“We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires…” said Tyler Durden in the 1999 movie version of Chuck Palahniuk’s book of the same title, Fight Club. And how right that quote is.
All of our favorite musicians, TV stars, sports legends, and movie A-listers are virtually all on record proclaiming that there’s nothing special about them and with a little hard work anybody can be living in 15 mansions with a garage full of foreign sports cars that sound like fighter jets.
The reality is that where opportunity does come our way, it often unerringly resembles random chance, and making the right choices that would see us make the most of those random chances is the kind of luck that it’s hard to rely on.
That’s why today we’re going to focus on how to save for travel on a low income. Because people who make the coffee for the person who makes the coffee have dreams and travel aspirations, too.
Budgeting and saving really works
People on low incomes may become frustrated at not having the means to support their goals in life, and they could begin to express this frustration by living outside of their means. This means credit cards (try this budget calculator).
But let’s get real with facts and figures here.
Let’s say you can only afford to save €100 per month in the form of a direct debit and let’s say you put all of your pocket change to one side from things like shopping (totaling no more than about €10 per week.
Starting in October, by the following September you could have €1,100/€1,200 saved from direct debits into a savings account, and over €400 saved from pocket change. That’s more than a grand and a half towards your travel plans. See. Budgeting and saving really work.
Vices are vices because they’re vices, and that means they’re hard to quit…
Your vices may be costing you a small fortune without you realizing it because of a low daily or weekly cost. We’re not just talking about the big vices, like gambling, drinking, and smoking.
Vices can be anything from your taste inexpensive coffee to the fear of missing out that keeps you glued to the content from subscription services. Whatever it is that you think you can’t live without, try to think around the problem.
Is there a cheaper substitute you can put up with while you save? Switching to cheaper brands for everything from our vices to our groceries can help to free up extra cash when we need it (remember, it’s only temporary!).
Hi, I’m Christine – a full-time traveler and career woman. Although I’m from the Philippines, my location independent career took me to over 40 countries for the past 8 years. I also lived in 3 continents – from the Caribbean, South East Asia to Africa. But despite living in several countries, my love for Ireland remains the same. A country that had been a part of my life since I was 14 because of my love for Irish music and bands. Ireland Travel Guides was born because of this passion and hopefully, in some little ways, this website will be able to help you on your next trip to Ireland.
Leave a Reply