10 Ways To Stretch Your Travel Budget – How To Save Money While Travelling

Last Updated on 15th April 2024

This post about how to stretch your travel budget further contains affiliate links.

When it comes to learning to stretch your travel budget further, I feel like I’ve had a fair bit of experience in doing so over the last couple of years.

Since Matt and I got together just over three years ago, we’ve travelled to 16 different countries, endless cities and now we’re embarking on our trip around the world; starting with a 3-month stint in New Zealand (AKA, one of the most expensive countries on our world trip itinerary!).

I’m sure you’ll be aware by now that travel isn’t exactly cheap, but I am a firm believer that you can absolutely do it on a budget and limit your spending without compromising on travel experiences. If you’re wanting to travel more, whether it’s a two-year world trip, or you’re just looking to budget for your next two-week summer holiday, here are 9 ways to stretch your travel budget further!

1. Do more, spend less – stretch your travel budget

There are literally countless ways to stretch your travel budget further to ensure that you cut back on your spending, without compromising on all the fabulous world experiences that you want to enjoy.

As I said, I’m a firm believer (and a real-life example!) that you can travel the world on a budget. While Matt and I don’t have an exact budget that we’re sticking to while travelling, we’re well aware that there are certain areas we need to cut back on (such as food, accommodation and transport), but we’re also mindful that we don’t want to miss out on anything while we’re travelling.

While there are plenty of ways to cut back on expenses when travelling, I’ve compiled my 9 top tips to stretch your travel budget further!

2. Consider housesitting instead of hotels/accommodation

If you’ve been following our New Zealand adventures over the past two months, you’ll have seen that we spent the first six weeks of our North Island adventure housesitting.

By doing this, we essentially had free accommodation, as well as access to the kitchen, some food supplies and the use of their car as well. While it will depend on a case-by-case basis and how accommodating your housesitting hosts are, it can be a really great way to stretch your travel budget even further.

Of course, you usually won’t just get to stay in someone’s house for free; there will often be an ‘exchange’ of services.

For example, in exchange for our housesitting services, we had to not only look after the house and the land but take care of 1 dog, 4 cats, 5 sheep, 1 goat, 20 chickens, 3 ducks and the acres of land that came with the house too.

It felt like both parties got a very good deal; we got free accommodation for six weeks and they got someone to look after all their livestock instead of paying someone to do it while they were away; a win-win situation!

Housesitting really is such a great way to stretch your travel budget further and ensure that you can stay on the road for as long as possible. It also means that you get the chance to experience life as more of a local as opposed to a ‘traveller’ as you’ll get the opportunity to immerse yourself in your housesitters’ life!

There are numerous ways to go about housesitting but one of the most popular and universally recognised methods is to use TrustedHousesitters or Housesitters.co.nz.

Read more: The Ultimate Guide To House Sitting In New Zealand

3. Stretch your travel budget further by making your own meals

Of course, if you plan to stay in hotels while you’re travelling (which I’d highly recommend against), then you probably won’t have the ability to make your own meals.

However, if you’re travelling around in a campervan, housesitting or staying in an Airbnb then you’ll have plenty of opportunity to stretch your travel budget further by cooking your own food.

One of my absolute favourite things about visiting a new place was always trying out the food there, and while it’s still a great passion of mine, it’s just not quite as feasible now that we’re on the road.

Of course, the food we ate in places like Prague, Oslo, Wellington and Paris is infinitely better than living on a diet of noodles, soup and pasta (like we’ve been doing for the past two weeks…), but cooking our own ‘meals’ (I use that term broadly!) has allowed us to significantly cut back on the amount of money we spend on food.

If you’re able to, I would highly suggest trying to cook as much of your own food as possible in order to stretch your travel budget further. Even simple ‘meals’ such as making your own sandwiches to take on your lunchtime expedition, making your own pizza instead of getting a takeaway (horrendous thought, I know!) and even succumbing to living on a much simpler diet really helps to save you money while travelling.

Read more: How I Spend Less Than £13 On My Weekly Food Shop

4. Get your clothes from a charity shop/recycled boutique store

While at first you might be slightly opposed to doing this (I know I was!), when you actually realise the benefits of shopping second-hand and buying clothes/shoes etc from a charity shop, you’ll be so much better off!

As Matt and I are only travelling the world equipped with a 70L backpack (find out more about what we’ve packed for our trip around the world here), we needed to be as frugal as possible when it came to packing our clothes and shoes.

And while we may not look quite as good as we could all the time, it does mean that we’ve got much more room and space in our backpacks.

When we were in Wellington, we paid a visit to a store called Recycle Boutique where we picked up an excellent condition Superdry hoodie for me for only $40NZD (£21) and a jumper for Matt for only $25NZD (£13).

This meant that we had almost-new hoodies for a fraction of what they’d usually cost and it also meant that we could get rid of the very tired-looking hoodies that we’d been wearing for the last 6 weeks!

