learn some carpentry skills/art skills and work on a movie (LA, Albuquerque, Shreveport, and Austin are hot spots). You can make pretty good bank in a short amount of time.

We were fortunate in that both my husband and I are teachers and both got jobs in Ethiopia at the American School. We lived there for 7 years and were able to save a ton - cost of living was really low, we paid no taxes, housing was provided as part of our contract, and there was nothing to spend money on anyway!

When we came back to the USA we bought a house with cash and will be renting out the house - which will pay for most of our expenses on our upcoming bicycle trip from Alaska to Argentina.

So really - seven years living the good life in Ethiopia is paying for our adventure!

I think the most important thing to do to save money is to have some kind of a college degree so that you can get a decent job which pays better than minimum wage. It's tough to save money when none is coming in!

Thanks for sharing yout tips everyone!

3 days ago, I officialy started saving money for my RTW which I plan to do in 3 years (june 2011).

I have a good job which will help me save about $7000 CAN for the first year. Then, I intend to move either with roommates (or rent a room or something) to save up to $10000 (per year) for the 2nd and 3rd year.

My first goal is to sell things I don't use/need so I can quickly already have 2K in the bank – that will cheer me up and make a great start at making this dream of mine come to reality!

So, I should have about 30K for my RTW.

After reading a discussion concerning the post-RTW finances, I decided to wait another 6 months so I can have 5-6K when returning home.

My husband and are are fortunate enough that our preferred lifestyle habits and a few lucky turns helped us save up.

First, we both live in and found work in San Francisco and so were able to ditch our car. One online calculator says since we're without a car, we're saving $7,200 a year as a household. San Francisco has great car share companies (City Car Share and Zip Car) and we have a friend who is willing to lend us their car once a month or so. We are also avid city bike riders.

Few "iToys." Buying less really makes a huge difference, upgrading to the newest TV, mp3player, cell phone and so on is pricey. It helps we hate to shop. We also put off buying new digital cameras until just a few months ago so we'd have the best ones for the price for the RTW trip we knew we were taking.

We also like to shop vintage/thrift, don't like cable TV, would rather hang casually with friends and see local bands than go see a big bucks stadium concert.

We still eat out a lot. Go out a lot...Dunno, it just worked out without needing to change our quality of life much. Part our personalities, part intent, part luck of lifestyle.

And the car thing. I shouldn't downplay how much we've saved by being bike riders. God, and with gas in San Francisco nearing $5 a gallon, we're saving even more now than ever.

I am starting to save for my big trip now. I have loocked at what i spend my noney on, and found a lot i can cut down on. I just starte making my own lunch for work, and that is really a big saver. I have also started drinking less beer, whitch is realy pricey here in norway..

So i hope that i will be able to save me up the money yhat i need for my trip + a little extra for som fun on the road.

I am trying to save money for a trip to Europe. Many the easies way for me to go would be to quit buy cigarettes, that alone will save me $120+ a month. I also buy a lot of junk I don't need. I am typing out a monthly budget to stay strict on and I should be able to save a lot. I wast a lot of money. For example taking a Taxi when the bus is only a fraction of the cost (more if you buy monthly pass). Its the little things that add up fast. Figuring out cheaper ways to do things and questioning yourself on useless purchases is gonna get me money I need to Travel.

quote:

Originally posted by InkedParrot:
Many the easies way for me to go would be to quit buy cigarettes, that alone will save me $120+ a month. Its the little things that add up fast.

Groan ... Oh tell me about it.. I know just how you feel...If only I could quite smoking.. I think of how much I could save..but it's very very hard.

eBay Baby! Selling every little nic nac I own on eBay. It's one way to get rid of stuff without the hassle of a garage sale!

I'm in the process of selling my stuff for a trip to New Zealand. Selling my PS3, 360, DS, PSP, TV, TV stand, Computer, and anything else that I don't need.

It also helps that I am still living with my parents and they do not charge me rent. I work a pretty decent (but dreadfully boring) job that pays well above minimum wage.

I don't shop or even like to spend money for anything. My friends have all but forgotten about me, so spending money on social events isn't a drain either.

I love reading how packing your own lunch instead of purchasing it saved someone enough money to travel for a year. 20,000$ saved from bringing a sandwich to work... Not likely...

Those who are able to squander such capital on travel usually have a solid safety net (mommy and/or daddy's pocket).

Do realize you are among the few in this world we live in who get to experience such luxuries as extended budget travel. Yes, it is a luxury to travel on a budget.

this is an idea i got from my communications teacher. I haven't tried it but it seems like a good idea for all of you students. take good notes in class, outline them, and type out everything thats important to study. Then just make copies and sell the notes for like 3 dollars each. You get better grades and you get some cash.
I'll let you know if it works, i bet it will since there's alot of students who would rather not take notes and just buy someone elses.

quote:

Originally posted by GMoney:
I love reading how packing your own lunch instead of purchasing it saved someone enough money to travel for a year. 20,000$ saved from bringing a sandwich to work... Not likely...

Those who are able to squander such capital on travel usually have a solid safety net (mommy and/or daddy's pocket).

Not sure if you are trolling or what but bringing your own lunch to work can save you TONS of cash. If you take the time to think about it for a minute you would see why.

$10 lunch 5 times a week, that;s $200 a month and $2400 a year. That's not chump change, that's your RTW ticket. Even if you factor in the cost of bringing in your own lunch you are saving massive amounts of money. Cut out Starbucks every day, that's another $1200 a year.

I can't speak for everyone on the board but some of us work incredibly hard to give ourselves the opportunity to travel and don't rely on mom and dad.

Back on topic the best way for me to save money is to get a second job. It has been said countless times but the benefits are 2 fold, it gives you more income and takes up your time which prevents you from spending any money. That is unless you make the mistake of working at an outdoor/sport shop in which case you justify the expense on that super nice backpack and all that new travel clothing.

Not a tip that adds for a long trip, but I'm taking a two week trip to the Galapagos and Ecuador. Once I figured out where I was going I started taking all the $1s and $5s out of my wallet whenever I got them. I don't use cash much, but still ended up with about $150 in small bills to bring with me. Its always great having small bills in these countries and because I did it over time I didn't miss the small amounts. Between that, paying for the cruise about 6 months ago, and using frequent flier miles to get there its go be low cost trip for me.

I guess if you started even earlier and it prevented you from blowing the money on something else it could add up to a thousand or two before long.

im gonna be teaching english in japan for 6-7mo (while working on my thesis) -- pretty much anyone from usa/britain/aus with a 4-year degree can go over to japan and make roughly 40k USD/yr doing that. generally about 35hrs/wk work, so plenty of free time, and i know plenty of people banking 1k USD/mo while still enjoying themselves.

keep in mind that living in the country will save you a lot of money over living in the city.

I found these articles that might help.

Travel as long as you want to without going broke (interview)
http://www.travelblogs.com/articles/how-to-travel-as-lo...oing-broke-interview

"If you can earn $5 a day, you can travel forever"
http://www.travelblogs.com/articles/earn-5-a-day-you-can-travel-forever

Wade, 8yrs on the road
http://www.travelblogs.com/interviews/8-years-on-the-ro...-interview-with-wade

His site: http://www.vagabondjourney.com

Free accomodation swapping
http://www.hobohideout.com/webmasters

Nomadic Matt
http://www.nomadicmatt.com/