My tips for saving money whilst travelling (good quality trips guaranteed!)

Hello everyone! Today I would like to share with you some top-tips that I discovered during my trips for saving as much as possible, but all whilst having the best experience possible!

These are tips based on my experiences of travelling and not really from my experience as an erasmus student (given that I leave for Erasmus next week. ) But I think that the majority of the advice can also apply when living there.

I hope that you learn something and that it will help you with your savings!

Happy reading!

Unique and rich experience: live with local people

There are numerous advantages to living directly with the locals, but the one I like the most is the direct authentic contact with another culture. If you get on well with your host your exchange will be all the more unforgettable!

The most well-known platform which lets you find hosts who are willing to let you stay for free is Couchsurfing (aka surfing on the couch), and it’s generally reserved for short trips.

Sometimes your host cooks their favourite meals for you and even offer to show you round their city!

Course, you don’t have to pay anything but the least you can do is be willing to spend some time with the person and show an interest in them and their story, not just enjoy everything for free without giving anything back in return.

Having had a good experience with Couchsurfing personally, I plan to do an article where I’ll respond to the questions that I’m most often asked, especially concerning security and safety.

Workaway and Woofing are two other platforms where you can stay and be fed, in exchange for a small amount of work. I’ll let you discover them for yourselves but personally I hear really good things from people who have used these platforms!

Staying longer at a destination, become more immersed in it

Once again this doesn’t really apply to Erasmus terms abroad, but the idea for travelling is to get better quality rather than the quantity, in order to reduce the travel costs all whilst enjoying an enriching experience. I understand however that it’s a bit tricky if you find yourself in a small countryside village, you’ll get round it quick… But I hope you see where I’m coming from with this!

Travelling short distances will always cost less and save you a little money. For example, during my tour of Europe, I discovered plenty of cities that I’d never thought of visiting but by doing this it was less expensive than doing one long journey to a large city (to Berlin or even Copenhagen), I decided to stop and in the end I made a lot of friends and had a good time!

In the same way, that allows you avoid taking a flight for the long journeys. And especially don’t forget to consider night-trains which are a very good cheap alternative (I’ll admit to you, it’s not comfortable but at least it saves you time).

Equally, think about looking for car-sharing advertisements, be that in your accommodation, on BlaBlaCar or I don’t know, any other app!

In short, all “soft” transports are welcome too (mini road trip on bike or even a pilgrimage on foot!)

Being content with the minimum

I love speaking about minimalism in my articles because it truly is a notion that has changed my life. I’m not talking about the clichés like a house with no furniture where everything is white, but just the idea of questioning and challenging yourself about what is really necessary in your life.

Since the more we own, the more things we have to worry about (“Oh, I cant find my pink glitter pen”). In short, the fewer objects and knickknacks transported, the fewer problems there are, less risk of breaking them or repairing them, of re-buying them and less money spent.

However, I’m not saying to take nothing in your bag apart from a T-shirt and water! What is needed and the attachment to each belonging is up to the individual.

Food: keep the leftovers and find good bargains without forgetting your health

I would really like to emphasise this point because it’s one of the life lessons that I got from my trip in Europe. It’s that despite a limited budget, health is a priority and therefore so is healthy food!

At first, I was happy to only eat rice and dried fruits because my budget was limited and I would prefer to use the money on something else. Then one day, having eaten bad quality food, I had stomach cramps which prevented me enjoying the rest of my day and believe me, it really frustrated me, especially when my time at each destination was so limited!

Fortunately, it wasn’t really serious, but it served as a reminder that when you have no energy you’ll struggle.

All that said, after this episode, I got over my financial guilt and dared to invest time and money in good healthy meals, rich in nutrients to help my body and to guarantee the best trip possible. I like my body and without it I wouldn’t be able to continue my travels. So, it’s your duty to nurture your body!

(Even if we’ve moved away from the topic of “saving”, I wanted to share this reflection for other people to avoid similar mistakes. )

To return to the subject, one tip I use regularly in Paris is to use the app Too Good To Go or an available equivalent in your country, or if not you can directly ask supermarkets. It allows you to obtain the unsold products from your favourite supermarkets, cafés or restaurants at an unbeatable price! And I assure you these unsold products are most often from the same day, completely fresh and edible.

I also recommend doing your shopping from local markets (choose fruit and veg that is a bit “deformed” and the products that are about to perish, there’s often reductions for these. )

The more raw products you buy the less you have to spend long term, that will help you save a lot! In truth, there are plenty of feasible recipes that you can do in 10 minutes, from cheap fruit and veg, without needing too many utensils! I’ll let you search for these on Google.

Equally, avoid restaurants in tourist zones, opt more for the small restaurants full of locals and and don’t order from the promotional menus. In general, family businesses offer a better rapport, quality and price because they can avoid costly European labour regulations by employing family members. On top of this you will be served by people who care for their customers and the reputation of their business.

Make the most of coupon reductions

Don’t hesitate to collect coupons from your hotels and hostels. You can usually help yourself to a packet of them which is great when the offers can be combined!

To give you a solid example, in a youth hostel in Slovenia they had coupons for reductions on Flixbus (like megabus), so I took around 10! It was perfect for me because I was doing lots of short trips with Fliixbus. And since I still had a few left when I got back to France I gave them to other travellers so they could be shared.

Buy with the exchange rate

If your trip consists of destinations with different currencies, you’d rather do your shopping in the more affordable countries where you benefit from a better exchange rate.

The price difference can be quite big: the money that you will spend on a tiny boat in Norway will probably buy you a luxury boat in Turkey.

A small bonus thought to keep in mind: although haggling is expected in most markets, don’t forget that saving 50 cents may not be very important to you but could have an impact on the livelihood of the trader in question.

Make the most of free WiFi points

Last quick point but one we don’t often think about, keep an eye out for access points to free WiFi in cafés and libraries whilst you are travelling. It will help you to avoid spending too much of your data plan where the international internet is often very limited and very expensive.

And there you go! It’s fun because in writing this article I realised how much all these tips have also had a very positive impact on the environment! Saving money and doing good for the planet, it’s great right?

Thank you for reading and have a nice day!

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