Travel Tips

Unnecessary Expenses to Cut Now So You Can Travel More!

Let’s be real, if you had an unlimited budget, you would easily find yourself traveling more! But unfortunately, myself included, funds are not unlimited. With that being said, there are tons of travel hacks we have learned over the years to help grow our funds for traveling! So you want to travel more? Here are expenses to cut now so you can travel more!

Some might call it being too cheap or frugal, but while I am relaxing on the Amalfi Coast with limoncello in hand, we will see if having cable was worth it!

1. Hair, Nails, Brows, Lashes, and Waxing

Ladies I am talking to you! When we were planning to quit our jobs to travel, these were among the first expenses I cut and I never looked back! Now I know these self-care expenses might make you feel better, so while you don’t have to get rid of them completely, you can easily cut down.

I now get my hair done 2-3 times a year and I am blonde (hello serious ombre)! I learned how to tweeze my own brows and don’t even get me started with the new eyelash trend!

So, I totally get how effortless it is to get ready with the lash extensions but $60-$80 every couple of weeks?!? Find me curling my eyelashes and using mascara.

I used to spend $40-$60 on my nails every two weeks. It might not seem like a lot, but after a couple of months, that’s round trip flights. Also, since I stopped doing my nails, they have never been so healthy!

If you must wax instead of shaving, there are products on the market that are cheaper and that you can do at home!

In a month if I got all of this done in New York:

• Hair: $300
• Lashes: $80
• Nails: $120
• Brows: $20
• Waxing: $80

So, if we cut all these unnecessary expenses so you can travel more, in just one month, you could save $520 USD or more! There’s your ticket to Paris!

2. Getting Rid of Unessasary Subscriptions

Subscriptions are such an easy way to cut your travel expenses! Believe it or not, the only subscriptions I have are blog related. Yep, that’s right, we don’t have Amazon Prime, Food, makeup, clothing or, TV subscriptions.

To be fair, we do use my inlaws Netflix. So think about the subscriptions you have. Do you still really read those magazines?

Do you really NEED to be buying all those things from Amazon Prime? I’m sure you don’t and without Prime, you will be less likely to shop.

Not only will cutting back on these unnecessary expenses help your travel budget, but they will also help your overall spending budget so you can put more into savings!

3. Eat-in More Often

I love good food as much as the next foodie, but eating in is one of our favorite ways to save money for traveling. Not only is it generally healthier to eat in because you control the portions, but it really does save a ton of money.

Think about it, when you order an omelet for $10 bucks, you could have bought 2 cartons of eggs and bread for 6-8 omelets worth.

We order in or go out to eat maybe 1-2 times a week, but there are also many months we don’t go out to eat or order in at all!

For all the money you save, you can put it towards fancy meals on your vacation because if there is any time to experience good food, its when you are traveling!

4. Gym Memberships

I am going to start by saying physical activity is most definitely important. However, there is so much you can do without a gym and there are tons of gym influencers creating tons of free content to teach you!

Additionally, you can go walking, biking, or hiking more in nature! Now, if your gym membership is $10-$20 a month and you really go to the gym and love going, that’s fine.

But if you are spending hundreds on Cross-fit, Orange Theory, Soul Cycle, or any of those other fancy gyms, I promise you could put this money to better use while still being able to exercise.

Think about it, just 2 months of an expensive gym membership could be a small weekend getaway or staycation!

5. Reduce Shopping Sprees

Anytime I am about to make a purchase, I always say to myself, do I really need this? Of course, I can talk myself into why I do, but in your heart, you know.

Especially as a travel blogger, it’s hard to not want to get new outfits for every shot I do or vacations I go on, but instead, I’ve learned to be more creative with putting together pieces or just giving zero cares about wearing the same outfit.

Now if I really need something, I will add it to my cart and periodically check to see when it goes on sale or I shop as seasons change.

6. Buy Less Name Brands

Which brings me to my next favorite way to cut expenses to travel more. Many times, you do NOT need to buy a name brand. For example, I will get Walgreens version of Claritin and it’s the same ingredients.

We also do this when food shopping all the time! Now, don’t get me wrong, there are certain brands I am loyal to, (especially those that don’t use palm oil), but others, I would never know the difference!

7. Reduce Electricity and Water Bill

Another favorite travel saving hack happens right at home! We actively look for ways to lower these bills in our new townhome we just bought.

Some ways we have done this is by getting a thermostat that only turns on when the house temperature goes above or below a certain level. In general, we also keep our thermostat on the high end in the Summer and low end in the winter.

