Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Three to Get Ready

 

Another great way to make a little extra money, for your travels. Is through your hobbies. I love to take pictures and am starting to do some photography on the side. It's something I enjoy doing and can bring in some extra money that will fit nicely in my savings account.
 

 

 
A great site to sell things you create with your hobbies is Etsy. I have a friend that crochets and could sell here beautiful blankets on there no problem. It a great venue for selling handmande and vintage finds (in case your hobby is junking).
 
Take a look at the things you like to do and see if there's an avenue for making extra travel money.
 
 


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Two Birds...

 
 
Let's be honest, we all have "stuff" that can be cleared out of our house. I mean if you have to ask yourself any of these questions:
- When did I use it last?
- Am I going to use it?
- What is it?
It's time to get rid of it.
It's said that you can clean out a closet and feel like you've just been shopping. But, if you didn't miss it do you really need to hang onto it?
You could have a regular yard sale, but let's be real, you won't make much.
Three years ago I decided to go through EVERYTHING and put it on ebay. In one summer I made close to $1,000! Not only had I decluttered and organized, but also racked up a good amount of money in the process.
 
Ebay's not the only way out there to sell online. I really like Amazon and Craigslist as well. Not, to mention, that a lot of my friends are using Facebook as a virtual yard sale.
 
 
 
Make sure, if you take any of these routes, you are organized. Have the things you are selling somewhere you can easily grab the and stick them in the mail. Make sure you are checking everyday to see if you've sold anything. Getting an item in the mail quickly will give you a good seller's profile.
 
This is personally one of my favorite ways to a make extra cash. I get rid of unneeded, unused clutter and watch the money add up. Don't get discouraged if you only sell something for $5. Just put it in that travel savings account and let it GROW!
 
So what's hiding in your house you could sell?
 
 
 


Monday, September 3, 2012

One For the Money



If I were a millionaire I could just take off on any dream trip I wanted, at any given moment. But, let's be realistic, that's not going to happen. So, if I want to pursue my traveling dreams, I'm going to have to make a plan and buckle down.

Keep in mind that you need to have a plan. Find out how much money you need to save before you begin. That way you have a goal, which will keep you motivated!

I have an aunt and uncle who love to travel. They go somewhere every two years. How they do this is by saving money. Not only do they put money back in the the bank but they throw their change into jars every evening when they get home. This has allowed them to take multiple trips without going into debt.

If you're like me, though, you hardly ever have change, because you carry your bank card and not cash. That's were the bank comes in really handy! There's two different ways to sock back money with your bank.

  1. Have a savings account specifically for traveling... and don't touch it!
  2. If your bank offers a Christmas club, use it to put money back in for traveling... and don't touch it.
The only problem with the Christmas club is that the bank usually wants you to take your money out when Christmas is approaching. But, if you are going to travel each year this is still a great way to put money away. You can also put the Christmas club money into your traveling savings account.

If you decided on an amount that can be automatically put into the savings account or Christmas club, you won't even feel it. I mean, once that amount of money is regularly put into an account, after a while you don't notice it's missing.

My friend has done this and she raises the amount by 10 or 20 dollars each year. Once she's gotten used to not having that amount in her budget, it's not painful to have that taken out. The best part is, it really adds up.




 

 
There's, of course, a lot of other ways to raise traveling money. I want to go into some of those in other posts.

You have any ideas?