When was the last time you wished you had more time and money to explore nearby attractions while visiting a destination?

Travel doesn’t have to be expensive to be rewarding. What it really comes down to is effective budgeting, and knowing what expenses to allocate money towards to achieve the vacation of your dreams. Having an understanding of what you're hoping to gain from your travel experiences is extremely helpful in meeting your adventure expectations.

There are many different ideas of what makes a perfect vacation, so everyone's needs will be different. Luxury hotels can be a highlight in a trip for some, while others may find solace in the rugged outdoors and the challenges that come with it. Knowing what you value most will enable you to spend your money more effectively.

Just like traveling, budgeting is most effective when it is tailored to your lifestyle. That’s why it’s critical that you find a method that suits your travel desires and savings habits. Overland Yukon has outlined a guide of budgeting best practices. From tips on how to reduce your average daily trip costs to effective payment plans, we have the tools to help you realize your travel dreams.

Determine a Rough Idea of Your Budget

When determining your budget, it’s best to start with the largest expense first — usually this will be your flights, car rental(s), and accommodations, but things like food and activity costs can also add up depending on your travel style. Being flexible with your travel dates, being open to where you stay, and eating out less will all help save you money and stress.

What Are Your Average Daily Trip Costs?

While every day on the road won’t be the same, you should be able to work out an average daily cost once you determine how long you plan to stay in each region. Our guide on How To Establish and Plan Your Travel Goals can help with this in further detail, but it typically includes things like your nightly accommodation rate, transportation, car rental fees, daily food expenses, and gas. It can also be helpful to establish individual budgets for all of these categories.

Add in a little more for activities and museum entry fees for when you’re stopping through historic towns like Yukon’s Dawson City - an eclectic and vibrant northern community on the banks of the Yukon River. Allocating your daily budget so that you can afford the occasional splurge will allow you freedom to take opportunities as they come. Some of the most memorable moments of our journeys are the ones we don’t plan, so you'll be grateful for the monetary flexibility in the future.

Splurge Responsibly

Splurge responsibly to avoid burning through your whole budget at once. It may mean going cheap for four nights and splurging for two nights with a nice hotel room. Or purchasing groceries instead of eating out every night of your trip. Identify what elements of a vacation are most important to you. Is there anything that must happen on a trip for it to be a dream travel experience? There are many ways to save on costs and still experience the finest of what a city has to offer. You need to divide your money responsibly and know where to splurge to make a trip exciting.

Many trip providers and tourism companies also offer add-ons and additional activities to enhance your adventure experience. With the booking of a jeep or camper van rental, Overland Yukon provides the option to purchase additional adventure gear such as pack rafts and sleeping bags so you have access to the equipment to enjoy all of Yukon’s natural splendor. Your suitcase will be a little lighter, and you'll still have plenty of things to do during the day.

Look For Places To Save

Examining the expenses of past vacations will give you a good idea of your travel style and spending habits. Seeing how you spend can help you determine which purchases are most valuable to you when traveling, as well as where you can save.

Say your last trip included hundreds of dollars in spending on taxis. Price out what it would cost to rent a car for the length of your trip, which is often the cheaper option. Maybe your dinner bills reached higher than usual on your last trip. Use local food blogs and magazines to seek out cheap camping recipes to make on the road to reduce food costs.

Each traveler's vacation desires, lifestyle, and spending habits will differ, but what remains the same is staying accountable for your budgeting goals. If the reason you’re visiting the Yukon is to explore Kluane National Park and Reserve, put a picture of it on your wall or make it your phone screensaver. By constantly revalidating your motivations, you’ll keep sight of why they are so important to you.

5 Money Saving Tips That Are Easy To Follow

1. Shop Smarter For Your Groceries

Learning how to cook for yourself is not only gratifying, but it also saves you money in the process. This can be done both in travel and everyday life. Simple unprocessed foods like rice, beans, chicken, pasta, potatoes, and vegetables are healthy and inexpensive, so you won't have to compromise your nutrition. Build your weekly grocery lists purposefully with the help up coupon apps like Flipp to avoid mindless purchases when you enter inside the store. Flipp is a free app for your smartphone that allows you to easily browse flyers for stores across Canada. With a flick of your finger, you can quickly browse the stores you frequent, clip items you want to purchase and use it for price matching.

