Budgeting to sustain long term travel: Pre-Trip Tips.

Beth is amazing. She’s the reason I am a travel blogger. She’s also the reason why I have now been to 16 countries. Without her drive, smarts and pro budgeting skills, I probably wouldn’t have made it any further than Tijuana, Mexico.

When our eyes first met in a San Diego bar seven years ago, I was a financial mess. I had debt, debt and more debt. I wasn’t interested in the big picture. I was 27 and desperately trying to live in the moment. Late nights, big bar tabs and high interest rate credit cards were a large part of my life. I was living like a twenty-something Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High and I didn’t have time for the future. Beth, on the other hand, had a good job and a big dream: to travel long term.

After many long talks about traveling the world and some shorter trips to Guatemala and Oaxaca, her dream became mine and we worked together to pay off my debt and save as much as we could before finally heading out in August 2010. We worked hard to get to that point—long hours, extra jobs, selling coffee tables on Craigslist and downsizing to a 27 foot sailboat. It was an incredible feeling when we walked into the airport that evening to embark on our first big adventure. What we did isn’t’ anything that you can’t do. And while this is by no means a comprehensive list, my hope is that it will give you some insight that you can use in your own life.

Get Your Financial House Together

I can do things on my phone now that I never thought would be possible, especially when we first started saving for our travels. From depositing checks to paying bills, I can now do so much from my iPhone that it makes me giddy. I’ve never been good at balancing a checkbook, so being able to bank online has been a godsend for me, so definitely try opening a bank account online (My favorite is Charles Schwab, since they refund all ATM fees) that also has a smartphone app. Not only will this help you keep your financial house in order, it will also make your life a whole lot easier if you plan to make while traveling and you need to transfer money between PayPal and your banking account.

How Low Can You Go

Debt happens, but you don’t have to let it consume you. One great way to kick your debts butt is to get rid of those high interest credit cards. It’s a good idea to do a credit card transfer soon after you lay out your debts and interest rates in a spreadsheet. If you can transfer your balance to a low rate card, then you can really start making a dent in your debt. I hated coming face to face with my debts, but once I had a grasp on exactly how much I owed, I felt better because I knew exactly where I stood.

Related: Visiting Iceland on a Budget

Snowball Your Debt

This is a tried and true method for paying off your debt. Talk to any debt counselor and I bet you’ll a hear similar version of this technique from them too. What you want to do is look at each debt separately and then pay down the smallest first with any extra money you have while paying the minimum on your other debts. Once I got rid of my smallest debt, then I want to the next one and put all of my extra money towards that debt while making sure to pay the minimums on the others. Once you get the metaphorical snowball rolling, it’s pretty motivating and liberating as you watch your debt fall away.

 Sweat the Small Stuff

Coffees, energy drinks, eating out for lunch, bottled water, and all those other things that we consume on a daily basis are money sucks. My advice to you is to cut them out of your life if you are really serious about saving money. Honestly, I think you’d be surprised about how much you are spending on these items each month if you start to track your spending; I know I was.

Unfortunately, family medical issues cut our long term travel plans short. However, paying off debt and saving was still key because it allowed us to travel all through Europe two years in a row. Long term travel is still something we want to do and now that I have incurred a little more debt (credit and medical), it’s time for me to follow my own advice and get my financial house back in order.

Do you have any special ways of saving money or paying off debt?