If you’re able to shop second-hand at charity shops or recycled boutique stores, then this really can be a great way of stretching your travel budget even further!

5. Look for the free stuff

Another great way to ensure that your travel budget lasts much longer is to simply look for free things to do when you’re travelling.

More often than not, Matt and I only ever do the free or cheap activities when we go on city breaks anyway, so adopting this approach when we’re travelling full-time hasn’t been too strenuous at all.

There are always so many free activities and things to do wherever you are in the world, so whether it’s just a walk in the park, looking for free museums or generally just having a mosey around and seeing what you can find, you’ll still have an incredible travel experience, just at a fraction of the cost.

That’s not to say, however, that you should miss out on the things that you really want to do. After all, travelling is all about experiencing as much as you can and seeing everything the world has to offer so you need to find the right balance between being frugal and enjoying free activities and knowing when to splash the cash on the things you really want to do!

6. Travel at night when you can

Travelling at night is a surefire way to save a buck or two while travelling.

Whether it’s on a long-haul nighttime flight, or just travelling from one city to another by bus, travelling at night can be a great way of stretching your travel budget further.

This is because you’ll essentially be saving money on at least one night’s accommodation. If you travel by bus overnight from Wellington to Auckland for example, you won’t have to pay for that night’s accommodation, only for the bus ticket.

Whereas if you travelled by bus during the day, not only would you miss an entire day’s worth of exploring a city, but you’d also have to pay for somewhere to sleep once you arrive.

Travelling at night when possible is definitely something to think about when you’re trying to save money while travelling.

7. Ask locals for their recommendations

One of the best ways to not only save money while travelling but also to have the most amazing and authentic travel experience is to ask locals for recommendations of things to do.

Similarly to looking for free or cheap activities when travelling, by asking locals for their advice, you’re more likely to be recommended cheaper and more authentic things to do.

We’ve found this to be especially true while travelling around New Zealand, especially when we were housesitting and got to know the family’s friends a bit more. We’ve also met many wonderful people at different campsites along the way who have all recommended some excellent and more often than not free things to do!

The locals of a place usually know the best places to get off the beaten track a little bit and to see a different side to a place; rather than just heading straight to all the renowned tourist hotspots.

By asking locals for their recommendations, you’re sure to stretch your travel budget further as you’ll be able to wade out the absolute must-dos/sees from the things that just aren’t worth the money.

8. Use discount booking websites – stretch your travel budget

This tip has definitely been one of the ones that we’ve used the most while travelling around New Zealand.

Websites such as BookMe and Get Your Guide offer excellent deals on popular activities, but for a fraction of the price.

For example, we used BookMe numerous times in New Zealand; most notably when we visited Waimangu Volcanic Valley and when we embarked on a Milford Sound Cruise; by booking through BookMe we saved over 50% on our Milford Sound Cruise which is a pretty damn good saving if you ask me!

There are a plethora of discount booking sites available for all kinds of activities and things to do and I would highly recommend always checking those sites before booking to ensure that you get the best deal possible!

9. Combine your transport and accommodation

While freedom camping is very much a thing in New Zealand, you do still have to pay for some campsites (CamperMate is the best app for finding the best campsites in NZ).

However, the $8-$50NZD that you have to pay for the occasional campsite is nothing on the cost of a nice hotel in New Zealand. It also means that your transport and accommodation are with you at all times; giving you the freedom to move on to your next adventure whenever you want.

This is without a doubt my favourite thing about travelling in a campervan; the luxury to be able to park up pretty much anywhere we want (within reason!) and cook up a meal in the back of the van and go to sleep in it really is remarkable.

If you’re looking to try and stretch your travel budget further so that you’re able to travel for longer, I would definitely suggest looking into hiring (or buying!) a campervan or another means of accommodation/transport combined!

10. Travel during low/off-peak season

My final top tip (for now!) on how to stretch your travel budget further is to try and travel during low/off-peak season.

This is exactly what we’re doing in New Zealand and while that means we’re staying in a campervan in the middle of winter, it’s also meant that virtually everywhere we’ve been so far has been so quiet.

Whether it’s been bungy jumping at Velocity Valley, wandering around Hobbiton or cruising through Milford Sound, we’ve been so lucky to experience a very quiet New Zealand during their winter period.

What’s more, is that we’ve also benefitted from off-peak prices for almost everything! Campsites tend to be much cheaper to stay at during the low season and activities also tend to offer off-peak prices. We’ve even noticed that many restaurants and bars lower their prices during the winter so not only have we enjoyed New Zealand without the swarms of tourists, but we’ve also saved money in the process!

If it’s possible, I would definitely recommend travelling to places during their low season in order to benefit from cheaper prices and quieter experiences.

Pin for later – stretch your travel budget

What tips do you have to stretch your travel budget further? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter at @imjustagirl_16.

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