If you’ve ever traveled by car or plane, you’re probably well aware that it can get expensive and fast!
There are things with traveling that you can’t avoid such as the cost of airline tickets, gas, and hotels/Airbnb but you’d be surprised there are other ways to save money!
Jake and I are not made of money, so we are always looking for ways to cut costs without it impacting the fun and enjoyment of our travels.
Some of you may not know but I use to be a retirement analyst and one of my many tasks was to send out a monthly financial wellness newsletter.
There are SO many areas in your life where you can be smart with your money and one of those ways is to increase your financial wellness now to prepare yourself for your future.
For me to be financially stable when I’m older, that means being smarter with my money now. Life is too short, so I want to enjoy the present and the future.
Food Packing
This one may seem silly, but it surprisingly saves you money and prevents you feeling like crap from eating all the gas station or airport food.
Save your money for your actual destination, I’d much rather spend money going out to eat once I arrive to where I’m traveling to.
Air Transportation
Did you know you can bring food through TSA at the airport? I didn’t until my former boss was telling me he’d always bring peanut m&ms through. There are restrictions, so it’s important to do your research with what you can and cannot bring.
I know for a fact they’re strict with liquid products, but solids seem to be less strict. I always bring an empty water bottle and fill it up once I get through security. You can typically search the items on the TSA website.
Car Transportation
Car rides are easier than you think! We always pack our cooler filled with meals and snacks. I also discovered this tip because when we go on road trips it’s always hard for me to find a quick and easy meal that’s gluten free, dairy free and healthy. So that’s how we came up with the idea to pack our cooler and we soon realized it’s a money saver!
Another trick to know is if your cooler is small enough, put it right behind the middle console so the co pilot can easily reach for something instead of needing to stop more often.
Use Reward/Flyer Points
This one can certainly be a tricky one for individuals because you need to make sure you have self-control with spending. The last thing you want to do is rack up a lot of debt trying to save here and there.
P.S. – I am not a financial advisor; this is just something we have found that works for us.
There are so many different credit cards out there where you can earn points that you can redeem later on. We utilize a budget to know how much we can put on our credit card each week and then at the end of the week once our transactions have posted we pay it off with our bank account. This way we are utilizing the credit card features to it’s full potential and not tacking on debt.
I have actually been able to get a flight for free when I went to redeem some of my points.
Using your rewards points can help you pay for flights, gas, hotel rooms and so much more! It’s all about being smart with the resources you have.
Again, if you aren’t diligent about paying it off, you could easily rack up some debt.
It’s also okay if this trick doesn’t work for you!
Local Insights
Sometimes when we are traveling, and we do our own research online we get stuck on the tourist traps! Don’t get me wrong, some can be really awesome and worth the price.
The locals can give you the inside scoop on things to do in the area, restaurants, etc. Jake will always join a Facebook group depending on where we are going to get ideas of hikes, restaurants, things to do.
Not only does this enhance our experience on the trip, but they can also give great recommendations that may be more budget friendly or free.
When we traveled to the Adirondacks last year, Jake joined a hiking Facebook group for the Adirondacks and we got some really good advice on what peaks to hit and good places to eat.
We most likely wouldn’t have found these things to do without the locals or frequent flyer inputs.
Again, it’s all about using your resources!
Escaping the Everyday 
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