We also unplug or turn off appliances we don’t use often. Additionally, we set our dishwasher to a normal temperature and turn off the heat setting and use cold water with our washing machine.

All these little changes can add up helping you reduce your bills and help add to your travel budget!

8. Make Your Own Lunch/ Bring Your Own Snacks

Making your own lunch for work and having snacks is another great way to cut unnecessary expenses at work! When I worked at an office, I packed lunch just about every day and always had tons of snacks inside my desk!

By doing this, you are able to save at least $35 or more on lunch!

9. Create a Budget

Believe it or not, having a budget is one of the key ways you will be able to find out where you can cut costs! Every month we fill in an excel sheet that has all our different expenses. Some expenses we know are fixed, so we focus most on expenses we can reduce (Electric, Water, Gas, Food, Entertainment).

Once you have a handle on your budget, you can set money aside in a savings account (so it collects interest) for your travel bucket list vacations!

10. Upgrading Your Cellphone

I am guilty of this one! I used to upgrade my phone every year when the new iPhone came out. It wasn’t until I got a holiday deal where it was buying one phone to get one free. It just so happened my husband actually needed a new phone, so I got the free one.

The catch however was that it would only stay free as long as I kept it for the full 2-year contract. That’s when I realized it wasn’t worth upgrading my phone. Now I never upgrade my phone unless it no longer works. By doing this, you can save so much extra money, and therefore, travel more!

11. Cut Cable

If you haven’t already, cut that cable! Since buying our new place, we just pay for the internet and bought an Amazon Fire Stick. I am not sure where your morals stand, but there are ways to use the Firestick to basically see all the same things you would be paying for, but free. To find out how to do that, Youtube is a great source.

You can also reach out to friends and family for subscription passwords or even chip in with them. That would lessen the bill for everyone!

12. Social Drinking

Social drinking is another way you can cut your expenses to save for travel. Some ways you can still have fun with your friends but not pay for overpriced drinks is by hosting your friends at your house.

Another option if you have is by pregaming before you go! Basically, have a couple of beer/wine/shots (you got from a store) before you get there. This way, you will spend less on expensive drinks!

13. Makeup

I am sorry to offend any MUA and enthusiasts out there, but you don’t need to buy every new makeup for every trend or product that comes out. You are beautiful, you don’t need tons of new makeup products to prove it!

Keep it simple with an affordable mascara, eyeliner, lip, and powder/foundation. I bet you that if you looked through your makeup, you will find a huge portion you never even use.

14. Coffee Costs

I love PSL like the next basic American girl, but it is pretty rare to catch me buying coffee unless I am actually traveling. By making your own coffee at home, you will easily be able to put more money towards traveling!

If it makes you feel better, you can save all the money from your coffee at home, for your coffee budget while abroad!

15. Reduce Car Usage and Payments

Another effective way to save more money to travel is by reducing your car usage or by buying/leasing a more affordable car. Since my husband and I work at home, we only have one car that we share with helps us save a lot on insurance and car payments.

We also don’t drive anything fancy. While I’d love to be cruising in a Tesla or Mercedes, I’d much rather save those $400- 800 USD monthly car payments on a ticket instead!

In terms of reducing your driving, consider walking, biking, or taking public transportation when possible. This will reduce your gas cost and maintenance on your car such as oil, tires, breaks, etc!

16. Look for Free Attractions Around Your Area or Reduced Admission Days

Last but not least, another great way to cut your expenses to save for travel is by either doing free attractions or visiting attractions on free or reduced admission days!

Even for cities like NYC that can be super expensive, there are still plenty of free things to do in NYC that are still pretty awesome including the Vessel, the Highline, Central Park, and the Brooklyn Bridge!

Additionally, NYC also offers free or reduced admission days to a lot of top museums and tons of free events happening around the city, especially in the summer!

By just altering your schedule a little, you can still enjoy a lot your home has to offer while still being able to save for travel! We even use these same techniques when traveling to other expensive cities like Paris!

We look into free walking tours or reduced admission days this way we can splurge more on special travel experiences!

Travel Expenses to Cut for Traveling More in Review

As you can see there are plenty of savvy ways to cut your expenses so you can travel more! I strongly believe in collecting experiences and not things. Can you think of any expenses I should add? Let me know in the comments below!

If you found these 16 expenses to cut so you can travel more helpful, I’d love it if you could share/pin it!