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How do you save for a trip around the world? † Saving in 12 steps | Instruction manual

Who our 'Plan a world trip in 10 steps | Instruction manual' quickly came to an essential part of a world trip from: save up† Saving for a world trip is not always easy. Yet everyone can save and save with simple adjustments in his or her daily life.

In order to save money, more money must come in than go out. Simple, you might say. However, there is a lot more to it. It starts with you first mindset change† Do you ever want to travel? Or are you determined to leave? It's a few letters difference, but being determined is just key when it comes to traveling the world.

You will have to bite the proverbial stick for a while, don't worry. After all, you don't do it for nothing. Reward yourself later on your world trip and until then dream of the beautiful beach below!

Saving for a trip around the world starts with dreams: For example, a beach in Polynesia
Saving for a trip around the world starts with dreams: For example, a beach in Polynesia

Step 1 – Set the world travel budget + date

Start here. Make sure you have a goal. An important part of determining your goal and also world travel budget is choosing which countries you want to visit. With a clear goal you save faster, more focused and easier. You can also calculate in the interim how you are doing with a clear goal, and take measures where necessary.

Is your budget fixed? Then immediately add a departure date. As soon as you have established these 2 goals, you immediately feel like being frugal. That may sound crazy, but suddenly 'the higher goal', the journey, feels very close. Suddenly you realize that you are really going to do it. There is no better motivation to save and to live frugally.

Step 2 – Save a fixed amount for your world trip

Now that you know what you need to save and how much time you have for it, you know exactly what you need to save each month for your trip around the world. To achieve your goal, set up an automatic monthly transfer to your savings account the day after you receive your salary. Immediately force yourself to get through the month with a small budget. Of course you can also look for babysitting job of cleaning workto earn some extra money.


Our advice for traveling abroad:
Bunq Prepaid Credit Card

The Bunq card is the most accepted Prepaid Credit Card in the world. It's a full-fledged one Mastercard credit card - even offline terminals in airplanes and elsewhere work with this card (we have tested this many times ourselves). You can also rent a car with this card.

Pros:
  • No BKR check
  • Dutch bank
  • Problem-free car rental abroad
  • ZeroFX (abroad saves about 2-3% per transaction!)
  • Works with Google and Apple Pay
Compare plans Our honest review
Want to support us? We earn a small commission if you make a purchase via our link(s), at no additional cost to you. Win win!

Save a fixed amount every month for your world trip
Save a fixed amount every month for your world trip

Do you happen to have money left over, even if it is only 50 euros? Deposit it to your savings account! An interim financial windfall? Birthday? All options to save faster.

STOP shopping, START saving.

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Invest in stocks or cryptocurrencies

Before I started with Wereldreizigers.nl I worked at the largest cryptocurrency company in the Netherlands. You may know it from the TV commercial, BLOX. I learned a lot about money and economics there. Money is losing value due to inflation, while houses, stocks and cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are becoming more and more valuable.

There I also learned to save a fixed amount. I also learned to live minimalistic. What I was left with through life with less extra went straight into the savings account and into bitcoin. I can tell you now that we are a few years later, changing my lifestyle has done me no harm.

Anyone who dares to take a little more risk while saving can, like me, also consider investing (part of) the savings in shares or cryptocurrencies. I have to be honest with you, there are risks involved. I've seen moments when everything was deep in the red. But in the long run it worked out. Very good even. That's why I strongly urge you to at least consider it, especially if you don't plan to do anything with your savings in the short term.

Interested? You can via Wereldreizigers.nl Get 10 euros free bitcoin with the most popular Crypto App from Dutch soil, BLOX.

If you enter the voucher code 'WORLD TRAVELERS' you will immediately receive 10 euros for free in your account to test the App. You download it HERE for iOS and HERE for android. Give it a try!

| save for a world trip | Wereldreizigers.nl
How do you save for a world trip? | Save in 12 steps | Manual 11

Tip:: start small and don't buy high-risk stocks or cryptocurrencies, just stick with the big players in the stock world and bitcoin. They go fast enough with significantly less risk!

