BootsnAll Travel Community

I was just curious....how does everyone finance their adventures? I know we aren't all independently wealthy (god knows i'm not), so how do you do it in this world full of student loan debt, rent, mortgages, car payments, whatever? Where are the best places (physically and supply/accomodation wise) to skimp and splurge? what works for you?

peace be the journey y'all

set a goal and start saving. you can do many things to save more quickly. for example, i always take my lunch to work and i iron my own shirts, rather than take them to the cleaners. it really is that simple

Paying off your debt is always a good way to start, so that you're not owing even more in interest charges. But, that's easier said than done.

I'd suggest things like cancelling gym memberships you don't use (go for a bike ride instead!), cancel the satellite tv, etc. Just look at your spending habits and see what you can cut back on. An example for me would be last night, instead of "going out" (always an expensive proposition), some friends and I got together, brought some beer (so much cheaper than the bars) and played guitar hero and brainium all night. It was great fun and super cheap. Basically, just find cheaper ways to do the things that you enjoy.

One thing I used to do was have a percentage of my paycheck automatically direct deposited into a savings account. I was able to save up pretty quick this way, and I didn't even miss the money because I didn't even see it. I just lived off the 85% of my pay that went to my checking account.

There are lots of good tips on the boards. Just do a search about saving and you'll find tons of info.

A lot of people seem to get another job if they're in the crunch stage of saving. There is a recent thread on it, you might want to do a search. I think it's in corporate wasteland and called something about 70 hours a week. Working two jobs, you save like crazy and don't have time to spend your money.

One thing I did when I was still in debt was pay off everything first. Make double payments, don't eat out, don't drink sodas, but store brands and shop at discount stores. Don't go out to movies wait untill they are available to rent and then wait until they hit the cheap rent prices or go in with someone else. Star a savings account and put everycent not needed to survive in it. I still have a great social life and lots of fun. The thing is I don't spend money I don't have to.

I do a lot of writing online and run a few websites. the easiest way to make some extra money is writing for Associated Content They dont pay much, but its pretty quick and easy. Not to mention they are one of the most established sites of thier sorts.

We have a whole forum dedicated to this, but really, the secret is to simply live below your means. In western society, this isn't exactly the normal way to do things, what with our zero or negative savings rates, but it turns out that it's not as hard as it sounds.

There are some great responses on this thread.

I moved this thread over to the Funding Your Travel Habit forum so it would be near similar other threads. Carry on.