8 Things To Cut Out Of Your Budget Before Travel

When I lay down to sleep at night, no longer do I dream about scary monsters and ghosts. Instead, my dreams are haunted by rising interest rates and groceries. It is no secret that the cost of living has increased quickly, and sadly people start having to cut non-essentials from the budget. The common misconception is that travel should be one of the first to go, BUT with the stress of life, travel is essential – if not only for the benefit of your mental health.  

There are a lot of other expenses you can cut before travel, and we’ve listed eight of them for you.

Instead of heading to the salon every fortnight, head to a beautiful beach destination such as Greece. We do not condone tanning in the sun, be sure to slip, slop, slap. But if you currently get a spray tan each fortnight, you’re spending about $1300 per year which is half a return trip to Athens. Ditch the spray tans and you’ll be island hopping in no time.   

One of life’s great pleasures is going out for gourmet food and delicious drinks- we get it. But staying in and skipping the restaurants is an easy win. Here are a few ideas. 

Japanese food is incredible but imagine how much more authentic and delicious it will be when you’re eating it in JAPAN. If you spend eight dollars, four times a week, that's $1664 you could put towards flights to Tokyo.

Family traditions are important but how fun would it be to make a new tradition of going on an overseas holiday together as often as you can? Say you spend $80 on family takeout each Friday, by opting instead for an easy homemade meal – you’ll be saving about $4160 a year. That's a decent chunk of a Coral Coast four- or five-star family getaway.

Wine pricing varies greatly for several reasons, and it also depends on If you're a bottle a day or bottle a week type of person. For that reason, it is hard to say how exactly how much money you’ll be able to put towards a trip. What isn’t hard to say though is how amazing it will feel taking in spectacular views and delicious drops in the rolling hills of Switzerland.  

Australians are notorious coffee snobs but if you swap your daily café coffee for instant (we understand this is a big ask) you could have about $2000 to put towards an overseas trip. Coffee in Italy is something to be experienced and when you stand at the coffee bar, shotting incredible coffee- the instant coffees will be worth it.   

See Kings Landing in Croatia, where Anakin and Padme married on Lake Como or any of the famous buildings from Harry Potter across the UK and more. So many famous movies and television shows have been filmed in picturesque, iconic locations. If you pay for Netflix, Stan, Binge and Disney Plus, you are paying over $500 per year which could go towards visiting these famous locations.

Milan is the fashion capital of the world and if you like fashion- you'll want to check it out. Tacky fast fashion threads won’t do in Milan so why pay $30 plus for an item when you could pay much less by thrifting. Not only will you be saving money, but you’ll also have more unique threads and be helping the environment.  

One sure way to make sure you maximize your spending money for an overseas trip is to buy currency from our friends at Travel Money Oz. They guarantee the best exchange rate and will refund you the difference if your rate changes within fourteen days of purchase.