Step 3 – Register all your expenses

View and record all costs you have incurred in the past year. Also, do not forget to write down all cash expenses. Cups of coffee on the terrace, sandwiches at the bakery, donations to charities, etc. This is the only way to gain full insight into how much you have to spend per month and how much you can save each month.

If you zoom out a little further, the effect is even greater, look at how much you per year can save. Many banks often have household books that can help you with this. Sit down for a night and map out in detail what is going on every day, week, month and year.

It is definitely not the nicest job to do, but you will notice that it gives a very good feeling afterwards. Put on some nice music and go for it!

Step 4 – Eliminate all unnecessary expenses

Go through all your expenses critically. After all, you now have it neatly in a household book or overview. Start cutting out unnecessary or unnecessary expenses. By unnecessary we mean the expenses for things that you (un)consciously do not use.

Saving: Eliminate all unnecessary expenses
Saving: Eliminate all unnecessary expenses

Think of magazine subscriptions, Netflix, Videoland, Prime, HBO, etc.. Double insurance, gym subscriptions, NS discount card, there are often many current affairs that you do not or hardly use, but for which you pay monthly. Do you have a car, motorcycle or scooter† Maybe you can leave it on a little more often or even better: sold† Besides the fact that it saves on insurance, road tax and maintenance costs, it also cleans up nicely. Don't forget that a car is an enormous luxury and you can really do without it for a year if you really want to.


Our advice for traveling abroad:
Bunq Prepaid Credit Card

The Bunq card is the most accepted Prepaid Credit Card in the world. It's a full-fledged one Mastercard credit card - even offline terminals in airplanes and elsewhere work with this card (we have tested this many times ourselves). You can also rent a car with this card.

Pros:
  • No BKR check
  • Dutch bank
  • Problem-free car rental abroad
  • ZeroFX (abroad saves about 2-3% per transaction!)
  • Works with Google and Apple Pay
Compare plans Our honest review
Want to support us? We earn a small commission if you make a purchase via our link(s), at no additional cost to you. Win win!

Step 5 – Reduce fixed housing costs

This is a rigorous measure, but one that can help you enormously to quickly achieve your goal (saving quickly for a world trip). Do you live in the city center? Move to an inexpensive suburb or village. Your mortgage or rent will be significantly lower. Do you have very sweet parents? Do they have an extension, attic or floor that you can live in for a year? Then seriously consider this and discuss it with them. The amount of money you can save in just one year is unprecedented. There is hardly a better way to save money.

Step 6 – Save on going out

Grab a drink on a terrace on Friday afternoon, go to the pub every week, go out late into the night, eat and drink a lot, consume a lot of alcohol, you know it. These are all things that we find important to let off some steam every now and then. After all, we work hard all week…

You can just keep doing this! Just do it less often. And do it smarter: think in advance about the evening and what you can do to save money. Chill out in the park instead of on the terrace with beers from 6-7 euros. Share your world trip plans with your friends and family and explain that you should just take it easy with your money. You will see that there is often a lot of understanding – and that every now and then a good friend or family will step up to pay a little extra so that you don't have to. Real love!

Saving for a world trip? Then don't drink, drink less or drink beforehand ;)
Saving for a world trip? Then don't drink, drink less or drink beforehand

Eat before you leave home

Yes, another open door… Go cannot with hunger or an empty stomach if you already know that you are going to a terrace, or already know in advance that you will be away from home a little longer. Eating out is a big expense. Cook more often and make sure you always have leftovers or meals in the fridge or freezer. This not only saves euros, it is also much healthier.

Don't drink or drink (alcohol) before going out

It might sound stupid and childish, because it's something 'teenagers do'. But if you do want to go out and have a drink, have a drink at home before you go. Are you having fun dancing? Then omit those cocktails and just order a (draft) beer instead of a good wine or specialty beer. You will be surprised how much money you can save with this. Drinking a little less or not at all is of course also possible!

Go out on the bike

Go out by bike instead of by car, bus or taxi. Yes, it's nice to just hop in a taxi after a night out and be stumbled home to be dropped off. But every time you do this you are spending money unnecessarily. Cycling is wonderful! Sober up a bit on the way home, the fresh wind in your hair and yes, completely free.

