Ruby Loves Adventure

Money doesn´t grow on trees

Upon reading Chris Guillebeau's book and reading other blogs, I began to hatch up a big idea, and that is: how to travel for absolutely free.

When I mean travel, it has to be in the context of accommodations and flights... maybe a few attractions here and there. I´m still trying to figure out the workings for free food, but so far, nada on that front (unless I sign up for this credit card but I have yet to work out if they carry foreign transaction fees and such)

Traveling in style in Puerto Rico

Travel doesn´t have to be expensive, I agree, I was a backpacker at one point in time, staying at hostels and eating at the cheapest places that I can find (mostly street food), but now that I have the means to do luxury travel for the cost of backpacking the world, then maybe it´s more worth it to be a luxury traveler!

And when I say luxury, I meant it in a sense of staying in hotels: 3, 4, 5-star would be nice.

At the time I write this, I have already checked out of a 5 day, 4 night stay at the Westin Lagunamar in Cancun, Mexico, and let me tell you, all our plans went out the window as soon as we saw this resort. It is just so fantastically beautiful.

With that, I will launch a couple of segments about where we traveled and how much we spent on everything. For this Cancun, Mexico trip, we only spent around $500 per person (US) for food, accommodations, attractions, tips, and souvenirs. Not too bad eh?

Thanks to travelisfree.com, I have been inspired to travel for free: and why not?

I picked up this book on a whim from the library. It was finance week and it was one of the featured finance books. I first looked at the book and noticed Ali Velshi - he hosted a CNN business show way back when I was living in Manila and I used to watch said business show everyday.

What can I say about this book? Not much. I read it within a week, it was quite thin at around 170+ pages. It was full of tips on how to speak money with your partners, how to prepare for university/college, how to manage your portfolio (invest, invest, invest) and prepare for retirement.

This week, I've been reading and discovering a lot of travel blogs. It is quite fun reading what other people think and their experiences are as they are embarking on their journey of a lifetime. I'm quite jealous, to be honest! So, as I try and embark on a similar journey (hopefully), I kind of want to share a personal post on what savings and travel mean to me.

When I was way younger, like in primary school, I always had a tendency to spend beyond my means. Whatever I wanted, I would normally buy, provided that I had enough money in my pocket. There was this one time when I was in fourth grade that I bought too many books at a book fair and basically had nothing left for lunch and snacks. It was only around 12 noon and well, I overspent too much! Good thing a kind classmate gave me some coupons so I could buy food and the local school bus was there to take me home. Otherwise, I would have been screwed.

During summers, I would never even have enough money saved up! Well, I was such a loser way back in the day and no one in our culture/country would normally just go out to find jobs during the summer or go to the beach like Westerners do. I normally spend my summer at home, playing computer games or watching a heck of a lot of telly. For two freaking months. Boring eh?

Then came high school and well, I got to enjoy what life has to offer. My mum is open to me going out to several beaches and/or resorts during summer with my friends, and I was forced to learn how to save.

However, that all went out the window when I first started working and earning my first real paycheck. I got addicted to spending too much on material things and ended up with credit card debt, and on top of that, trying to pay for my last trimester in university.

I was in debt, and I didn't know what to do about it.

Six years later, here I am. More financially stable and about to embark (hopefully) in a huge savings goal to eventually go on my dream trip. I wouldn't expound on that today, but maybe a bit more when I am closer to the goal (and the date), and well, if everything is more in place. It took forever for me to be what I am right now when it comes to money and the discipline that it takes for me to not spend too much and live within my means.

Here's how I did it:

1) Understand that you have a problem. Five+ years ago (and well, even when I was really young), I knew that I was an impulsive shopper. If I liked something, boom, I would get it. And when I thought that all these clutter started piling up: clothes that I did not wear, books I would never read, bags I would never use, it began to dawn on me that I could have used that money for something else. Knowing that you have a problem is always the first step, and once you acknowledge it, you know you are truly on the way to "rehabilitating" yourself.

2. Read and research. I knew that I was an impulsive shopper so I spent down times at work trying to read other blogs on how to save money and how to curb my spending. It took more than a year of practice for me not to go to malls, and just delaying my gratification. It did work, eventually. I read a ton of money blogs, to be honest, bought two books on how to save and invest (thank you so much Rich Dad, Poor Dad - you are one of the reasons why I turned my life around).

3. Once you have done your research, practice what you've learned. This is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do! Well, it took a lot of patience and practice, and eventually I got the discipline to do this. I made charts, Excel spreadsheets, the works! I tried everything that they threw at me and when I found out what works for me the best, I stuck to it and made it my own, with a twist.

4. Save, Invest & Save some more! Other travel blogs out there have savings tips, and well, they helped me too, but some of these tips, I already do know by heart. I love how these blogs convert the price of one Starbucks latte to an overnight hostel stay somewhere here in SouthEast Asia. I guess it's just a matter of putting things in perspective. Need a new iPad? Well, x number of lattes in Starbucks = 1 iPad. Same for travel!

So, as I embark on this huge savings goal, hopefully, these tips help you too.

Oh, and did I mention I'm Asian? I do work full-time at a multinational company at the moment, but I definitely don't have a salary of a Westerner nor do I have a trust fund. If I can do it (save for a big trip or some other reason) then anyone could!