now it is time to plan

So as of 45 minutes ago, I paid off my last debt, and now that I am debt free I can start saving for my ROTW trip. I have decided my departure date is between Jan 2014-July 2014. Two years to save as much as possible. I am so excited that I paid off all my debt so I can accomplish this, just had to share this with someone, because well I think my friends and family are tired of hearing about my travel aspirations.

So now that I am debt free, and can actually start saving, any suggestions on unique ways to cut cost? Thanks for everyones help!
Jen

Nothing unique - jsut the usual.
*don't eat out
*make your own food from scratch
*reduce your indoor heating and wear an extra layer + extra blankets on the bed
*don't use aircon
*choose free entertainment - better still, get yourself a library card and embark on a spare-time-study-programme
*walk or cycle instead of driving
*ditch unnecessary items that cost you (phone, tv, magazine subscriptions etc)

Nothing revolutionary really. The main thing is to define your needs, set a budget and stick to it.

Having done this EXACT same thing, and now counting down the days to departure (251!), the absolute biggest thing I would encourage you to do (and that seems so obvious)... don't incur more debt!!!!! I paid off all my credit cards, didn't have anything for a year, got a new card thinking I'd start rebuilding credit... and found myself with $1300 more in debt to deal with! It's my own stupidity, I fully accept that, but it's a pit I wish I'd avoided.

@ JBro 33: We never counted exactly how many days until departure until reading your post. We've got 255 from today (departing October 15th). Do you have a tentative route? We're heading to South America first & hopefully volunteering in Patagonia in December(ish?). Maybe we could meet up on the road somewhere!

Cheers,

Lisa & Corey

Get a cheaper apartment where all utilities are paid.

VBG

Move into a tiny box on the street, and save on more rent.



Live on the cheapest foods, ramen noodles, Spaghetti, and rice

The biggest: Convince your parents that a rtw trip is the best education for you that their money can buy!!!!

Put the name of a corporatoin and tatoo it on your forehead

I think the best thing you can do is make a speadsheet and track every penny you spend. It'll make you a lot more aware of where your money is going.

Here's what I did, for a few months I tracked everything I spent (bills, food, entertainment, etc). That gave me a monthly budget that looked something like this:

- rent $___
- gas bill $___
- electric bill $___
- cable tv $____
- internet $____
etc, etc...

Those are the fixed costs that you have to pay each month no matter what.

Then I have a general item that covers all variables like food, entertainment, clothes, gifts, etc. I like bunching all variable spending together in 1 item because it gives you flexibility. For example, if this month you had buy a lot of gifts for whatever reason, then you can make it up somewhere else (food, for example) in order to keep everything below your target number.

When you add all the fixed expenditures + the total allocated for your variables, you get your total monthly budget. Next you need to find out how much net income (after taxes) you get each month. The difference between the 2 is how much you'll be able to save monthly for your trip. Multiply that by the number of months until departure, that that's the total amount you should have for your trip.

If you are not happy with this total amount for your trip, you can change it by doing 2 things: 1) increase your income (ask for a raise, get another part-time job, etc) 2) lower your monthly expenditures (fixed and variable). Find a place with cheaper rent, cancel cable, not eat out.

The important thing is to have a target, and a clear feasible plan to hit that target.

Thanks for the great answers!

I have stopped eating out completely, I live in Texas so heating bills are not an issue to much in Houston. I will sell off all my stuff in the end and hopefully that will help me out.

@Mama I live at the library. I am in the process of cutting all expenses. I am even considering a pay as you go phone when my contract is up and save major expenses. I hate my cell phone and wish I could throw it in the garbage anyway.

@ Hays... now that I am debt free I am gettings offers like crazy, I have no intentions of doing that, but thanks for the advice because sadly deby is easy to rack up quick.

@Lisa Lu We will be starting at Central & South America and heading from there, I want to plan plan plan, but I know deep down not planning is key. We are about a year behind you, so I am not sure where we could meet up but that would be awesome! I am all about meeting other fellow travelers.

@Ddresner, I totally contemplated a box on the street or my parents house... haha but I am not sure I will go that route just yet... we will see where my budget is at the end of the year

@EMH I agree

@ Kevin I love that idea, I do have a little time where I can track my expenses, and that is a very smart tactic on how to handle this. I will work on this tonight while watching TV

If you do use a credit card, never hold a balance and then they can't charge you interest and it's a good way to discipline yourself. If you find you can't do that, then don't have a CC but I'll bet you'll remember the pain for a long time and how good it felt to pay that last balance. Hold on to that.

First and foremost: CONGRATULATIONS ON PAYING OFF YOUR DEBT. I, for one, am happy to celebrate with you. : )

I'm on a similar timeline as you, with a 2014 departure date. I've been saving for a couple months now, and here's what I've learned so far:

1) I'm not willing to skimp on everything for two years. :/ Clothes, sure - because I don't care about that. Food is another issue though. I like to cook, but I'm not going to cook everything - and I'll limit myself to $15-20 when I do go out. Overall, I think it makes sense to figure out the 1-2 things you are willing to spend money on (in my case, food + travel, obv) so that you're not bitter for the two years you're saving.

2) I automate my saving. Every month, a few hundred dollars goes from my checking to my vagabond fund on its own. The less I have to think about it, the better. And then it's like magic when I look at my savings accounts! I also direct windfall income (like a tax refund) to my vagabond fund.

3) Savings accounts - I use ING Direct since you can set up a bunch of sub-accounts. I'm a big fan - having separate savings accounts for travel + emergency savings has been very useful for me.

4) Keep your goal in mind when you're hit with travel envy! I have peers my age excitedly talking about their upcoming week in South Africa or Guatemala. Power to them. And yes, when I hear it, I want to go NOW, TOO - but I'm not because I'm saving for something bigger, later. (-.-)

5) The rest is the same - figure out where you're spending now, and where you're willing to spend less. Suerte!

Aaditi wrote:2) I automate my saving. Every month, a few hundred dollars goes from my checking to my vagabond fund on its own. The less I have to think about it, the better. And then it's like magic when I look at my savings accounts! I also direct windfall income (like a tax refund) to my vagabond fund.

I second this action. I put away just over $10k in one year because I set up an automatic withdrawal from my chequing account to my ING account the day after my paycheque schedule. Every two weeks I'd get paid and have the money withdrawn to savings before I even noticed it was there.

Because that happened without me thinking about it, I continued to try to save and transfer to my ING account as though the auto-withdrawals weren't happening. I was able to save close to another $10k through manual deposits whenever a bit of an excess built up in my chequing account.

ooops! I meant to post my reply to Hays (it looks like we'll be departing around the same time). However, we are thinking about heading back to our favorite destination at the end of the trip to further explore the possiblity of making it our future home. So, who knows, maybe we can meet up somewhere along the way Jbro33!