Saving money for your gap year
Better to spend money abroad than here
Before you start thinking about how you are going to earn your target amount, you need to think about what you spend your money on at the moment. If you are used to going out drinking several nights a week, ordering takeaways, buying CD’s regularly, buying nice coffee from Starbucks for £3 a pop, then things are going to have to change.
Tips on saving money for your gap year
We know it’s a drag, and something that it is very hard to get round to doing, but you are going to have to get sensible and really look at what you spend your money on. Find out what your vices are, and either find a cheaper alternative, or bin them! If you smoke, then give up. If you can’t give up, smoke rollies instead. Ask any friends going abroad to bring you back duty free. If your vice is clothes shopping, avoid the shops. And whatever you do, don’t get a job in a clothes shop! Never, ever go to the supermarket if you are hungry, drunk or have the munchies! You’ll waste your money on treats that you don’t need and not buy anything sensible.
Wait before you buy
The best money-saving strategy is to not buy something that you want immediately. If you wait a while, the must-have desire that you felt often subsides. You can remind yourself about the fantastic trip you have planned and work out all the things that you could spend your money on while you’re away.
Would you swap it for this?
Give the choice, would you swap the purchase of the following everyday items for their travelling equivalents? You’d be mad not to!
- A night out on the town for £40 - swap it for a river rafting excursion in
Queensland, Australia
- A takeaway Indian curry and a bottle of wine for £17.50 – swap it for a Sunset
Dinner Cruise in
Bali, Indonesia
- A taxi ride to your friend’s house for £7 – swap it for a Boat tour of
Niagara Falls, New York
- A packet of cigarettes for £5 – swap it for an overnight stay in an eco-lodge in
Cambodia
The value of a £1
Just one British pound can buy you:
So think before you spend it!
Use cash only
Work out a reasonable weekly budget, and withdraw that each week. Then, only take cash out and leave your bank cards at home. You’ll feel worse about handing over your hard earned cash than just typing in your pin number, and not having a card will prevent you from buying anything pricey without having a really good think about it first. Why not keep your bank card in a box decorated with inspiring pictures of your planned trip to really put you off being frivolous.
Every little really does help… here are a few money saving tips
- Take your own sandwiches & snacks to college or work
- Walk or cycle everywhere you can
- Get free condoms from the Family Planning Clinic
- Use a friend’s washing machine rather than the launderette
- Don’t use tumble driers – a clothes horse or radiator and a bit of patience is all it takes!
- Something we can’t officially recommend, but we hear that some people take a bottle of spirits out in their handbags and only buy softies in pubs. But like I say, we totally don’t approve of that.
- Give up smoking. If you can’t give up, switch to rollies. But you really should give up – you might as well smoke £1 notes.
- Don’t buy CD’s – copy music from friends.
- Clear out things you no longer use, and sell it at a car boot sale or on eBay.
- Don’t buy books – join a library! It’s free, remember?
Support from friends
You don’t want to get a reputation as a scrounger or a freeloader with your friends. Try to get your friends on board by enthusing to them about your dreams, and show them pictures of where you want to go and what you want to do. Get them to help you not spend money. Think of nice things you can do for them which don’t cost anything, to make up for all those rounds in the
pub you’re ducking out of.
If any of your friends would want to get you going away presents, see if you can persuade
them to get you something you know you need, like mossie repellent. If they think that's too boring, how about
getting them to put all the music you love but haven't been able to buy onto your iPod
to listen to while you're away?
Open a savings account – make your gap year money work too
It’s a brilliant idea to set up a savings account for your gap year money. Have a look
around for a decent savings account that suits your purpose, and your money could be
earning over 6% in interest.
The savings accounts that offer the highest interest on your money often have
restrictions on how quickly you can access your money and how frequently you are allowed
to make withdrawals. But this can work in your favour to prevent you from spending your
savings on a whim. Fool.co.uk has a list of some of the best savings accounts.
Find a Savings Account that suits you with
MSN Money -
you can enter your requirements and compare the best accounts - HSBC and Bradford Bingley
offer over 6% interest and offer Internet banking.
Use the Fool.co.uk savings calculator to work out how long it will take you to save up your target amount. If you think you are going to fall short, don’t worry, check out our Fundraising section to give your savings a boost.
Keeping inspired while you're saving your money
Stay focused – remember what you are saving for. Put some inspiring pictures on your bedroom wall, or on your desk at work to remind yourself what you are doing all this for. Find your ideal placement or travelling spot and put your deposit down or buy your flights as soon as you can. This will really give you something to look forward to (and make you less likely to give up on your dreams).
You don’t have to do the ‘working & saving’ phase of your gap year all at once. You could break it up into ‘save’, ‘travel’, ‘save’, ‘travel’ sections. Once you have had a taste of what it is like to be away, it should be easier to work through the ‘save’ phase the second time. And you’ll be able to show off that cracking tan to your pale friends too.
Break your target amount down into ‘weeks away’. Then you will feel like you are making progress as you save up for ‘week one’, ‘week two’ etc.
Now read on to our
Raising money – working, fundraising and grants section for
advice your options to raise the money you need.