We have already told you in another article, how you can save some money before the trip (Article: Save money before the trip). Today, however, we are talking about how to save money while traveling. It is not so difficult, it depends of course also always on the own claims. But here are some tips that have already been very helpful for us on our world trip.
Tip 1: Avoid the high season
In the high season it is almost always more expensive. Whether accommodation, flights or transport. Almost everyone goes on vacation and travels during the vacations. Of course, the organizers also know this and then often raise the prices properly. Therefore, it is often much cheaper to travel outside of these times. We were on Bali from the end of September to the end of November. The main season here often begins in April to September. We could live well and cheaply and never really had the feeling that it was overpriced. Also you see with the flights best that vacations are.
Try to get a cheap flight over Christmas or New Year’s Eve! That is almost hopeless! Low season does not mean that the weather is bad or that the places are boring. On the contrary. I was then in the absolute low season in Sardinia with my best friend. Do you actually know how cool it was? Lying on the beach at 30 degrees in April…wuhuuu! No tourist crowds, cheap prices for flight and accommodation. Why go on vacation in summer, when it’s 30-40 degrees in your home country?? It’s better to fly somewhere warmer in the cold months.
Tip 2: Be flexible and spontaneous
We usually have no plan where to go next. We always look first at Skyscanner in the monthly overview and then see on which days destination XY is cheapest. And when we have found a flight, we book it. The monthly overview is perfect for this. Just enter from for example "Bangkok" to "all places". Already you see which destinations are possible from Bangkok and how expensive the individual countries and cities are. Here also applies mostly: Flights within the week are often cheaper.
Tip: The book "The happy journey to wealth: How your view of money and wealth determines your happiness in life"
Tip 3: Cheap airlines don’t have to be bad
You are afraid with so called cheap airlines to fly? Why? Are the worse machines? Are they more insecure like others? I think that this is all nonsense. Here in Asia, we fly almost exclusively with Air Asia. The tickets are almost always very cheap and we never had problems with them.
We don’t need luxury and comfort with the short flight times. The main thing is to have a place to sit, some space for your luggage and a good mood. We also flew with supposedly cheap airlines to Bali. First we went with Smartwings to Dubai, then from Dubai with Flydubai to Colombo and then with Air Asia on to Kuala Lumpur and Bali. Since then we have never boarded another plane. Air Asia is simply everywhere.
Tip 4: Travel slowly
We love to travel slowly. Staying in one place for a long time is much more fun than rushing around from A to B. I used to be a fan of seeing as much as possible in a short time. But then you only had a few days of vacation. Today it doesn’t matter for us anymore and we stay directly longer in one place.
We get a scooter cheaper, get discount on accommodation and get to know the country and people much better. In Bali we were 2 months, in Phuket almost 1 month. Believe us, slow travel is soooo much better – also financially. On Bali we knew at some point where to shop cheapest, where to eat cheap and where the surfboard is the cheapest. You don’t get something like this within 4 days with.
Tip 5: Save money with comparison portals
We always compare prices and often search first on Airbnb and Booking.com. We have never had a bad experience with Airbnb. Here you can find really great villas, guesthouses, pensions, hostels and private rooms. With booking.com you will find a lot of accommodations that you won’t find on any other platform – the choice is enormous. Here we have already stayed for 10 € a night in a 4-star hotel on Bali or spontaneously booked bungalows for our island tours. But: Look also directly on the page of the accommodation. Sometimes you can find the best price.
By the way, you can find many accommodations on Airbnb. With our invitation link you can create an account and get immediately 25€ free from us.
Facebook groups are always very helpful. We found our villa in Canggu by chance in Bali Digital Nomands. For only 420 € we lived there together for a month – and the villa was the hammer. Sometimes even hostels wanted more money. So always check on Facebook if there are groups for the respective destinations. Just write a request and see if someone responds.
Tip 6: Watch bargain blogs
There are numerous blogs on the net, which look for travel bargains for you around the clock. There are for example the vacation spirits, the vacation guru, Reiseuhu, vacation tracker and how they are not all called. Here you can find great flights, hotel deals, package holidays, voucher codes and much more.
