Many of us dream of taking a gap year and traveling around the world with nothing but a backpack and a desire for adventure. Or even just a few months to clear our heads, breath some air and inspire ourselves.
I can say first hand it is good therapy for the routine that is often the reality of life for most of us.
However, it is not lack of desire that stops many of us from realizing that dream but rather lack of funds. And I will go further and say it is more so a case of lack of planning and understanding the behaviours involved in saving.
As a behavioural consultant in my "real life" I am quite versed in the good, bad and the ugly of all human behaviour.
And for many of us, "extending gratification" is very difficult. We instead opt for "instant gratification"
where instead of saving up for a smart phone we just want it now and will take a contract so it in our hands immediately.
When it comes to a big trip that may be a year in planning or even 2 years we have difficulty with a reward so far off and so many of us easily get swayed.
Much like our close primate relatives the chimpanzees we like shiny things and won't hesitate to swoop in and grab them!
However, there are strategies that can help us help our brains stay on course yet still feel some gratification. As well there are other behaviours we can avoid to not tempt our primal instinct to take over!
1) KNOW YOUR WEAKNESS
Like an alcoholic who avoids the bar, we all have the propensity to give in to temptation when surrounded by things we would love to buy, but "oh just this one time" quickly turns in to "oh just this one time" once a week!
Avoid shopping districts, particularly expensive ones. It is common for us to wander shopping malls with friends as a pastime and we end up buying just to buy. This is where you need to develop more cost effective pastimes like walking through a park instead.
And if you feel like you actually need something make an agreement with yourself that you will buy it in a week. If that item you think you need is still on your mind a week from when you thought you needed it then it may be legitimate.
If you absolutely need to shop then try visiting travel stores and buy things that you will need on your trip!
2) KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE
When a reward is far off we need to keep our adrenaline flowing on the idea or we will lose much of our saving strength. Spending time with friends who travel chatting about past trips or your upcoming trip will give you the "rush" and encouragement to help you keep on the straight and narrow with your money.
Buying a Lonely Planet travel book even a year or 2 before you leave and reading up on your destinations will help keep the dream real and exciting and assist you in saying no to that weekend Vegas trip or those new shoes.
Just doing research alone is a good reinforcer to save, for you shoppers out there, you will find such amazing clothes etc. abroad for sometimes a tenth of the price of the west so remind yourself of the wardrobe you will come back with! (My wife bought about 20 sundresses averaging about 4 dollars a dress!)
3) THE COFFEE
This was a tough one for me. I enjoy sitting in coffee shops and reading or just visiting with friends and I found that 6 days a week I would buy a coffee or latte a day! When I calculated the monthly total I knew I had to make a change. However changes should be realistic so cutting out completely your enjoyment of a latte or coffee is unrealistic and you will likely fail and give up all together. Therefore. I decided that I would cut it out of my week days and allow it on Saturday and Sunday. This worked like a charm and I ended up saving a lot more per month.
4) BE REALISTIC AND MEASURABLE
As mentioned above if you set unrealistic goals, you will likely fail and just give up. So setting yourself up for smaller success will encourage bigger success. For example, when I cut out week day coffee purchases but allowed weekends I saw the amount of extra money I was putting into my travel fund and was so excited that I cut out my Sunday coffee purchase also. And then the last 2 months before I left I cut out coffee purchases almost entirely! Baby Steps!!
And when I say be measurable don't just make a plan to "cut back on coffee purchases".That is too vague.
You need to outline what that looks like. Cutting two days a week out? Or three? But make it measurable or you will be too variable about it.
If you enjoy eating out from time to time don't make your life miserable and entirely cut it out. Just measurably make a plan where you eat out once a week and decide on a reasonable number you can spend based on your income.
Tip: Breakfast and lunch are always cheaper than dinner so go that direction if you can. Fortunately I love breakfast food so this worked to my benefit!
4) MEASURABLE WITH MONEY
Start off by opening or using a bank account that will just be for your travel fund. Then look at your current income and be realistic and measurable about how much you can put in per pay check. Aim low!! You want to set yourself up for success or you will get discouraged and fall off the wagon.
You will find that with a few months of successful saving you will likely increase your monthly put-away but start very conservatively. In turn, make a rule that once it is in the account it cannot be taken out(unless of course you have a emergency).
My formula, take whatever your first thought was to put away per month and shave of a third. Then you will succeed!
Also, you should not take money from other investments, keep money going to retirement savings etc. You will find that by analyzing your unnecessary spending habits you should be able to save adequately.
5) THE THREE MONTH CRUNCH!
Good savers may not need this but it definitely helped us with a last minute infusion. The last three months we cut our fancy cable and opted for the basic, cancelled or gym passes and worked out from home/jogging and didn't eat out or buy alcohol in restaurants or bars virtually at all (I learned how to make a mean Margarita at home!) This wasn't that hard as it was only 3 months and the excitement of a 6 month round the world trip coming up fuelled us quite well. We ended up saving much more because of this!
Remember, the things you see and the experiences you have will outweigh any dinner out or new pair of shoes and you will be indulging in much of that while abroad. Not only will your trip be something life changing but I can guarantee that you will return having better spending habits not to mention a bit of a travel addiction!
Happy Travels!
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