Step 7 – Take a critical look at your subscriptions.

Every year you are confronted with advertisements to switch energy supplier or health insurer. Sometimes to get tired of it. But no matter how annoying they are, don't forget to use them. Do you care who supplies you with your energy? Yes, we are also a fan of sustainably generated electricity, but you can also compare and save here. It can be quickly earned to switch. The same applies to your TV and internet subscription.

You can easily save 200 euros per year by switching energy supplier. Switching from TV and Internet subscription also saves you 150 euros per year.

Check your health insurance, are you extra insured and do you actually use it? Are you with a cheap insurer? All options to save extra for your world trip. Take advantage of that!

Step 8 – Hang out on the couch more often

Okay, this sounds really dope. But you just save a lot of money by staying at home. Watch a movie at home instead of in the cinema, invite friends at home instead of the pub and skip the expensive festivals this year. A festival day (ticket, food and drinks) will quickly cost you 100 euros. There are many free alternatives! And don't forget that you are planning to travel the world for a whole year, a weekend festival suddenly means nothing anymore.

You can also use these dull evenings to actually to plan a world trip† Map out routes, book flights, view hotels, you name it!

Step 9 – Don't buy a new phone

Do you have a telephone with a subscription that allows you to choose a new telephone every 2 years? Does your phone really need to be replaced or do you mainly enjoy looking for a new model? Let's be honest: it's probably the latter. Research for yourself what the possibilities are of a Sim-Only subscription. Without a new phone for a year or two, you can save 2 to 500 euros under the line and with today's high-end telephone prices even much more.

New phone? No, save for your world trip!
New phone? No, save for your world trip!

Step 10 – Say goodbye to television

Do you actually still watch TV? Do you still really need that cable or digital subscription? Cable television (or digital TV) appears in 2021 unnecessary for more and more people† Nowadays, programs can almost always be viewed via services such as Uitzendgemist.nl. on YouTube and Vimeo is also a lot of free to find. And if you really are a movie and TV viewer, think about a cheap subscription of, for example, Netflix or Prime so that you can still see what you want to see.

Step 11 – Be smart with spending

This is an important step associated with a new mindset† Will you continue with your normal spending pattern or are you willing to adjust it? You can easily save hundreds, if not thousands of euros per year if you really want to. In this step we will discuss some daily expenses and how you can deal with them in a smart way.

Save on groceries

It is relatively easy to save hundreds of euros per year on groceries by shopping smart(er). Saving for your trip around the world will only go really fast if you are able to minimize standard expenses such as groceries.

Save on your groceries - Save for a world trip
Save on your groceries – Save for a world trip
  • Do your shopping for a full week. If necessary, you can make an extra visit to the supermarket halfway through the week for fresh products. This will limit the number of times you may be tempted to make unnecessary purchases.
  • Choose a cheap(er) supermarket. Ask yourself if it is necessary to go to the nearest supermarket. Is this also the cheapest supermarket?
  • Buy (almost) no A-brands. Do you always need A-brands? With many products you don't even taste the difference, give it a chance!
  • Buy offers. Are non-perishable products such as coffee, detergent, toothpaste or toilet paper on sale? Then feel free to buy some extra with a good offer, this will save you in the following months.

Save on Clothing

Everyone wants to look good and well-groomed. But do you really need that new shirt or sweater?

The Dutch buy an average of 25 items of clothing and 8 pairs of shoes per year. An average Dutch person spends €1.800,00 annually on clothing and shoes. Wow! These are of course huge amounts that you can easily save on.

Do not buy new clothes the year before your trip, except for special clothes that you will need for the trip.

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Clear out your closet(s)! Pull everything you have out of your closets and give old clothes a new life. Often you have barely worn something or you have even forgotten that you had it in the back of your closet. Swap clothes with friends. There are many ways to look nice and at the same time save thousands of euros in just one year.

Save on Furniture

An average household in the Netherlands spends about €1.000 annually on new furniture and accessories for the home. Again, it is good to ask yourself whether these expenses are necessary at the moment. Clear out your attic, exchange unnecessary items with friends to have a 'new look' in your home or sell unnecessary items.

