TheLostGlobe

Most of us who are serious about travelling know that it isn’t nearly as expensive as most people think or at least it doesn’t have to be, but thats not to say that it’s cheap, compared to your daily life at home it may be even cheaper but unless your going to [tag]work[/tag] while you travel then you need to have money sorted before you go.

The very first think you need to do is clear any [tag]debt[/tag] you have, I currently have over $4000 personally, thats a return ticket to South East Asia and easily two months there. About $1000 of that is insignificant because I am not and will not pay [tag]interest[/tag] on it and it is for something I would prefer not to travel without… my camera. The rest though I’m paying interest on and at the minimum monthly paments it will take me over a year to pay it off and probably a couple of extra hundred in interest. There is only one solution to this increase your payments. Since the start of this loan a good 3 years ago I have been paying more than the minimum monthly required by about $50 now I’m paying it off about $200 a month faster and it should be gone in about 6 months rather than 1+ year.

Once you have cleared that debt your in a good position, you already know you can live without the money you had been paying your debt off with so it should be no chore to continue with those payments equal or greater an put it into a [tag]savings[/tag] [tag]account[/tag] instead, you could have started paying into a savings account earlier but it is best to avoid the interest. This means that you maximise the money and time you have in savings earning interest instead of having a little money earning and your debt costing interest at most likely a much greater rate.

Other [tag]income[/tag] you may recieve like a [tag]tax[/tag] refund should go directly towards your debt or your savings, you don’t need it just yet, you’ve lived all year without that [tag]money[/tag] and you still can so eigther use it to stop the interest bleed or to earn it.

You need to [tag]budget[/tag] and you should calculate it based on how often you are payed, weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Include everything and for bills that don’t fall into the same timeframe you are paid calculate how much you will need to pay on your budget’s timeframe and use internet [tag]banking[/tag] and such so that all your bills are payed in full or in installments each budget cycle. This gives you a better idea of how much disposable income you actually have and how much you can afford to save. For a more accurate idea write down for a week or two everything you buy that isn’t an essential like electricity, I’m talking about lunches and fast food and non essential purchases. Can you cut back or find a cheaper alternative?

This is the most basic start you can make and as you can see really it’s just commonsense.

[tags]tax refund[/tags]

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