While we love learning new frugal travel tricks first hand, some of the best advice we’ve picked up along the way have been through reading about other’s experiences in similar situations. Warning: these articles are going to add new destinations to your travel list while making sure you don’t spend any unnecessary pennies!
These are our favorite picks that will help you master frugal travel, and be sure that you can see the world even if your budget seems to small to make it work!
Saving Money on Airfare – There are numerous tricks going around when ordering plane tickets, from waiting until Tuesday at 3pm, to clearing your cookies and history before opening up an airline’s website on a new browser. Any while these are great suggestions, this articles breaks it down for those of us who are a bit internet challenged (me).
Big trips on a little budget – One of my favorite parts of traveling is finagling out how to explore fully while on a budget. This article has valuable suggestions on how to vacay like royalty on an average salary. Even one or two of these tips can make a difference!
Unique tips to save big when traveling – This is an exceptional collection of tips that always seem to slip my mind when it actually comes time to pack my bags! From timing your eating while abroad to sneaky packing tips, this post has it all. My favorite tip is carrying a box of chocolate to give to your gate agent before your flight. While being nice is always great, it just might also help you find a seat in first class!
Road Trip Infographic – From creating a tailored agenda to uncovering hidden nooks along the way, road trips offer an experience other adventures overlook. This infographic is all you need to plan a scenic tour of your choosing.
The Minimalist Life Cleanse – My favorite traveling duo recently completed a series on how to minimize your life to maximize your experiences. They share all they’ve learned after selling their belongings for an extended trip to Australia and how you, too, can streamline your possessions.
Does travel really make you happy? – It’s not just in your head, wanderlust is a chronic condition. The more you see of the world, the more you feel you have left yet to discover. Here are the facts about how traveling influences the general population overall happiness.
Tips for Saving for Travel – This article is my go-to for life changes. It’s important to spend your finances efficiently even when you’re not abroad. This article offers suggestions on how to make tiny alterations to your every day life so you can really save for that next adventure.
Nomadic Matt’s Destination Posts – Nomadic Matt specializes in frugal travel and has lived on the road for several years using travel hacking, hostels and working remotely to fund his travels. Just about any destination you’d think about visiting, he’s probably been to and can tell you how to cut costs. His book, How To Travel The World On $50 A Day was really good too!
Grrrl Traveler’s Budget Posts – Christine knows a lot about travel. She’ll help you save money with learning to downsize (no checked bag fees!), how to navigate hostels and make the best of budget hotels, but really- she travels solo, which is awesome. As a woman, it can be intimidating to travel solo, but it can be a great way to save money by snagging impromptu last minute deals on the fly- she shows you how it’s done!
The Points Guy – I am just getting into travel hacking- which is the practice of using rewards cards to redeem points for free travel and hotels. If you’ve been curious what it’s all about, everyone recommends this site because it’s that good!
BudgetTravel.About.Com – This site is where you go to binge on budget travel readings the way you do when your favorite series comes out on Netflix. So many good posts on how to save on airlines by booking direct, how to avoid stupid charges on resorts or hotels, and creative ways to make budget travel work for any destination. I’m a novice to international travel, I learn a ton from this site!
BudgetTraveler.org – This is the site I used to book all of my hostels in London, I love this site, it’s super helpful!
What’s your favorite frugal travel trick you’ve learned from reading about someone else’s experiences?
Bringing your own food! Airports can jack up the prices of prepackaged foods since you have fewer alternatives. I always pack nutrition bars, nuts and fresh fruit so I have plenty of (healthy) options that won’t cost me!
Stay up to date on Juliette’s adventures by following her on Instagram –julietteelise & twitter @JulietteElise_ !
Absolutely! Packing my own food is my go -to for saving money while traveling. My friends at FinCon kept laughing at me, but I only spent $8 on food the entire weekend.
Thanks for sharing all of these! I love to travel, but hate the stress of worrying about extra money needed to do so. There are some great tips here and I would gladly trade a box of chocolate for a 1st class seat! I wonder how often that works.
I have yet to try to upgrade a seat with a sweet treat but it couldn’t hurt to pick up an extra starbucks to give yourself a boost! Glad these tips helped!
Absolutely! Packing my own food is my favorite travel hack for saving money. My FinCon friends kept laughing, but I only spent $8 on food the entire weekend in Charlotte.
$8?! WOW. That is awesome!
I’m subscribed to The Points Guy newsletter – makes me want to sign up for every credit card out there 🙂
Could not love this more! Student budget + long-distance relationship = CONSTANTLY searching for good travel deals. The best resource I’ve found so far is Google Matrix – ITA Software, which is a really nifty tool for comparing flight deals across all airlines at once. You can’t actually book flights through the site, but it will let you check out who might be offering the cheapest flights and when. Plus, it allows you to search without airline websites keeping track of the flights you want and subsequently raising the prices on you!
I can’t wait to check this website out! Thanks for the suggestion!
Great roundup! Have bookmarked this and will take a look at these links when I have some free time! Always down for learning how to travel on a budget!
Rae | Love from Berlin
Thanks for the frugal travel blog suggestions, there are a couple that are new to me. Also, give us a read over here at Frugal Travel Guy. I write about traveling frugally to many destinations and how to score cheap fares! Love your blog. http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/author/christinekrzyszton
Hi Shannyn and Juliette! Thank you for featuring us in this article, we really appreciate it!!! I can’t wait to sit and read through your website (limited internet as we currently living on a farm completing volunteer work!) We are always trying to be frugal, but we have our moments and our struggles (I do anyway) Taran is far better at understanding want versus need!
Hannah, thanks for stopping by! I love your outlook on life and traveling. I think everyone struggles with frugality here and there (especially while traveling). Hope you’re enjoying time on the farm!
Bringing your own food bit, that can be a big saving. some great tips here. The best are on my travel board so I remember when packing. thanks!i