How to Plan a Budget Travelling?

Last Updated : March 12, 2016, 8:27 a.m.

Travelling is not always spending huge amount and creating holes in your saving. You can always budget your travelling and save money on your overall travelling cost. Budget travelling does not mean that cheap travelling or not spending on necessary things. It means you make a thorough plan before travelling and included even smallest expense you are going to do while travelling. There is no right or wrong way of travelling, but you can always budget your travel. Travelling does not always mean staying in luxurious 5 star hotel, and eating at finest restaurants only. You can try some street food or stay at some good hotel/motel.

Yes, there are various unique and interesting ways that can make your travel a budget and at the same time a memorable affair. You just need to play smart, and should know about the interesting ways that can help in keeping your travel a budget-friendly affair.

Here are some important tips you can use to budget your travel.

1. Use online sites to compare prices: This is always recommended that you use price comparing sites before travelling. You can compare travelling cost, ticketing, loading cost and other important cost at various sites. This is really important because you will get a fair idea of the minimum amount you are going to spend on your trip. So compare all the prices and go with the best offer/price rate to make your travel more economic.

2. Pick your flight dates in advance: If you know your travelling date in advance, so book your tickets as soon as possible. It will help in buying cheaper flight tickets as compared to buying tickets on time. There are many domestic airlines which offer concessions on the actual price if you book tickets in advance. You should always compare the flight fares before booking the tickets.

3. Take Midday Travel: Travelling during the midday is a little bit incovenient, as you will waste some sightseeing hours, but travelling in midday flight is more cheaper. As most of the people travel in early morning flight or late evening and night flight, so travelling in midday flight is comparatively cheaper.

4. Off season travelling for lower price: If you want to travel and save some money, travelling in off season is always the best option. In Indian and abroad as well there are travelling season for different places. For instance, if you want to travel at hill station and you plan your travel in the month of February or March, or in September & October, you will get rooms on cheaper rate or almost on 50% off as compared to peak season.

5. Compare various holiday packages: There are many travelling companies, agents and site which offer you cheaper deals for travelling and hotels, compared to booking these things separately. You can save upto 30% on your travel and hotel expenses, if you book your package through these sites. These sites offer you various packages which include hotel stay, sightseeing, travelling tickets, meals and drinks as well. Therefore, it is always good to compare your travelling cost before you book any package.

6. Train travel: Travelling via train is less expensive as compare to travelling via flights. You can book a train ticket in advance to increase the chances of confirmation of your seats. But, the cost of trains tickets is much cheaper as compared to travelling in economic class in flight.

7. Include a food budget: It is really important that you should create a budget for food. If you are staying in hotel try to eat all your meals outside the hotel as it will be more cheaper. You can also experiment with local food and eating at small restaurants if you want. Avoid drinks while travelling. It will shoot your budget if you indulge in costly drink on your travel.

8. Decide your spend on entertainment: If you are visiting a place where you want to explore theme parks, adventure sports, national park, museums, shows, special events, etc., so add some extra amount in overall budget to bear those expenses. You can also research the ticket prices/ charges for these entertainment events. You can also visit the websites to know how much you are going to invest if you visit those places.

9. Remember to budget for gifts, shopping: This is one area of expense, which is totally under your control. Keep a budget you are willing to spend for shopping/buying gifts for your family and friends. So decide a budget which will not affect your savings. However, if you are running short on your budget, you can also apply for personal loan . It allows you to meet your travelling needs very well. There are many renowned lenders available in the market that are ready to offer you such loan so as to cover all your travelling needs.

10. Keep a check on phone roaming cost: If you are travelling with family, try to use single phone for roaming. As it will reduce your overall calling cost. This way you will not pay roaming charges for all the phone. Also try to find out which cellular company is offering you lowest roaming rates. There are cellular companies which provide you cheaper roaming rates for specific areas/states or top-up recharge for lower roaming charges.

Travel Loan Scheme

When it comes to planning your travel, one important thing that you should always keep in mind is to compare the different travel packages. Yes, these days lenders offer various lucrative packages as well as travel loan schemes in order to lure the customers. So, instead of getting into the trap, you need to be extra careful while choosing the best lender. Compare different lenders on the basis of their schemes and then take the final decision.