How to plan a trip on a budget?

Whether you are more weekend getaway traveler, spontaneous traveler or prefer long proper holidays, money is always a key thing to think when planning holidays. It can burn your account easily and pretty fast if you don't think about budgeting prior.

I enjoy travelling frequently, so always have my finances around travelling in mind. I will share with you couple of tips and websites where I am getting information, inspiration on my travel plans.

Research cheapest travel option

First, start with the time frame. How long do you want to go for? Weekend? Lsonger weekend? Few days? A week? More then a week? Whatever is the reason for your travel, have that in mind that it will impact your number of nights, eating out costs and costs of entertainment in there.

I tend to start my research on Skyscanner  or kiwi.com to compare prices and to have some location suggestions. Prices increase constantly if you are searching for it frequently. So make sure to compare the prices in private mode or on other devices and accounts. Avoid booking popular destinations in their peak season. Such as bank holidays or summer. Try to be flexible in locations, unless it is a must have visit location for you. There are plenty of nice beaches out there, not just in Canary Island for example. Or there are plenty of great shopping destinations, not just London. Worth checking coach and trains too if you do not mind. Sometimes, they can be much cheaper and also you would save time and money to get in and out of the airport.

Try to narrow down your search by the month, or specific dates, or alternatively, be open to time. Use the filter, to check which day in the moth or which month is the cheapest to travel to the given destination. Avoid booking also on popular travel days and times if possible, like Friday evening or Sunday evening. Instead, maybe book on Monday morning (if going for a weekend away). Or take half a day or a day off from work.

Check if there are any national holidays or school holidays during that period, as it affects the popularity of flights. It is worth checking some sales promotions of low budget airlines, like Ryanar, Easyjet or Wizzair as they tend to have frequently flight offers.

Visit budget-friendly destinations

Be open to discover new places, rather the mainstream one. Not only it will be much cheaper, but also you will see totally different things opposed to mainstream travel destinations, like London, Rome, Paris etc. If you planning to go to any of those big metropolitan cities, make sure your budget is more flexible, as you will have to spend more money in there.

Cheaper cities are equally beautiful. Look into cities like Warsaw, Lisbon, Lyon, Budapest, Prague, Bucharest etc. In my previous posts, I have shared a list of great weekend getaway cities in Europe.

Also consider nearer destinations to you. Maybe easily reachable by a car, coach or train. For example, there are many cute villages, countryside and cities around London. Like Brighton, Castle Combe, Bath or Lake District.

Find cheap places to stay

I prefer to stay in hotels or airbnbs. I do always check both hotel and airbnb market prices before picking up for which one I will go. If I am travelling only for a weekend or short period of time, I know I won't be staying in for too long. Thus, I look at central location, easily walkable to city center as well as privacy and clean place. It comes always even cheaper when splitting the cost for accommodation with your travel buddy. Check for offers and discount codes as well, such as £25 off first Airbnb booking through my travel voucher. For hotels, I tend to check hotel.com and booking.com, get £15 off if you book via my link too!

Be money-savvyy

Don't let yourself to be ripped of by tourist places. Try to get to know more locals, explore local spots and try out more then highlighted tourist experiences. When it comes to eating out, it will be your majority of travel costs. So don't spend so much on some un-tasty food. Try out local cuisine, local restaurants and best, make friends with locals so they can take you out on the best money-friendly places for a meal. Go on Eat With for example to make new friends by dining. Airbnb experiences is a great place too, to get involved with activities with locals.

Apart from that, take advantages of free tours or museums. Do your research prior, search for events or things to do in the city visited. I personally like checking Time Out or other travel blogs to get updated with things around the city.

Download apps to track your daily spending, or create a saving jar on your bank account to set yourself a budget for a trip. I am trying save money through separate bank saving accounts or fan of Monzo jars and summary after each month and after each trip abroad.

Lastly, consider to apply for reward accounts, whether it is for airlines, hotels or any points collected which can be useful in the future towards traveling and spending.

However, most importantly, enjoy and don't make the budget and money issue to block you from exploring the city and enjoying you travels!

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