Tools

As cool as it is to buy that new wrench set or drill, do you really need it? Why not borrow it or share it as a neighbor, with a family member or friend who also likes to do the odd job yourself? It is one of those simple but often unnecessary expenses. You can better use that money to save for your world trip.

Save on gifts

A number of things are fixed in the agenda every year: birthdays, Sinterklaas and Christmas. Here come all those new hip, American parties like 'gender reveal parties' and 'baby showers' still with. Don't wait until the last minute to buy gifts. Buy it if you see a nice offer and pack it. This way you can easily save money. On the website of 'Enjoy living with less' is an interesting sales calendar. Here it is stated which type of product is traditionally the cheapest at which time of the year. Perhaps it is of some use to you?

Save on your gym

Do you make regular use of the gym and do you plan to keep it up? Many gyms offer a discount for off-peak hours or if you transfer the membership annually instead of monthly. Might be worth considering! Are you less faithful? Take a look at the possibilities of home sports. YouTube is full of online Yoga classes and complete workouts, for free and for nothing.

Save with pin savings

Do you find it difficult to save for a trip around the world or do you simply forget to debit the money from your checking account 'on time'? ABN-AMRO has developed debit card savings for this: for every debit card transaction you make, a predetermined percentage is transferred to your savings account. You can set this percentage to 1,5 or 10%. So suppose you buy a new dress for €100,00 and you have set up 5% savings, €105,00 will be debited. The €5,00 is then automatically transferred to a savings account set up by you. In this way you subconsciously save for your goal!

Save on heating at home

According to this article on the Consumers' Association website you can easily save hundreds of euros per year by only turning on the heating when it is really necessary. Especially if you live in a less well-insulated house. This saves about €80,00 per year for every degree that you lower the heating. Not heating your bedroom will save you about € 50,00 per year. There are many more tips here for smart use of your thermostat and gas bill. We previously wrote an article about smart-home products that can help reduce your energy consumption even further.

Also read: Tips to save energy and money with Smart Home Products

Nibud

We saw a number of nice little tips on the Nibud website. Every little bit helps, right?

  • Cook with the lid on the pan, save 4 euros per year.
  • Turning off the tap consistently saves 34 euros per year.
  • Steaming or stir-frying dishes instead of boiling saves 3 euros per year.
  • Placing the refrigerator in a cool place and 10 centimeters from the wall saves 15 euros per year.
  • Showering instead of bathing saves 12 euros per year.
  • A self-switching iron saves 10 euros per year.
  • A water-saving shower head saves 40 euros per year.

Step 12 – Sell stuff you don't use

You can find a million reasons to put aside things you don't want to sell, but once you get the mindset right, it's hard to stop. Mentally detaching yourself from your possessions can be difficult, but once it's done, you'll feel free of all that material baggage and you're ready for a new chapter. Oh, and it also brings in a lot of money!

Are you selling a car that you have saved for so long? Those are potentially six months in round trip costs around the world. Selling old toys, some unused stuff and collectibles in your attic? That's just another week of food and drink + hotels. Go through your possessions, make a plan to sell it. Stuff is just stuff – how much do you really need if it's been sitting in a closet or in the attic for years? You will be surprised how much stuff you have collected over the years.

Do you really want to get serious and start selling your 2nd hand stuff? Then read Selling used stuff for a world trip – Fast extra money!

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Bonus: What does our world trip cost?

Viora & Joost van Be More Unicorn have made a handy, informative video in which they address all kinds of budget related questions about world travel. Are you not into reading, but do you want all the information? Then this video is definitely worth watching.

Closing comments

You are not just saving for a trip around the world. Build in a buffer too! After all, you never know when another price increase or setback is coming. Save more when that opportunity presents itself. It is always better to have a little more than budgeted beforehand. Also save for your return. You will also need a house with household effects and will not receive the same salary yet.

Remember: you can do it! With the right mindset, everyone is able to save (a lot of) money. A year of rigorous saving seems like an eternity, but gradually you will notice that a year of saving is actually quite easy. We can do it, so can you!

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Wereldreizigers.nl (World Travelers dot NL)

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