just curious...

Im starting to save now for a trip that is at least 12 months away and Im already packing in plenty of overtime as and when I can ...without over doing it too of course...everyone must have fun!Is it possible for you to do some overtime at your job, earn extra commission etc? Or perhaps taking on a second job? depends on how keen you are. Im quite far away from going but I know closer to the time I will be working much harder and probably selling some of my possessions that I just dont use/want anymore...be careful of what you sell though...especially of you will need to rebuy it on your return.
Do you own a car?Do you need/use your car enough to warrent having one?perhaps you could sell it...think of how much money you could save in petrol, car tax MOT etc etc, of course you would need to compare it to your other travel options and if they would be cheaper. I had thought of buying a car recently but decided against as I walked to work or could get the bus and walked everywhere in the city. The only times a car would be useful would be for rare long distance travel and perhaps the supermarket trips so would cost me more than i needed it.
Money making tips Ive often seen in magazines is advertising yourself to do cleaning, washing cars etc, gardens...if you are into that kind of thing.
making your lunch rather than buying it and having teabags/coffee beans for the office rather than popping out for that £1-2 cuppa...

all adds up!

Set yourself a sensible time frame to earn the money by. Figure out how much money you need to save. Work two jobs. (It should be easier to earn money rather than save it, but better to do both). Get a bicycle for getting around your home town. Move back in with your parents - if they like you, or share with others. But avoid making your life hell while you save. Its not worth it.

There's an australian book about how to pay off your mortgage in a short time frame. This book has lots of saving tips.

Use library books, rather than buying them for trip planning and research.
Don't buy too much stuff to travel overseas - a lot of expenses for a trip like this are made before you even leave home, so it pays to be careful.

But the main thing is get your head down and work at jobs that pay. The more time you spend working, the less time you have to spend it.

I'm having trouble working out HOW much we'll need! How have you worked this out? In answer to your question, we're selling our car, my dad is helping us out, saved a bit already. If we dont have enough by Dec then I'm selling the house, I'm sooo desperate to see more of the world!!:O)

My husband and I are in the midst of our savings. Before we started we paid off all our debts - including student loans. This pushed are departure date forward 8 months but means we don't have to skimp out on what we want to do. It also taught us how to budget. This is the biggest tip, the most important tip! Make a budget of what you actually need to live and stick to it.

We also looked at our everyday expenses and cut down without doing much - finding a high interest savings account, finding a no-fee chequing account option (the banking stuff saved us $100/month), grocery shopping at cheaper places, cutting out taxis, bringing a lunch to work everyday.

Probably sounds horrible, but because we budgeted for some fun, it's been easy. And we've found ourselves spending less and less each month - pain free.

We still managed to go away to Cuba in January. And I'm going to England next week for free (cashing in airmiles staying with friends).

If you want to go, you'll make it happen.

It was easy.
I got a good education; worked my way up to a well paid job and spent less than I earned. Money for travel was never a problem.

But I have a hunch, that you want a quicker and easier way.

I'm a student and have been saving for 18 months for my GAP year...
...I've opened a seperate "savings" account to deposit money into whenever I get enough in my working account. It has good interest and accumulates at a moderate pace.
I've got part time job that I work weekends and public holidays at, but it's getting difficult now in my final year of school.

Just try and cut back on basic living costs like packing your own lunch if you go to work or borrowing books/CDs from the library instead of buying them.

Set yourself small savings goals like "this month I'll save $300 dollars" and then just go from there. It's nice when you reach your goals as you feel like your getting somewhere and you actually have something to work towards instead of just pointlessly saving.

Good luck!