For many years I had wanted to take the trip of a lifetime and head to the Maldives, and last year I was finally able to realize my dream. I was lucky enough to go with my best friend Kati Volitich and we had the most amazing time over the two weeks. Something which frustrated me a great deal was the people who had told me that I was lucky to be able to take such a trip. There was no luck involved in what I did and I had to scrimp and save for over a year before I could book up. If you have a dream destination, here is how to get the money to go.
More Work
The first thing to look at is the possibility of making more money, whilst you may think that of course everyone would like to make more money, I am referring to working more rather than finding a way to simply earn more. Prior to my trip I took on a second job at a pizza place, as well as looking at ways to make money online. If you truly want that dream trip, then heading out for a second job or finding ways to earn online are the least that you can do to put some more money in the bank.
Spending
Your spending needs to be absolutely minimal whilst you are saving up for your big trip, and you will have to make a great deal of sacrifice. No more nights out with friends and no more dining out, movie visits will have to stop and any other frivolous spending like a Starbucks or a daily sandwich will also need to be cut down. This can be tricky but you must remember why you are doing it. The great thing about working more is that you will spend less money, and have less time to do anything which may cost.
Staying Inspired
Making these kind of changes in your life is not easy so you need to find ways in which to keep yourself inspired. Something which I did was to surround myself with photos of where I would stay in the Maldives, I placed photos in my bedroom, my office and even one in my purse. This constant reminder of what you are saving up for really serves its purpose and if you ever need a reminder, you will have one straight away.
Savings Goals
I found that the best way to save up for my trip was to break down how much I needed into 4 or 5 chunks, in order to make it easier to achieve. The total cost of my trip was just over $4,000 so I broke it down into 5 savings goals of $800. Breaking it down like this just makes saving far more manageable.
You don’t need luck, just the desire and the focus on saving.