Living frugally is a simple way that anyone can start to save towards their travelling dreams!

People often ask how we can afford to travel, and the answer is that we just put all of our income after essential bills towards the travel fund. It’s that simple! (No, really, it is)

The big difference tends to be what people class as essential spending.

Here, I’ve put together a list of ways that we cut back on everyday spending in order to save for travelling.

1. Haircuts.

I cut everybody’s hair in the whole family. This is something I started ages ago and perfected over lockdown, back when everybody cut their own hair!  Mine is longish, and I just do a trim-nothing fancy. The boys I do a scissor and clipper cut. Watch a few YouTube videos first and have a go! It’s not perfect, but it’s good enough for me. Savings: approx. £100 every 6 weeks

2. Beauty treatments.

A lot of my friends regularly get beauty treatments; I go without and put it towards travel. The only thing I religiously buy for my face is sunscreen.  Sometimes, I would love to pamper myself at the salon, but I love travelling more. I will get my own nail polish and face mask to do at home occasionally, though. So, no nails done, no hair dying, no facials, or botox. I also rarely wear makeup, but when I do, I use the old cosmetics i already have, but they still do the job! If I am going somewhere special, I can always get my makeup done at a makeup counter in town. Approx. savings; anywhere from £30- £100 per month

3. Kids Birthday presents.

Now, OF COURSE, I get my kids’ birthday presents! They write a list and get what they want ( within reason) they also have a birthday party and get gifts from their friends. However their grandparents always ask what they want and seen as they have tons of toys already they often but things like a course of swimming lessons, shoes, or clothing items they need, or sports equipment. Of course the grandparents need to be happy with this, but ours love getting something useful and practical for the kids rather than more toys that to be honest they don’t need and often don’t play with. They will have a little token present from them to open OK the day, and we find this works really well! Approx. savings: £50 to £200 per year.

4. Clothes

We only buy clothes we need to replace old and worn-out items. We get clothes for the kids and ourselves mainly from vinted or second-hand shops. The kids also wear a lot of handle downs that have generously been given from friends and family. The kids are always smart and clean, and it’s better for the environment, too! Approx savings £50- £100 per month

5. Take a packed lunch.

We take a packed lunch with us everywhere, to work, on days out and on holidays too. We do a lot of days out and go out every weekend using our National Trust pass (which is our birthday gift from our parents) Not only do we save a lot on eating out at cafes, but we also know the kids are going to eat the food and not say they don’t like it! We try and take our own coffees in flasks too, but we do like to buy a coffee and ice creams out every now and again! Approx. savings £20- £100 per month

6. Quit the Gym!

Full disclosure- I have recently re-joined the gym for a few months on a special trial rate to try out some classes. But when money is tight, we want to travel and we are saving hard, we quit the gym! We can take it turns to go for a run after or before work, and we bought second hand dumbbells and kettle bells to do workouts at home. Some YouTube Pilates and we have a free exercise program that can saves us over £80 per month for our two gym memberships. Approx. savings; £20 – £100 per month

7. Cancel TV subscriptions

Netflix, Amazon, Now TV, and Disney plus; we had all of these and it was coming in around £50 per month! We tend to keep one, depending on what series we are watching and cancel the rest. We then restart another one if there is something we want t start watching on there, making sure we only have one subscription on the go at a time. Also, check you have not been automatically renewed to a more expensive package – this has happened to us a few times! Approx. savings £15 -50 per month.

8. Cancel Christmas!

Cancel Christmas for some serious savings! Obviously I’m joking! But we definitely do a scaled back version of Christmas compared to a lot of families we know.

We get presents for kids only – our own and family kids. We have agreed this ahead of time with all our family and friends and actually found they were trying to save money too and were relieved not having to find the money to buy gifts for all the adults as well.

We always take the time to make something thoughtful with the kids for our parents and we always make sure to spend the most precious commodity we have with them – time. It might sound trite but it is so true and we spend a lot of our spare time with our family which means more to them, and us, than expensive gifts ever could.

James and I don’t buy gifts for each other – the thought of a trip in the coming year is much better to us! We make sure we have lots of nice food, and making sure the kids have nice gifts is what makes us happy at Christmas. We also don’t go in for expensive ‘Santa experiences’ or winter wonderlands – although we do a lot of making, baking, carols and lights and other free festive activities. Approx. savings £100 – £1000

9. Bank Account Switching

As advocated by the money saving guru Martin Lewis and his website, Money Saving Expert , here in the UK there are often cash incentives given by banks to switch your current account to them. My husband and I did them all last year and earnt £800 each by doing so. We found it easy and hassel free- basically free money. We payed for all our travel and accommodation to Switzerland last year with the funds we raised from bank account switching! They do come with criteria and terms and conditions so read the small print carefully before you do. Approx. earnings £100 -£1600

Making some of these changes have saved us between £2500 and £6500!

For some more ideas on how you can save money in lots of areas, make changes to your budget to free up some cash check out this blog post on even more money saving ideas for families here

We have found that by implementing some of these money saving ideas, you can gradually build a travel fund. From cutting unnecessary expenses in conjunction with exploring budget friendly destinations, you can make your travel dreams a reality, step by step. Remember, every penny saved brings you one step closer to your next adventure. Start planning, start saving and soon enough, you will be jetting off to explore the world while staying with your budget. Happy Travels!

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Hi! I’m Lizzie, a mum of two living in the Cotswolds. Here on Travel Happy Family, I share all of our travels with you, where we’ve been, how we got there, and how much it cost!

If you are looking for ideas on where to travel with your kids, inspiration for new destinations, or just want to follow us on our journey, welcome, and I hope you find what we write helpful.

Happy travels! Xxx