For times when you can't resist eating out, apps such as Food Coupons use your location to find discounts for both national chains and local restaurants. Get access to deals on Groupon, LivingSocial, Restaurant.com, and more, all in one convenient app.

2. Monitor Your Consumption

Research shows that people are happier with experiential purchases over material ones irrespective of when you measure happiness (before, during or after consumption). Experiences also provoke more satisfaction even though people typically spend more time using their material possessions. Consider getting more in tune with the rate of your consumption and how it negatively impacts not only your wallet, but the environment as well. Looking into how deeply consumption and waste impact today’s climate crisis, it’s likely that you'll feel compelled to be more mindful in your purchases.

A U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey found that over 20% of all U.S. emissions are directly attributed to household consumption. If you consider indirect emissions, (meaning emissions that are related to the individual, such as the carbon produced by the country a person lives in), this figure is closer to 80%. While you may not think the little purchases matter, your individual consumption adds up – both in your bank account and the environment. Buy less and save more.

3. Reduce Your Utility Bills

The average household spends over $2,000 a year on energy bills. Get smart about how you use electricity to save on your electricity costs. Open the windows to catch a breeze instead of using the air conditioner. Turn off unnecessary lights. Shorten your showers. Fix your leaky faucet. Wash laundry in cold water. Unplug electronics that aren’t being used. Some geographic regions have more moderate temperatures than others, but even a few bucks a month pile up in your travel savings account.

A good place to start is getting an energy audit. You can find energy advisers who work in your community by entering your postal code here.

4. Purchase eBooks As Your Reading Material

The use of electronic books is more affordable and environmentally friendly than printed books. Most eBooks are instantly accessible after purchase, so you won't need to wait for them to arrive or pay for shipping. Since they can be read from any device, you can take them with you wherever you go. You’ll appreciate this convenience during your travels.

Beyond The Trees, is the story of author Adam Schoalts’ harrowing, nearly 4,000 kilometer solo canoe journey across Canada’s arctic in 2017. The hardcopy of this book on Amazon is $CDN35.00, whereas the eBook version is CDN$15.99.

Kindle Unlimited

If you're an Amazon reader, you've probably heard of Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading. For a surprisingly low monthly fee, both programs boast "unlimited reading" on a vast range of books and magazines. Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service offered by Amazon at CDN$9.99 a month that allows unlimited access to millions of different literary materials in various foreign languages. You can also find comic books, audiobooks, and popular magazines - as well as many great outdoor adventure books. You can go beyond the typical genres and authors you're used to reading with Kindle Unlimited, allowing you to step out of your reading comfort zone while still reading popular and fun classics.

Prime Reading

Those joining the Prime Student program are eligible for Prime Reading, which is available as a free trial or to paid Amazon Prime members. As a Prime member, you have access to thousands of eBooks, magazines, comic books, and more, including free borrowing of books with narration from Audible. Although the selection is more limited than Kindle Unlimited, this is another cost-effective eBook option.

5. Engage In Free Activities On The Weekend

Whether you're walking on the beach, taking a walk in the park, or stargazing in your backyard at night, there’s always a free opportunity to connect with nature. Aside from getting outdoors, there are plenty of other free activities that will save you money and reward you at the same time. Enjoy a movie marathon at home with your loved ones or cook a delicious inexpensive meal together for dinner. Visit your local museum on a free-day or clean out your closet. You'll be surprised to discover how much fun you can have for free.

Establishing A Timeline For Your Budget

By the time your trip arrives, you want to make sure you have enough money to cover the total expenses. You know how much you spend each month, and how much needs to be saved, but how long will this actually take? Pre-pay for tours, hotels, rental cars, and purchase travel insurance if you are able. That way, some of the bigger expenses will be covered when it’s time for you to embark on your adventure.

