5 Savvy Money-Saving Tips to Save You Hundreds Abroad

This post may contain affiliate links. This just means I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you for helping them promote their product or service. I don’t endorse any services I don’t personally use or recommend.

I’ve been full-time traveling since 2019 with my partner for under $50/day. For the two of us. Even “expensive” countries like Singapore. I’m an expert at budget travel- being just frugal enough to have my cake and eat it too. We never miss out on experiences for lack of funds because really, isn’t that why we are traveling in the first place? Instead, I’ve discovered a handful of tips and tricks to save money while abroad.

These 5 easy tips are simple enough for anyone to follow without hindering your travel experience. No skipping meals or bucketlist experiences.

If you want to travel long-term it’s not enough to spend less while traveling. You also have to save more before you go. Fortunately for you, I wrote an absolutely massive guide to help you save more money to travel the world.

5 Money-Saving Tips For International Travelers

Without compromising your trip. Here are 5 easy steps to saving hundreds on your next trip abroad.

1. Get a LifeStraw Water Bottle

This single accessory has saved me more than $600 while abroad.

Most countries around the world don’t have drinkable tap water. This means you’ll be forced to purchase water bottles for $1 each multiple times per day. It’s bad for the environment and for your wallet.

These water bottles filter out 100% of the toxins and have charcoal to get rid of any lingering flavors. You can fill them from the tap, from lakes, rivers, even wastewater (not that I would recommend that unless you’re really in a pinch).

2. Don’t Exchange Money. Use ATM’s

Under no circumstances should you use the airport currency conversion booth. It’s literally the worst exchange rate you’ll find in any country. ATM’s on the other hand…offer the best. Do yourself a favor and choose a bank (like Capital One) that waives international fees and ATM fees.

Withdraw your own cash & when it gives you the option (most ATMs do) ALWAYS choose to make transactions in the LOCAL CURRENCY. I can’t stress this enough. If you choose US Dollars when prompted you will lose money because you are asking the bank to make the conversion for you.

Hot Tip: Another way to save money? Withdraw the maximum amount at ATMs. In Thailand, we learned that the gold ATMs allow you to withdraw nearly $600 USD in one go. Since ATMs typically charge a small fee- anywhere between $3-$7 per transaction, these small savings add up. During our month in Thailand, we spent a total of $10 in ATM fees vs $25 had we used the regular ATMs.

There’s always an exception to the rule. In this case, two exceptions. When crossing the border by land from Thailand into Laos we got a screaming deal converting Thai Baht into Laotian Kip. A better exchange rate than even the ATMs were offering.

The other exception is of course…Cuba. If you’re traveling to Cuba as an American there are LOADS of hurdles for you to navigate. One of which is that you won’t have access to ATMs once inside the country. If you’re interested in Cuba-specific travel tips you can check out my entire page on Cuba.

3. Browse Different Booking Sites.

All hotel booking sites are not created equal. My favorites are booking.com, hotels.com, and Agoda. Between these three sites, you should be able to find accommodation anywhere in the world for $25 USD or less. In Sri Lanka, Booking.com is king. But in Myanmar, Hotels.com was the only site with budget accommodation.

Hotels are the biggest expense for most travelers. If you can find cheaper rooms it will help you save money abroad.

As much as I love hostels on occasion (they aren’t just for 20-year-old binge drinkers). I never book on HostelWorld. Why? Because I find them to be much more expensive on HostelWorld rather than simply booking in person. You can also find many of them listed on cheaper sites like Booking.com.

4. Don’t Take a Taxi From the Airport.

Getting to and from the airport, eating at the airport, breathing at the airport- the airport is the most expensive place in every country. Obviously, you should pack your own snack and avoid eating at the airport at all costs.

But did you know that there is almost always public transit to and from the airport?

With just a little bit of research ahead of time you can determine if a country has a bus or metro from the airport to the heart of the city. Singapore does, Sri Lanka does, Seattle does, Bogota does, it’s extraordinarily common and can save you up to $50 round-trip.

5. Book Guesthouses or Hotels that Offer Breakfast.

Don’t listen to those frugal budget-travelers that advise you to only eat out once a day and cook the rest. Food is life. & there’s nothing more pleasurable than savoring the local eats of a new country. But you can save a quick buck by choosing a hotel or guesthouse on Booking.com that includes breakfast.

Breakfast is an expensive meal in many parts of the world. Specifically in Asia where the food is typically notoriously cheap.

But often these guesthouses with breakfast also have the option of a home-cooked dinner. All my favorite meals in Sri Lanka were served in guesthouses.

For more budget travel tips be sure to sign up for my email list. You’ll get access to exclusive content not found on the blog and I promise I won’t fill up your inbox.

Saving money while abroad doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice the fun parts of travel. In fact, there are lots of experiences you can enjoy 100% for free while abroad.

Let me know in the comments if you have more useful travel tips that helped you to save money abroad! Or shoot me an email at geena@beyondthebucketlist.co with your budget travel questions.

Save This Post For Later!

• 

•