Just rummage around, maybe there is something for you! A super site is also flynous – here everything revolves around flight offers, error fares and voucher codes. Make sure you save the page! Also recommendable are the sites exbir or fly4free.
Tip 7: Save money on local transportation
We use mostly only the Scooter, bike, TukTuk or Uber. We also went cheap by cab, but it accumulates then on the day quite a bit. That’s why we usually rent a scooter directly for us. On Bali it cost us often only 2,70 € a day, a bicycle and Thailand only 1,50 €. Gasoline is generally quite cheap here in Asia. In Thailand we pay for 4 liters mostly 2.50 € (The tank then holds a few days).
With the app UBER you can also get from A to B super cheaply. We paid then from Canggu on Bali to the airport just 3 or 4 €. Normal cabs demand easily 10 €. On Sri Lanka you could go super cheap with the public buses or TukTuks. But it has to be said that such a trip can be very adventurous.
Tip 8: Try the local cuisine
In Asia the food is really very cheap. In Bali you can get a soup for 50 cents and a travel dish for one €. Here in Thailand it is almost similar. In the small warungs and cookshops you can really get a lot for little money. But since we don’t feel like eating rice and noodles every day, we often go shopping. Western products were extremely expensive especially in Bali.
Many people ask us what photo equipment we have with us on our travels. We have created a comprehensive article with all the important information about our cameras and lenses. Have fun with rummaging.
Here we had to compare the prices constantly. These products we get here in Thailand much cheaper, But it is always so, imported products are just often more expensive. Also, we usually never go out to eat in the main streets/tourism strongholds, but look for something nice in a side street. Here it is then often still a few € cheaper. But that is almost everywhere so. This is also true not only for food, but also shopping stuff.
Tip 9: Save money on local markets
We went to many shopping malls on our trip. Here you always find the same expensive stores. You can get flipflops for 14 € or just for 1 € on a market. Meanwhile we are fans of the Night Markets. You stroll in the evening through the streets and alleys and find really everything. Whether clothes, decoration articles, bags, shoes, souvenirs or food – here you get it for a few cents or a few €.
On the night market in Phuket we filled our bellies with all kinds of goodies for just 2,50 €. Here in Chiang Mai you can get cool shirts or pants for 2 € or even wallets for 25 cents converted – a visit is worthwhile in any case. Inquire on the net, there are always some markets here especially in Asia. And always remember – do not forget to trade!
Tip 10: Secret weapon daily budget and budget book
We lead since the beginning of our trip a kind of budget book – of course online as Google document. Here we record daily all our expenses and see at the end always immediately, how much we have spent and what is still left. We always have a fixed daily budget (incl. scooter. of all costs for accommodation, food, transport, shopping, sightseeing etc.).
Marco "programmed" the table so that at the end of the day it always shows how much money we have left for this day, how much we have already spent this month and what certain categories (food, accommodation, transport etc.) have cost us.) have cost us. This way we can also see which place is the cheapest, where we might have spent too much and how our budget is distributed per month. If you have any questions about such a table, please feel free to contact us!
Tip 11: Compare prices locally
In the beginning, we often bought what we wanted without knowing how expensive or cheap it was from another supplier. But little by little we found out that we could get the eggs cheaper at supplier XY and that the scooter in the side street XY was another 200 baht cheaper. We always compare prices and negotiate.
On Bali we had at the end 3 supermarkets, which we always rattled off, because it got the one product here and the other product there more favorably. Why pay more when you don’t have to? Also ask expats or other globetrotters if you have specific questions. On Facebook there are many helpful groups. If you need information about this, just write us at!
Tip 12 – The right credit card does the trick
Choosing the right credit card is as important as choosing the right photographic equipment. Who wants to pay fees all the time just because you want to withdraw a little money?? Nobody, right! Therefore you should already consider before the journey, which credit card fits to you. We have been using the DKB Visa Card for years and are super satisfied (fees abroad are no longer reimbursed). Recommend the card of Santander Bank, because it is still completely free of charge.
Withdraw money abroad free of charge? We can recommend the credit card from Santander Bank. This is still completely free.
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