Travel. It’s one of the things I place a high importance on in my life.
Thanks to business, music, and personal trips, I have been fortunate to travel to many places not only throughout North America (Canada, the USA and Mexico), parts of the Caribbean but as far as Europe and West Africa. I enjoy immersing myself in new environments and experiencing cultural shifts. I am willing to meet new people and love seeing the marvels and wonders that Earth has to offer.
I also travel to visit my family and close friends in Canada and Trinidad. Talking on the phone and instant messaging via social media only does so much. Face to face connections really are crucial in creating lasting memories.
As you know, travel takes money and depending on how one likes to travel, it can be ridiculously expensive! Before I became financially aware, I never shopped around for the best deals, leveraged air miles or churned credit cards to take advantage of the travel bonuses.
As I was digging myself out of $55K of consumer debt during 2009 – 2012, I still wanted to be able to travel to some degree. My most important rule, which still applies today, was that I had to have the money to be able to pay off my trips immediately upon charging the costs to my credit card. No more financing last-minute jaunts to Paris or a weekend in Toronto to attend a concert.
Below are a few of the things I focus on when planning my travels so I keep costs in line with what I can afford.
- Establish an amount every year that is allotted for travel expenses
- Fly with a preferred carrier as much as possible to maintain frequent flyer status which can save you money
- Compare flight prices using sites like Orbitz and Expedia
- Travel on off-peak days and seasons
- Use any air miles I accumulated from prior travels
- Find a career that includes travel so you can benefit from your employer paying for the majority your travel expenses and see some of the sights
- Sometimes travel to places where I know someone well enough to visit with in order to save on accommodations
- Vary spending on food between lower cost food options and a couple of moderately priced restos that are highly recommended
- On occasion churn (open) a new line of credit in order to leverage the introductory benefits ex. opening a Delta Platinum Amex card to get 70K of air miles, a yearly free companion pass, etc…
There are definitely plenty of ways to keep your costs down when it comes to travel. A strategy that I recommend is to prioritize your day to day spending so that you free up enough to pay for what really matters to you. I practice what is called value-based spending. I took the time to identify the top 3 areas that are important for me i.e. Family, Home, Travel and I do my best to align my expenses to suit. For example, I don’t care to own a 3500 sf. house but do I enjoy living in a prime neighbourhood with all the amenities. I purchased a smaller place that I love and have been renovating a little each year and still have enough to take care of my family and travel.
Living and spending in accordance with what you value most pays big emotional and happiness dividends over the course of your life. If you have been wanting to travel but think you can’t afford it…think again. Identify what you are spending on today and decide if you are willing to make concessions on some categories in order to get you where you really want to go.
P.S. If you are one who is not able to pay off your credit card(s) in full, every month, I strongly suggest to not churn credit cards until you are able to effectively and consistently manage your credit card usage.
