One of the most common questions I am asked is how we afford to travel as much as we do. The answer is not that we are extremely wealthy or received a huge inheritance or won the lottery. The answer is really very simple, which should be good news because it means anyone can do it.

Years ago I looked at travel brochures and websites and dreamed of traveling to far-away places but didn’t think it was possible. We went to many fun places near our home like The Great Smoky Mountains, Disney World, the Florida beaches, etc, and it was great. But I wanted to go to more places.

When our boys were 10 and 12 years old I decided to try to find a way to go to New York City for Thanksgiving. I booked a bundle deal on Travelocity for flights and hotel at a great price (I can’t remember exactly what the price was, but I remember being stunned that it was very affordable!) We stayed at the DoubleTree in Times Square.

After I booked that trip I was hooked! I thought if I could find that deal I could find others, and I’ve been doing it ever since.

I’ve found many great deals over the years, and we’ve gone to fabulous places. I’ve never booked anything until I found a really good deal. I didn’t give in and go to a specific place just because that’s where we wanted to go. If there was no deal to be found for a specific place we didn’t go there. We went wherever we did find a deal.

Eventually I decided to start using credit cards points so we could get things for free and go even more! Now we pay with money (only good deals) and points which allows us to go even more. I manage my points just like I manage my money. I’m very frugal with both.

There are 3 things we do that allow us to go all the time.

• We prioritize our budget for travel.  Travel is high priority for us, so we budget accordingly. We choose not to spend our money on other things that don’t matter as much to us so we can travel.
• We spend wisely.  We only book flights, hotels, rental cars, etc at reasonable prices.
• We use credit card points.  We are able to get many flights, hotels, etc free using credit card points.

TRAVEL BUDGET TEMPLATE

Category Budgets

The Dark Hedges, Northern Ireland

This post will show you how I budget for our trips. I keep a spreadsheet for each trip with all the details, including the costs. The sequence below is the order I book things most of the time.

We travel with our two (now adult) sons when their work schedules allow. Otherwise, it’s just the two of us. The example below is for 2 people for a 2-week trip abroad. A few categories don’t really change much when there’s four of us like Accommodations, Airport Transfers, Airport Parking, and Gas.

The first column shows the costs if we weren’t using points. The second column shows cost using points. We always use points now, so the second column is a very close normal depiction of our costs.

Costs Before the Trip

Airfare

I always start by buying airfare. That’s what determines how we start planning our trip. I sometimes pay for our flights with money because I find really low prices, but sometimes I pay with points or a combination of money and points.

I normally pay in the $300s or $400s for round-trip tickets per person to Europe. The lowest I’ve paid is $230. The highest I have ever paid is $500, but that was several years ago. I usually avoid going that high now.

Related:
How to Use Credit Card Points to Travel for FREE: Getting Started
7 Brilliant Ways to Book Affordable Travel 

Other Transportation

This category is the next thing I book. It includes other flights, trains or rental cars we need if we are planning to go to multiple places. Sometimes we take flights between cities or countries on inexpensive airlines like Ryanair, Easyjet, etc. Those normally cost us anywhere from 10-50 euros one-way per person.

We also take trains between places. That’s our preferred way to travel because it is usually fast,  is very comfortable and roomy, and there’s no need to arrive at the station hours early. It depends on how far you are going, but train prices are usually from about 10-30 euros one-way per person.

We also rent cars when there’s not a good train route available or we know we’ll want to make stops at places where there is no other transportation available.

Hotel La Breche, Amboise, France

Accommodations

I try to always book accommodations early that have free cancellation. Then I check again later to see if I find better deals.  I book with points when I have them, but if I am short on points I book with money or a combination of the two.

When I book with money I try to pay $100-150 per night.  Sometimes it’s more if it’s a really expensive city.

Related:
Where to Stay on Your Next Vacation: Hotel vs Apartment
7 Tips for Finding the Cheapest Rental Cars so You Can Explore

Airport Transportation

We frequently use public transportation (subway or train) from airports to hotels when it is easily available. It’s always very inexpensive- around 2.50-5 euros one-way per person.

We also book airport transfers sometimes.  It is very inexpensive in some places and quite expensive in other places, so we check it each time and compare. We also compare Uber and Lyft if it is available.

Sometimes we are very jet-lagged and want the quickest, most direct way possible, so we take whatever gets us to the hotel quickly!

Airport Parking

I research parking around every airport where we need to leave our car. Parking at airports is usually the most expensive option. Some airports have “economy” parking that is reasonable, so I always check the airport website in advance to see if it is an option.

We check to see if there are other lots nearby which are usually a very small fraction of the cost at the airport. I always check to make sure the lot has a free shuttle to the airport. We’ve had good experiences at them all. I can sometimes find parking for less than $5/day on these sites.

Hotel and parking packages are an option in some places. This includes a night before and/or after your trip at a nearby hotel plus parking during your trip and usually includes a free airport shuttle from the hotel.

You can also look for a nearby hotel that allows you leave your vehicle at the hotel for free while you are gone. These are a little harder to find, but we have found them a few times.

If we are flying out of our home airport (which we do most often now) we can either have a friend take us and pick us up, or we park our car at our very generous friend’s lot that is right by the airport.

Buckingham Palace, London, England

Advance Tickets

Always make sure you get tickets in advance to any place that you know you want to see at your destination. You don’t want to get all the way to Rome and find out there are no tickets left to see the Colosseum. 😑 

I like to look at each attraction’s website first to see the price of the tickets and then compare them with bundle deals.  I can help you compare.  Contact me any time!

Costs During the Trip

Ponta da Piedade, Portugal

Other Tickets

We don’t always buy all of our tickets in advance. I buy everything we know we do not want to miss in advance. Then I buy others during our trip so we can be flexible. If we purchase everything in advance we are unable to change our plans along the way if choose.

Local Transportation and Gas

This includes public transportation like the subway, bus, train, etc as well as ride-sharing services like Uber or Lyft. We use all of these but only if we are not able to walk because it is too far, the weather is bad, we’re on a tight schedule, or we’re just tired. Most public transportation is very reasonably priced.  Ride-sharing prices vary widely depending on location.

This section also accounts for gas if we are renting a car.

Porto, Portugal

Food

This is almost always our highest cost category. Normally flights and accommodations are the highest cost category, but because we pay very little or none in those categories, food is our most expensive budget item.

There are many ways to save money on food when you travel. However, we love to eat out in local restaurants and visit popular bars, so we are willing to spend more in this area.

We try to choose restaurants that are a slightly away from touristy areas since they are less expensive. We also find happy hour prices, and we share meals sometimes. We don’t share just to save money. We don’t eat large amounts of food anyway, so it would be a waste to order two meals in some cases.

Madrid, Spain

Shopping

We buy souvenirs everywhere we go, but they are small since we are light packers. We also buy clothes sometimes if the weather changes or if we just want it. 😊

We don’t forget much since we go so often and we use our list, but it’s easy to buy whatever we need along the way when we need to. 

Related:
13 Creative Tips for Packing Light
How to Pack a Travel Backpack for a 2-Week Vacation  

Have a Plan

Make sure you plan ahead and know about what you will need to spend in each category, and stick to it. Once you know how to plan and how to make each category attainable you’ll be able to replicate it over and over.