Low budget travel

How to save while travelling

When it comes to low budget travel we have really become experts. During our last two and a half years of nomadic life we have learnt a thing or two, particularly when it comes to saving on travel. We have been able to live the last two and a half years on the road purely with the money made whilst travelling , we have even been able to save a bit. To us low budget travel means not wasting money on the unnecessary things, so that you can spend your money on the things you really want to see or do. For example we very rarely/never spend money on things like take away food or coffee, but are willing to spend money on things like a scenic flight or a river cruise. We value experiences and memories over comfort meaning we are able to make our money stretch but do the things that we really want to do. Here are some tips to help you save whilst travelling in any form.

Living on a low budget doesn’t mean you have to miss out.

Accomodation/camping

Accomodation is obviously the first thing to talk about. No matter what kind of travel you plan on doing you will need to sort out some kind of accomodation. There are Many forms of accomodation and there is something for every budget. Accomodation for us is something we try and pay as little for as possible if we pay at a all. When travelling I spend most of my time out exploring and basically only sleep at our accomodation, so for us spending big on a ocean front villa is not worth it. If you are wanting to just relax and lounge around a villa or resort might be what you are looking for and the best way to save on these is to travel during off peak travel times. Apart from that look for special deals that might pop up, but this is probably the most expensive way to travel and is only really suitable for a short holiday unless you are exceptionally wealthy. If you value your comfort but do not want to spend thousands there are often cheaper resorts or cabins at caravan parks or even motels. Travel is all about priority’s, and if saving money to prolong your travel is a priority all these options are going to blow your budget in no time. Free camping is the cheapest way to travel and I suggest doing it as often as possible, you will not have the luxuries you would have at a resort but it literally costs you nothing. Depending on the area you are travelling free camp spots can be limited and in tourist hotspots often far from town or completely unavailable. It just depends on what you are travelling in, if you are living in a van or car free camping is easy you can just pull up in carparks or a quiet street. Just make sure there are no (no camping) signs around, the key to free camping is being discrete keep quiet and as out of site as possible and you should be fine. I highly recommend buying the wikicamps app, this app is amazing and you can use it to view all the camp areas in your area. It also lists what is there and how much it costs to stay there or if it is in fact a free camp area. I have found that people are starting to not put the good free camp sites on the app know though because a lot of popular spots are now massively over crowded due to this app. If you are travelling in a tent or some other kind of home that needs more room or area to set up it is unlikely that you will be able to free camp in town, meaning you will have to set up out of town or pay for a caravan park or back packers. Unpowered caravan park sites range from $20-$45 a night depending on time of year and where you are. We often found in tourist hot spots these where the best places to stay because free camping can be heavily policed, it is an absolute night mare being woken up and told you cannot stay where you are set up. Caravan parks also have showers and toilets available, we often found after long stints of free camping a caravan park was a great way to give ourselves time to relax and freshen up.

No take away

If you are on a budget take away food, drinks and especially coffee are your worst enemy. It does not matter how cheap it seems takeaway is over priced, you are paying for convenience. I cannot stress this enough stop buying takeaway coffee, a takeaway coffee costs roughly $5 which when you sit down and think about it is ridiculous. If you are a coffee head I would suggest buying a coffee plunger and pre ground beans, it will cost you about $30 and you will get so much use out of it. We picked one up super cheap and the coffee is far better than average instant coffee but at a fraction of the price of takeaway coffee. As for food get takeaway and watch the sunset on the beach every now and then, but don’t do it all the time it will just blow your budget. Meals like chilli concarn or stir fry are great, any thing you can bulk out with rice or pasta will save you money and keep you full.

Our coffee plunger, great way to save while travelling.

We have been using this coffee from Aldi lately. Only $6 dollars for half a kilogram.

Shopping

We found out of all the super markets that Aldi is the cheapest. Aldi is great everything is noticeably cheaper and they have a massive range of everything you need. If budget is your priority you want to avoid butcher, fruit markets and bakeries, although the quality will never be as good everything will be cheaper.

Alcohol

If you are on a budget you are going to want to cut back on drinking. Especially at pubs, clubs and restaurants. A night out at the pub can cost you a whole weeks travel. If you are going to drink buying a bottle of spirits instead of premix is a cheaper option along with wine. Be careful especially if your are camping in your car, if you are drinking and then get told to move on you could find yourself in some trouble.

Fuel

Another big expense while travelling can be fuel. I use the fuel map Australia app to help find the cheaper fuel. Some towns/areas will just have cheaper fuel than others. This app is great for figuring out which towns have the cheaper fuel and where the best places will be to refuel whilst out on the road. The app is not always accurate though and if there is one fuel station that is far lower in price on the app it is probably not accurate. Another thing to keep in mind is that it is not really worth driving 50 km to save 5 cents a litre on fuel you will only save like $5 and you probably used $10 in fuel to get there. This app is mainly handy when travelling long distances and figuring out which town will be best to fuel up rather than with petrol station is cheaper in town.

Do your research

One of the things I wish we did earlier was more of our own research. Every town has some must do claim to fame that you will be told you have to see. Not all of them are that great. For example we went and paid good money to go on a gorge tour after we had already been and explored the mighty Katherine gorge. And I have to say after seeing the Katherine gorge there is no way I would have paid to go on the second tour. You need to do your own research and find the things that you really want to see. If you do a lot of research and then get told about a tour that you (need) to do or see but didn’t hear about it while researching that area, chances are it is not going to be as good as your being told. This is probably where we wasted the most money, seeing things that where over hyped.

“just remember seeing those sights will be with you forever, but your not going to remember passing up all those takeaway meals to afford it. ”

These are the ways/things that we have been saving on whilst travelling and they have helped us significantly cut costs allowing us to stretch our money further. I hope that this helps you all save a little money to put towards seeing or doing the things you want on the road. If seeing your destinations means adhering to a budget I hope this helps you out and just remember seeing those sights will be with you forever, but your not going to remember passing up all those takeaway meals to afford it.