GuideTravel Tips

Totally Doable Money Challenges That Will Feed Your Travel Fund

The start of a new year means brings a new opportunity to start saving up for your next big travel adventure—be it scuba diving in Hawaii or skiing in Japan for the first time.

Don’t just rely on accumulating points for travel with your savings or credit card. Spend the whole year building your vacation fund so that by next year, you can go splurge on the trip of your dreams.

It might seem a bit daunting at first, but don’t worry. Here are some challenges you can do to help you build the funds you need for your next trip.

 

 

Try a 52-week Challenge

The 52-week challenge is a popular choice for people hoping to save money starting from New Year’s Day. The most well-known form of this challenge requires a small amount to start and gradually increases each week.

Let’s say you start with $1 in Week One. Week Two would be $2 and Week Three is $3. This goes on so that at the last week of the year, you’ll put $52 into your savings. It might not seem like a lot being put in but with this pattern, you’ll actually have $1,378 saved up.

This challenge also allows for flexibility since the amount you put in can vary if your budget allows. Start with $2 or $5, and watch your funds grow steadily throughout the year!

 

 

Do a Match-it Challenge

cheers to a new challenge to save money for travel
via StockSnap on Pixabay

via StockSnap on Pixabay 

Think of some purchases you make regularly. It could be lunch at work or morning coffee. Find one or two that need a reasonable amount you can also save. Every time you make that purchase, save the same amount for your travel fun.

One upside to this challenge is that in can create random additions to your funds. A friend might invite you to dine out and you can decide to match the money you spent with a deposit to your vacation savings. Plus the amount can vary and it’s a nice surprise to find out how much you’ve saved by the time you decide to end the challenge.

 

 

Grab a Bingo Card

Perfect for those who enjoy changing things up, the bingo card challenge allows for flexibility in savings. Print out a bingo card from the internet and choose a number from the card as the amount to add to your trip fund. You can also create your own bingo card to put in your choice of numbers. The only catch? You can’t repeat numbers on the card, so it will vary each time you do it. Use the free space to add any amount you want.

This challenge is also fun to do with friends who want to start their own travel savings or save money for other reasons. You can make a game out of who can finish their card first who who can clear the most cards. The prize? Lots of savings for both of you!

 

 

Bottle It Up

travel piggy bank
via QuinceMedia on Pixabay

Remember the piggy bank days of youth? Well, you can apply that practice to your travel dreams. But instead of picking up a little coin bank, look for something a little bigger like a liter bottle.

If you have a lot of coins weighing your bag or pocket down, turn them into your initial deposit to the travel bottle. Keep adding spare change or consider dropping bigger bills when you can. And you don’t have to stop with just one bottle. Start a new one to fill and go on until you think you’ve got decent savings for your trip.

This challenge is also a great way for families to pull funds together. Create rules for everyone to follow and watch the bottle fill up. For example, every time you hear a certain song on the radio, you have to add $1 to the bottle. Or add $10 whenever someone goes out shopping. Make up your own rules for the bottle so your family’s trip budget can grow.

 

 

Time for Change

save your coins
via nattanan on Pixabay 

Shopping can help you save up for your big trip. How? Just do the $5 challenge. Every time you get $5 back in for a change, set it aside for your travel budget. If you’re aiming for more money to spend on your trip, you can include opt to save bigger denominations or add small change as well.

Over the course of a year, you can save up a lot of money by simply keeping some change. But don’t feel obligated to stick to just the amount of change you decide to set aside. Remember you can always add any extra cash you have to bolster your travel nest egg.

 

 

Once you master these challenges, you’ll be able to plan your dream trip with all your savings. Soon you’ll become an expert on how to save for a vacation. But if you want even more savings, be sure to check out all the deals on KKday to add more fun and variety to your vacation.

 

 

*Featured image by stevepb on Pixabay 

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