How to Have a Budget-Friendly Trip in Australia

How to Have a Budget-Friendly Trip in Australia

All of us, or at least most of us, have always dreamed of travelling and roaming the world. But there’s always one single problem that prevents us from exactly making that happen, Money. You shouldn’t let that stop you, though. This article will try to explain a few key points you could implement in your next travel to cut on budget enough to let you afford a trip to your dream destination.

Plan Ahead

Before you get too excited about your upcoming adventure, you need to sit down with a pen and notebook and thoroughly plan your trip. Take note of everything you think is essential; destination, stuff, budget, travel duration, visa application and so on.

To have a clear plan from start to finish is very smart, and you will get fewer nasty surprises.

You will start your journey with confidence and with no stress.

Set Your Budget

I mean, you probably knew this by heart, but because it’s so important, I’m gonna say it again. Set a fixed budget and stick to it. Try to weed out unnecessary costs as much as you can. The less you spend, the more you can travel, not a bad deal, huh?

Visa Application

The most important and yet so dull step in preparing your travel destination is acquiring the related visa. So, to avoid that, you need to choose the best agencies in terms of service and price. I personally use Migration Door Australia whenever I want to travel. Every country has different visa application laws, so it’s best to leave that to professionals.

Travel light

Do not take more than what you honestly need. Pack as light as you can. You’re not gonna use half of your stuff anyways.  Just make sure you take the essentials so that you don’t have to pay your travel money to buy them later.

Use Travel and Meeting Apps

We travel to meet new people and interact with new exciting cultures. These apps provide a safe environment to meet and hang out with kindred spirits.

Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is a fantastic app where you can ask strangers to host you for a few days for FREE. Isn’t that awesome?

According to Couchsurfing, there are 309,500 hosts in Australia now, and this number is only increasing. You could get a host for free in any city if you try to make a good honest account of the app and ask people if they can host you or not.

HomeExchange

This app is pretty awesome; you exchange homes with someone who wants to travel to your country. You will save a ton of cash with this deal.

Culture Go Go

The local hosts on this application will offer you free accommodation to practice the English language with them.  How amazing is that?

Check out this article for more home-sharing programs.

Work While You Travel

If you’re travelling for an extended period, you should consider working as you go. While on the road and whenever you feel your bank account is running low, you can get odd jobs and stick in one place for a while. You could teach English for a few months in Asia, for example.

Cook Your Food

If you plan on eating out every day, then you need a big fat bank account. Cook your meals. Cooking is entertaining, and it’s way cheaper and healthier than any restaurant food. You could also cook traditional foods you find out about as you travel. Before you know it, you’d have a fantastic food journal that you can brag about to your friends.

In Australia, you can shop for your groceries at a supermarket called Aldi. It’s the cheapest supermarket known in Australia, and you can save up to 50% by getting your stuff from them.

Off-Season

Avoid travelling seasons. Travel on off-seasons, it’s cheaper and less crowded. You’d have all the city to yourself. That makes you feel like the locals and have an immersive experience walking around enjoying the scenery.

In Australia, May through June is off-season. The weather might be cold, but everything from plane tickets to hotel and restaurant prices is lower than the high season by a good margin.

Choose One or Two Regions

To keep your costs low, choose one or two locations that are not far from each other and spend your time exploring them. Plus, sticking to one or two destinations gives you more time to explore the hidden gems. Normally you don’t get to see these locations get featured on fancy magazines and blogs.

Find the Cheapest Plane Tickets

Skyscanner lets you look for the cheapest flight possible. Skyscanner looks through thousands of available flights for your chosen destination and enables you to book them online on their website.

Fly Mid-Week

Flying mid-week is cheaper because everyone is out there working. So, the next time you want to book a plane ticket, make sure it takes off mid-week.

Hostels and Dorms Instead of Fancy Hotels

Hostels are a great place to meet travellers worldwide, and it’s way cheaper than hotels. It is also a suitable place to try and go places with other people. This way, you can split the costs evenly and enjoy a great day outside.

Carpooling

If you’re planning to travel by car, you should consider carpooling. You have the space, so why not use it in your advance. Find people who share your destination, and you can charge them for the ride, which can help you pay for fuel. You can check out blablacar or life share to see how it works. Try it could be fun.

Next time you’re driving from Sydney to Perth, check out these websites first. Who knows, you might find your soulmate on one of these rides. Wouldn’t that be something, ha?

Local SIM Card Is a Must

Buy a local SIM card every time you reach a new destination. It will tremendously cut down on your data connection expenses because, c’mon, you gotta share your astonishing journey online, right?

Negotiate for Prices

Don’t just pay the shopkeepers what they ask. They usually charge travellers way more. So, haggle a bit and ask for a fair price.

Talk to Locals

As obvious as it sounds, you need to talk to locals even if you’re not looking for information that can help you cut down on your budget. We travel to meet and talk to people, and we can leverage this to our advantage. The locals can provide us with a wealth of interesting information about cheap places and advice on saving more money in their city.

Walk

Last but not least, walk as much as you can. First, walking is great for your health; second, walking lets you experience the city is a slow pace. You can take in everything slowly and enjoy it as you walk. You wouldn’t even notice you’re walking. Also, walking is free, so that’s like the ultimate bonus you can ask for.