Hey, I was in the same situation, well, similar situation. I had a huge credit card bill and a loan to pay off. To be honest, it's not worth saving any money if you haven't payed off your debts. I had payed off everything by January this year and then I was saving like a mad woman! My goal was €10k and I have half of that already and according to my maths, I should have the 10k by the end of September. I'm heading off travelling at the end of October.
To be honest, I wouldn't have managed if I wouldn't have worked extra weekends and I am getting a bonus payed out at the end of this month.
Anyway, I also have cut down on a lot of other expenses. I am not going to 3 gigs a month anymore, I hardly go out drinking our eat out a lot, I don't buy any CD's or DVD's and I hardly buy clothes. Just think about what you can take with you when you go away and it won't be your CD collection or the lovely clothes you have bought ;)
It is really hard and I feel for you but like everyone else said, if you alter your lifestyle a little, you'll see how much cash you can save. Good luck!
Go to cheaper countries, couchsurf and work in the countries you are going to (if its legal) it may not be so much of a holiday but you will have great experiences, push your comfort zone and meet great people (especially if you work) That way you dont have to save as much! I landed in the uk from australia with 200 pounds, i returned to oz two years later!
good luck and happy travels!
Check out Saving For Travel for some rather obvious but inspiring ideas for saving cash... also features a handy RTW Budget calculator - a good second opinion on your £8000 estimate :p
One of the things I do is have a coin jar. At the end of the fortnight before I draw out my 'spending money' I put everything that is left over from the last fortnight in the jar. Once that money is in the jar it stays there until I go on my trip or I deposit it in my Travel Account. It all adds up!
For my RTW savings I've opened an online ING Direct Savings maximizer account. The interest rate is certainly better than what is offered by my bank and that is now adding up as well which is great. It also helps me avoid 'impulse buying' since it takes 5 days to transfer between the ING account and my normal bank account. I also sold my car, I realised that I'm in a position where I do not need one and that is a massive saving, no more petrol, insurance, car service costs etc.
Anyway good luck!
Here are the measures I took. First as an other poster mentionned, I made a spreadsheet with ALL my spendings. It really helps to know exactely how much you've got in the bank, how much you are spending and where the money is going, instead of just going to the ATM whenever you need money. I also made a projection of my monthly bills so that I could calculate exactly how much was going out each month. After that, I alocated myself the most minimal weekly spending money for lunch (which consists of a bread role and spread cheese which I get at the supermarket) and daily necessities, and I stick to it. I even try to spend less of my weekly alowance to save the extra money. No more restaurants, very few drinks out (some can't be helped), no new clothes, no new shoes, no new anything really. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to move into a cheaper flat, I took it! It's not always easy, especially when you are with other people who do not understand why you are only having one drink for the whole evening, or who don't understand why you are not going to the movies anymore or going out to the restaurant anymore. But I keep my trip in perspective, and then it just becomes a habit!
Sarah,
There is another option as well. Do you really need to spend a year travelling right now? You are never going to see everything anyway - no matter how you try. Why not take 6 months travel, in relatively cheap countries (SE Asia, Australia with a WHV, Central America) and get a taste of what is out there. Then come back, with minimal debt (if any) and start the process all over again (if you want to). Remember you might hate travelling ?
When I came out of college, I would have loved to have gone travelling straight away, except like yourself I had loans to pay off. So I done the 'sensible' thing, got a real job and worked away to clear those. It was late 1990's in IT, and it was not long before the company were sending me on work assignments abroad (not travel but great expenses). After 18 months they assigned me to work in Australia for a year - so when my friends were back-packing through Australia, I was there on expenses still earning my irish salary. After that I did leave them, went back-packing through Southern Africa and South America, but at the time i had a lot more money behind me, was financially secure and the travel budget was not as tight.
My point is - you dont have to do everything NOW - most of the world is not going anywhere. Save hard, take a shorter trip and enjoy yourself. If you really want to travel, you will always find a way.
Have a great trip
hiya... i do you see your point but whenf u start to settle down get a 'real job' and have a morgage there is no way in hell u can flounce off and go travelling! its something i feel i have to do at this time in my life wherei have little respsonibility! we are thinking of planning a shorter trip tho!
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<hr>whenf u start to settle down get a 'real job' and have a morgage there is no way in hell u can flounce off and go travelling!<hr></blockquote>
Er... well, I'll admit it's probably harder to do, but people still do it, and I imagine a number of them are lurking here. If you have a mortgage, you can rent out your house to pay for most/all of it. There are always options; never say never...
Also, I'm not sure in what country you are and how things work there. But getting a realy job and settling down a little bit, doesn't necessarily mean getting a mortgage and all that. I finished my studies 5 years ago and have been working ever since. I've also had 3 different flats since then that I have rented either alone or with my boyfriend. We recently moved into a smaller and cheaper place, made it up all nice so we're compfortable, but we could leave whenever we wanted, cos we're only renting. OK, so here in Switzerland a lot of people rent, but I'm sure that's possible anywhere. Renting gives you the freedom of being able to just leave whenever you want, but you can also be settled in to your rented accomodation. Our neigbours have been renting for 48 years, but as I said, it's something very normal here.
What's a 'real' job? I have one of those, I assume, and I'm still leaving. You should be able to find another job no problem. As for a mortgage. I haven't bought a house but you can rent it out while you're travelling. I don't think there is anything that could really keep you from travelling unless you want to have kids.
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