Apr

23

21 resources for budget travel

Filed Under frugal | 33 Comments

I love to travel. Really love it. This year my plans include the Oktoberfest in Munich (confusingly, it’s in September) and later in the autumn I’m heading out to Egypt for a week, where I’ll spend part of the time floating along the Nile in a felucca.

Anyway, I thought maybe you’re planning your holidays and vacations right now and you might like this collection of budget travel resources.

before you go

27 personal finance tips for overseas travel - because you won’t be in Kansas any more. Great list of things to think about before you go, it’s stuff that should be obvious to an experienced overseas traveller, but that a first-timer may not have thought of.

10 money saving tips for travel - more basic tips, but this time from someone after they returned from their first adventure. It’s things they did well, and things that they didn’t

pack light - the less that you take, the easier it will be to stay on a budget. Honestly, it’s true. Everyone who travels wishes they’d taken less stuff

accommodation

the joys of hostelling - it’s not all about bunkbeds, curfews, and young people any more. Hostelling is my accommodation of choice when I’m travelling on my own, I prefer to spend my money on food and other experiences

learn Esperanto and get free places to stay - ok, so it’s a little off the beaten track as an idea, but if you have more time than money, why not give it a go

you’ve got to love couchsurfing - surf couches around the world, free accommodation at its most basic

getting there and around

7 reasons to take the bus - I’ve travelled on the bus (or coach, as we Brits prefer to call long distance services) in the United States, Canada, Australia, and in Europe. Most of those were overnight trips to save on the cost of accommodation. Do you know what, it’s pretty good fun.

take the train, not the plane - possibly the most civilised form of transport available. I love taking the train when I’m on holiday. My current favourite trip was from Budapest to Vienna, so cheap and so easy. One of these days I want to travel on the Trans-Siberian express from Moscow to Beijing.

13 ways to save money on airline travel - some destinations are only reachable by plane, so you may as well save some money on your flights if you have to take them

getting cheap flights - this is a UK based information, but a lot of it will be relevant to everyone. And, if you are planning a trip to Europe, definitely check out the information on budget airlines, proof positive that someone loves Europeans

plan a cheap road trip - just because you’re in a car, doesn’t mean that there aren’t great ways to save money.

12 keys to a good deal on a rental car - you’re not always going to want to take your own car with you, and there are lots of destinations that work best with a rental car

on the road

5 steps to staying in touch on the road - because you’re going to want to phone home. And even if you don’t, you might find that you’ve forgotten to tell your bank that you’re abroad and they’ve stopped your card. Not that I’ve ever done anything like that of course ;) .

5 tips for saving money at the airport - ugh, I’m not a fan of airports, and always seem to spend more there than I intended. Maybe I should check out these tips next time.

7 tips for managing your cash when travelling - because you’re going to be spending some money whilst you’re abroad. But, you may as well do it sensibly

10 tips for cutting RV travel expenses - RV stands for recreation vehicle, right? Glorified caravans with every home comfort, they aren’t intrinsically budget choices, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t make them so

8 ideas for saving money on food - eating is an important and necessary part of life. It’s even more important when travelling, all that hiking round museums/national parks/the beach works up an appetite. It can be expensive though, so you might want to make some clever choices

how much should you tip on a cruise? - you do know that you have to right? It’s as well to do it properly, without either coming across as a miser, or being more generous than you need to be

other trips

10 frugal tips for visiting family - because not all travel is to exciting new destinations. Unless you’re one of the lucky people whose extended family live in Hawaii or something

stay at home vacation - not everyone likes, or can afford to, travel to exotic destinations. That’s no reason to take a break though. Why not have a stay at home vacation?

money saving tips at Disney - if you’re a fan of the mouse, or you have children who are you should probably know that without planning, it’s expensive. So here are some ideas to help you.

More ideas? Let me know in the comments.

Apr

22

trying to divorce, stuck with the house

Filed Under Uncategorized | 10 Comments

As with most people you get to know, there are some things that you probably don’t know about me. Some of those things are unimportant - you probably didn’t already know that I’m a supporter of Liverpool Football Club, or that I have a major snake phobia (to the extent that writing that word makes me uncomfortable).

Although I may have alluded to it, you probably didn’t know that my parents are divorced. They separated a couple of years ago and divorced earlier this year (I think). By the time that my parents marriage began to fall apart I had already moved out of home, and haven’t been materially affected by their separation and divorce (the same cannot be said of all of my siblings).

One of the problems that my mum and dad had in deciding to separate was the house that they shared. Lazy Man and Money pointed out the other day that with the downturn in the US housing market an increasing number of couples that are divorcing can’t sell the house that they jointly own. This is not too different to the situation my family found themselves in. When they put the familly house up for sale, it took them months to find a buyer, and then it took months for the sale to go through.

Let’s think about what that was really like. A couple who had been married for more than 20 years and have several children - some of whom are at college or school and living with them - decide after much thought, effort and heartache that they would be better off being apart. And, they were right, they are indeed so much better off living apart it’s not true.They then can’t sell their joint house quickly and move on with their lives because the thing won’t shift.

They say there’s nothing like living with someone to find all their faults and flaws. There’s certainly nothing like living with someone when you don’t want to, to really make your life a misery. And did I mention that my younger brothers and sisters were mostly living there with them?

In the end, they managed to sell the house for £300k and they’ve bought their own houses that are less than a mile apart. They are both, on balance, happier now than they were and us kids are ok even the younger ones.

Before I added my comments to Lazy’s piece, most of the other commentators mithering on about people getting divorced too quickly, and that this sort of thing could never happen to them because they worked at their marriages. Whatever.

This particular scenario might never apply to you - for example if I remain living on my own, then it’s not exactly likely to apply to me. But, you never know when you might need to sell your house quickly - you might need to relocate for work, or have an unexpected addition to the family, or move to care for a family member. The probability that something like this will happen is, to a certain extent, out of your control.

However, the more flexibility that you have, the more wiggle room in your position, the better able you will be to deal with unexpected events. This is the sort of thing that sensible personal finance is for - being able to roll with the punches, because no matter how hard you try there will be punches. And they probably won’t be the ones that you expect. Spend less than you earn, accumulate savings, investments and think sensibly about the amount of house you need and can afford. These are the basic things that will stand you in good stead.

The lesson to learn is that by not overstretching to buy a house and by maintaining a sensible financial position you can reduce the impact that a major life event has on your finances, or worse on you and the ones that you care about.

Apr

21

best financial move in college - meme

Filed Under Uncategorized, education and career | 24 Comments

I’ve seen a lot of people writing about the silly things that they did in college, like take out approximately a gazillion pounds worth of student loans, or take out a credit card so they could get a (sadly, uncool)
free t-shirt.

I don’t think students are always that dumb. In particular, I don’t think you were that dumb when you were a student, so I want to know what your best financial move was in college. What did you do then, that has stood you in good stead in the rest of your adult life.

It doesn’t have to be a financial thing in itself, as long as it’s something that has helped you develop and maintain a great financial position now.

I’m tagging Mrs. Micah, Cash Money Life, Rocket Finance and Remodeling this Life to answer me in their blogs, and to tag more people.

If you don’t have a blog, then please leave your best move in the comments - I want to hear them all.

Image by Matthias Rosenkranz

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