on a lower income will take sacrifice and time. But in the end, if you really want it, you can make it happen! It may take longer than someone with more disposable income, but it's not impossible. After our trip to Colorado, we are saving for a family trip overseas. We are estimating this will take us 5 years to save for. 5 YEARS! For this impatient woman, it's going to be tough, but I want this trip and have decided I will be fighting to make it happen.

 Where would you go on a trip if you had the money? Are you saving to go somewhere?