With the new year, my travel savings budget has started. I'm aiming to save $23,000 this year and hopefully I can meet that target - that is a huge amount to save for me as I earn a hospo income :-)
The first fortnight of this is a shock to the system. I am not used to having an empty bank account a week before payday. For the next wee while my travel savings are going straight into paying off the Antarctica cruise and what I've saved already is locked up in term deposit. So there's no raiding my savings account between pays for lunch money.
I'm doing a year without buying takeaways, not buying yarn, no new dresses for quite a while, walking instead of taking buses more often and trying to do cheap or free activities on my days off.
I babysat on my last day off which was great as I got a free trip to the zoo and was kept entertained by a cheeky toddler. I have the biggest yarn stash to keep me occupied, been doing a lot of cooking for the flat (with the flat money) and reading. I'm also lucky to get free movies so that's my days off taken care of. It's easier to not spend money when working, especially now I'm not popping to the dairy for sweets.
The other thing that keeps me enthusiastic about staying on target is travel planning. It is my favourite thing to do, save travel.
I have already written a packing list. A year out! This is good though as now I have months to chip away at it, making it more efficient. It also stops you making unnecessary purchases when you see how little you'll actually take on the road with you. It also means when shops have sales you can buy the things you do need, like thermals, rather than waiting 'til the last minute when they might not be in season.
I'm already splurging on Antarctica but looking into the feasibility of seeing Easter and the Galapagos too. The more research I do, the more I think I can find a budget way to do it. It really would be amazing to dive with sealions, mantarays and perhaps even hammerhead sharks!
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