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Last Updated on February 26, 2021 by Natalie

The end of the year found me trying to simplify my life. I have a tendency to make things far more complicated than they need to be. It is somewhat due to my desire to please as many people as possible. What did I do to change my life? What does it have to do with traveling?

Sometimes, you really do have to work on making yourself happy. If traveling makes you happy, then simplifying may help you budget better in order to increase your travel! But, how? Start by simplifying your routines, making goals, and getting where you want to be in life! I tend to over complicate things and making small changes in my routine helped change my mindset

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Two small changes

My family and I have a home base, of course. We are a fairly typical, Midwestern American family. We have two cats, two dogs, and two kids. There are two changes we’ve made within the past few weeks that have simplified my daily routine.

First, one dog needs to have one daily cup of special, medicated food along with her regular food. For some reason, we were dividing that one cup between her twice daily feedings. It is only one extra step, but done twice daily. I decided to give her the special food once daily.

Why was this seemingly inconsequential thing such a game changer?

Freeing up the mind

By the time it is dinner time for the dogs, everyone is tired. Energy and brain power are lacking. Though it is an habitual thing, it felt more exhausting than it needed to be. That small change simplified dinner time for the dogs and helps me to quit procrastinating. It is one step now, instead of two.

Silly, yet effective!

The second change we made was to buy a new, larger trash can for our kitchen. Since we’ve had children, we’ve had to have magnetic locks on our lower cabinets. We also put the trash can under the sink, behind a lock.  In order to throw anything away, we have to unlock the cabinet. The magnet openers  had to be moved recently due to being suddenly within reach of some tiny hands.

Any idea how much stuff you throw away daily? Try putting the trash can in an inconvenient place and find out. Even with composting all of our fruits, veggies, and toilet paper rolls, there are a lot of little bits of things that get thrown away daily.

⇒Could 10 days of silence help you?

Simplify, but don’t oversimplify

I know that oversimplifying doesn’t necessarily work for me, either. For instance, I leave the coffeemaker on the counter, because I use it every morning. It doesn’t make sense to put it away daily. It’s also too big for any of our cupboards!

How making things more convenient for you can help you achieve your travel goals

However, there are still many small things that can make for a huge effect. This goes for life’s little routines and for saving for travel! Is it easier for you to make your own coffee if the coffeemaker is on the counter, rather than swinging by Starbucks (or work’s cafeteria) for your morning brew? That savings can be applied to the vacation budget.  At a conservative $3 a day for 250 days, that’s $750.  I buy a wonderful coffee called Poor Man’s Blend in a 5 lb bag. Even if I need a new bag every month, it still saves me roughly $300. It usually lasts me about 2 months, making my yearly coffee needs cost under $250.

Sometimes, it’s not about giving up everything. It’s about saving money, without feeling deprived. That deprivation can make one feel like splurging as a reward and nullify your money saving efforts. When you simplify your daily routines, you don’t feel the need for outside rewards. You can kick your daily coffee (or Chipotle) habit!

Need more motivation? Check out these travel influencers and let their stories inspire you!

My goal is to travel the world

I’m not quite there yet. While I am traveling regularly, it isn’t world wide yet. That’s okay! Right now, I’m exploring Mexico. It’s okay to start small, even if that means staying within your own state. I grew up in Ohio and there are a lot of wonderful places to visit. Now that we are living in Mexico, we can travel within the country for reasonable prices.

How to achieve travel goals?

You don’t have to take such a drastic step as we did by moving abroad. Whether you have travel the world goals or “just travel more” goals, there are small steps you can take to achieve them.

Make an Actionable Goal

First, make an actionable plan. For example, “just travel more” isn’t actionable and it’s easy to forget. Then, you’ll find yourself in the exact same place next year repeating, “I want to travel more.” Don’t continue the cycle! Make a goal.

The goal can be as simple as “take one weekend trip this year.” Start planning this trip now.

If your goal is to travel the world, define what that means. Do you want to take a year off of work and travel continuously? Do you want to take several international trips per year while keeping a home base and job? Write down that travel goal.

Share It with Friends

Write down the goal. Share it with friends, a mentor, or an accountability group.

Start Planning

If you are planning an around the world trip or several international trips, how much money will you and your family need? What can you do to save for the trip(s)?

With a small goal, like taking one weekend trip per year, start planning that vacation.

If luxury travel is more your style, here are some great luxury travel hacks to try!

How to Save Money for Travel

The easiest way is to open a savings account and allocate X amount or percentage to go into that account with every paycheck. Whatever you do, do NOT touch that money. Additionally, set up a separate savings as your “emergency fund.” Crap happens; whether you need a car repair or something else that takes a lot of cash. Keep your travel savings separate.

There are so many blogs, books, and courses dedicated to saving money for any reason. Start with a great budgeting site or book that works for you.

Before kids, I had a Chipotle problem. I’d have it for lunch several times a week. Those lunches added up. If I’d been serious about traveling back then, kicking my 3 time a week habit would have saved me well over $50 USD per month. Several little changes can add up to big savings, if you’re serious about saving money for travel.

Travel hacking is a term that is thrown around a lot. It means using credit cards points to help fund your trip. Read how Lesley paid for her luxury Cancun vacation with points!

Being Flexible with Travel Destinations

If you have a bucket list travel destination, keep saving for it with your eye on the prize. Maybe you are saving to go on a family vacation and you aren’t sure where yet. Research those travel deals! You may end up getting to visit a fantastic location for a lot less than you expected. We stayed at a wonderful resort in Playa del Carmen (check prices here) for much less than I was expecting. This made our vacation savings go that much farther!

What small changes can you make to reach your travel goals?

Sometimes, simplifying a routine that doesn’t cost money can lead to starting a routine that does save money.  Yours may not involve coffee, dogs, or trash cans. It may involve packing a lunch for work or your regular play dates, instead of eating out. Maybe a regular routine needs to be simplified so that it doesn’t use up so much energy  Or  maybe it means working on a money making project while your children nap (somehow, this rarely works for me). Most of all, no one can do the work for you.

What have you done to simplify routines? Were they small changes or big ones? How do you save money for your travels? What has been the most effective money saving strategy for you?

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