Traveling on a budget: Five tips that could save you thousands

Have you ever said to yourself, “I would love the travel the world but it’s just too expensive.”? Well, you’re not alone. Traveling on a budget can be tricky but not impossible. There are some surprisingly simple ways to afford that trip to Thailand without shelling out boat loads of cash. Here’s five tips to help you do just that.

Our family recently got back from a two-month vacation to Costa Rica. Normally this trip would have cost us so much money, but we figured out some tricks that saved us more than $7,000! Too good to be true? Well, see for yourself. Here’s five tips to help you save money on your next vacation.

Tip #1: Credit card rewards

There are so many credit card companies out there that offer travel rewards that it’s silly not to take advantage of them. We used the rewards points from our Capital One Venture card to pay for all six of our flights to and from Costa Rica, which came out to about $1,600. Plus, we used the rest of our rewards points to pay for about $700 worth of our rental car. That’s $2,300!

Plus, you can ask Capital One to notify you when airline prices to your destination are at its lowest. It’s a cool feature and it literally saved us hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. If you’re not sure which credit card to use for your travel rewards, check out “The Ultimate Guide to Picking the Best Travel Credit Card”.

Tip #2: Skip the rental car and use Uber

Rental cars can be super expensive. According to Car and Driver, it costs about $81 per day to rent a car on vacation. Plus, you have to pay for gas and just hope that you don’t get in an accident. We learned this the hard way when we were in Costa Rica. We rented a car for $3,700 for two months and then I accidentally backed into a pole in our rental car and had to shell out an extra $1,300 for the repair. Meanwhile, our friends decided not to rent a car and just use Uber. They got around just as easily as us and saved a whole bunch of money in the process.

Tip #3: Airbnb your own house

If you’re traveling on a budget, sometimes the best way to save money is to earn money while you’re gone. During our trip to Costa Rica, we hired a management company to rent out our house on Airbnb. Of course, it was a lot of work getting our house ready. We had to clean out all the closets and basically make our house look like a hotel. I had my doubts that anyone would rent it, but when all was said an done, we made $5,558 in two months! That paid for our Airbnb in Costa Rica and then some. When we got home, our house was in perfect condition.

Tip #4: Try Home Exchange

As an alternative to Airbnb, you can sign up for Home Exchange and swap homes with someone else in the world. It sounds crazy but it has worked for lots of people. So far, there are 450,000 homes listed on their website. With a little bit of flexibility, you can spend your vacation in a small village in France or a bustling city in New York.

Tip #5: Join a Facebook group

There are tons of Facebook groups out there for people interested in traveling to various locations throughout the world. You can connect with fellow travelers who can give you tips on affordable housing, rental cars and eateries. It’s a great community to ask questions that could potentially save you time and money. So, let your fingers do the walking and save a little dough.

I hope these tips will help you are you’re traveling on a budget. With a little bit of creativity and ambition, you can see the world and save a lot of money in the process. Let me other ways that you have saved money while traveling in the comments below.

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