Using your current savings rate, how long will it take for you to be able to afford the total cost of your trip? Are you satisfied with this amount of time? Cut costs elsewhere to reach a higher monthly savings amount if not. Map out things like your monthly spending goals, total income, and total savings amounts. Due to shifting expenses in your lifestyle, you may not be able to save the same amount of money every month, and that is completely okay. Budgeting apps are also a great way to navigate the more expensive months to ensure you’re consistently meeting you are still meeting your savings goals.

Budgeting Apps

A budgeting app is a great way to keep track of your expenses month by month. This allows you to record of your finances for the long term, which can help you keep track of the progress you're making toward specific financial goals. You can even set personal savings goals with most apps.

Mint

Mint is a popular free online personal finance application from Intuit that offers a variety of easy-to-use financial planning and tracking tools. Mint is more than just a travel expense app - it makes it easy to analyze your cash flow by integrating with your bank accounts. You can then easily create a budget for different categories, like saving for a vacation. The online app is complemented by the free Mint mobile apps for iPad, iPhone, Android, and Windows mobile devices. Sign up for free and give it a shot.

Travel Spend

The TravelSpend app helps you keep track of your spending while you travel. It's perfect if you're planning your next vacation or are already on vacation. During a trip, you can share expenses with friends and family to determine "who owes who."

How it works: You add expenses as they happen (the app works offline and even converts foreign currencies) and the app tracks your spending by total and by day. You can even follow your spending on a map throughout your vacation.

YNAB

YNAB (You Need a Budget) is a popular software used for budgeting. While it’s slightly pricey ($11.99 a month), the positive reviews are endless. On the app version, you can set savings goals and itemize your vacation expenses. There is a free 34-day trial to get you started.

Book Now Pay Later

A payment plan is a great way to spread out the cost of some of the more expensive aspects of a trip, such as flights and hotels. Pay-as-you-go providers give consumers the option of signing up for a payment plan while making a purchase on a retailer's website or when making the purchase directly from the loan provider's website. These payments can typically be automated by providing your debit card or bank account information. Despite many providers offering 0% interest rates, some pay-as-you-go loans have interest rates in excess of 30%, higher than those on many credit cards. You should do some research before deciding on one.

Some of the most popular providers are Afterpay, Affirm, Klarna and Uplift. Klarna offers point-of-sale loans, some with 0% APR, that allow you to make four payments every two weeks and require a deposit at checkout, while Afterpay allows you to pay over six weeks. Afterpay, Uplift, Klarna and Affirm also offer consumers longer payment periods of up to one, two or even three years.

Many travel providers also reserve the option to pay for packages in installments or deposits. Overland Yukon allows you to pay only 25% of your booking total upon completion of the booking process. For example, if you want to reserve 4 nights ($1,180 at $295/night), to confirm your booking, you must pay a $295 deposit. Your remaining balance is due one week prior to your trip. This helps separate costs into different payments so you won’t have to cover it all at once.

Each rental requires a damage deposit of $500.00. A credit card is required at the time of vehicle pick-up to perform this transaction and it will be taken in the form of a pre-authorization. Overland Yukon's equipment is covered under general insurance. Any suspected damage from misuse or negligence may be subject to additional fees, repairs or replacements.

As evident, there are an array of different ways to plan around how you’re going to finance your trip. Regardless of how much money needs to be saved or how long it’s going to take you to do it, it’s important that you stick to your goals and ride out the process. A payment plan can be a good way to expedite the option of buying major expenses and paying them off later. Before making any purchase, however, make sure you can afford the future costs. Traveling can be an expensive endeavor if you don’t approach it with a plan.

Splurging responsibly and actively looking for new ways to conserve your money on your trip will help you cut costs during your stay. You can save up for your adventure by monitoring your energy consumption, lowering your utility bills, limiting materialistic purchases, purchasing eBooks, and using budgeting apps. While saving up may seem like a monumental task, it's always possible if you stick with it.

How To Budget Your Travel Goals