I was a broke college student for many years from my undergrad and through 5 years of graduate school. Yet, I was able to travel to some of the best places for college students to travel like France, New Zealand, Southern Utah, New Orleans, and more throughout these years via a number of ways like study abroad, conference visits, and even on my own. Now, I’m not saying that it’s been easy. It has taken A LOT of work to understand where I spend my money, how I can save my money, and how much money I actually make versus what I need to travel.

Before you can even plan to save money, you need to understand the basics of how much money you have flowing in and out. For example, I made $1000 in one month as an undergraduate student with one part time job. Subtracting out my bills (rent, car payment, tuition, groceries) I was left with about $200. Not a lot at all. But, with the following tips to save money, I could really make that stretch every month and squirrel away as much as possible.

For some perspective, saving a couple grand for New Zealand took years – actual years of saving and being as frugal as possible for a one week North Island trip (but we got to see Hobbiton, so it was WORTH IT). This is the hardest part of saving. You have to be extremely committed. You have to change your entire mindset about money. Every financial decision you make that isn’t a necessity needs to be an actual choice. You have to think critically about every single thing you buy. It’s not easy, but hopefully these tips can give you an idea of how I do it.

1. Plan a Trip

Nothing motivates me more to save than actually planning out a trip (aka falling down the rabbit hole as Tobin calls it). Honestly, saving money can be super hard – especially for a goal that seems out of reach and isn’t immediately gratifying. How do you make the active choice to save money for a trip that might not happen for a year or longer, when dinner and drinks are calling to you right now? The best way for me is to immerse myself in a trip. I plan it out as if I did have the money. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. You don’t need to plan every little detail. But, even looking into flights, lodging, and activities gives me an idea of what I could do with my money.

For example, I’ve planned trips (that I haven’t actually been on) to Alaska, Italy, Bali, and Iceland. In the process, I get excited for travel. It stays on my mind so that when impulse purchases come knocking, I can have that goal in the back of my head. Would I rather spend $25 going out to eat, or save it so I can eat pasta in Italy. It all goes back to changing your frame of mind in order for saving to work. It helps to equate little things you spend your money on with potential travel equivalents. Pasta at home or pasta in Italy?

This also gives you an idea of a general financial goal. How much would it cost to visit Bali for one week? If your goal is $1000, but you take the time to plan the trip early on and it turns out it would be more like $2500, this is something you need to set as a goal. Below is how I planned out my family’s big trip to Florida to visit Disney World (more on that whole process, here).

To really make it all sink in and help you keep it on your mind, try setting your phone/laptop background to a photo of the destination. The image on my credit card is a beautiful beach because every time I look at it, it motivates me to stay on track financially.

2. Go 1:1 when you are willing to spend money

We’ve tried many different methods to save money, but one way that’s worked is to do a 1:1 spend/save method. What I mean is that, every time we cave on eating out or spend money when we don’t need to, we put that same amount in our savings. If we go to the movies and bought $10 popcorn we didn’t really need, we put an additional $10 in our savings. This only works for little “wants” (meaning don’t do this for your groceries). It makes us question whether we actually want to spend our money because technically we’d be paying double the amount. Ultimately, we save money by resisting unnecessary spending and by forcing ourselves to save additional money if we do spend.

We joke around with it too so the notes on our bank transfers sometimes read “wings weakness penalty.”

3. Maximize your groceries

One big way most people save money is by buying groceries instead of eating out. Food is expensive. It’s just a fact. So, before we go grocery shopping for the week, we really take a look at what we have in the kitchen already. I try to plan meals around what we already have so when we do buy more groceries, it’s minimal. Obviously, that doesn’t work every week. Once you run out of something, you’re out. But, if I have tomato sauce and diced tomatoes I can make chili pretty easily if I buy some ground beef.

Another way we maximize our groceries is by analyzing what we like to eat at restaurants. What’s tempting us during the week? Instead of spending money at restaurants to get these foods, we’ve realized how easy it is to cook them ourselves. One day I was seriously craving pizza, but I didn’t want to spend the money so Tobin asked if we had the ingredients to make our own. Sure enough, we totally did! And, we made garlic knots too! I do this pretty often with wings too. I love wings but at a restaurant it can cost $15 for one person to make a meal of wings. However, wings at our grocery store are only $10 for 4lbs! It took a couple trials and errors but I can make some pretty good wings at home now for way cheaper than at a restaurant.

To make it even easier you can find a ton of copycat recipes online. I was obsessed with this smoothie bowl from Jamba Juice and found a recipe that is exactly the same online. Jamba Juice even stopped making the bowl so it’s a win-win.

4. Use FREE resources

I cannot stress this enough. Use free resources! Especially as a student, I’ve become an expert at finding and utilizing free resources. I have used free tutoring, proofreading services, mock-interview resources on campus, and more! Check out your school’s career center, health services, and library. They are overflowing with free resources to help you in your academic and professional career.

My undergraduate university had a food bank program that provided students once a month with free groceries. Students on meal plans could donate their left over points to the food bank program who would then use that money to purchase groceries for students in need. They always had a surplus of food for the amount of students who knew the program even existed. We were able to get free cereal, ramen, canned goods, peanut butter, and granola bars. It was an amazing program!

Every school I’ve attended has also had free entertainment and services. Many students do live on campus after all. They’ve always had free movies (with popcorn), game rooms, printing services, and free passport photo days. Look into your university’s union or do some research into what’s available to you. It might surprise you!

If you aren’t a student, the most underrated free resource that everyone has access to is the public library! Did you know the public library has DVDs? Instead of paying for movies from a RedBox or even streaming services, you can checkout DVDs free with your library card. I’ve been using this for so long now to have movie nights at home and to watch TV shows that aren’t streaming. Some libraries have additional programs that provide free passes to local attractions. In Georgia, with my library card I can get passes to the Atlanta Zoo, Georgia state parks, and Georgia historic sites! I just used this twice to visit two Georgia state parks in the last month for free!

5. Find a side hustle

Was that the most millennial thing I could have said? Probably. Is it still true? Absolutely. As my mom says “everyone has a side hustle.” Ever since I was in high school, I tried to find more ways to make money. I opened an Etsy shop selling toys that I recreated after discovering them in an Amish town I visited in Canada. Yes, seriously.

Throughout college, I always had more than one job. When I graduated and took a year off, I had 4 jobs at once! I’ve had jobs doing chemistry research, private tutoring, being a peer mentor, delivering pizza, being a cashier, stocking merchandise, and I even cleaned a woman’s house. Might sound crazy, but we were able to save up enough money to travel to New Zealand, so it was worth it.

Now, I’m focusing on school, but I still rent my second bedroom on Airbnb. I have this blog and I’ve started a Disney TikTok that I’ve been able to monetize.

I’m not saying you need to go as ham as I did. But, take a second to think about if you could have any other additional income streams. Do you have an Airbnb space you could rent out? Could you sell anything on Etsy – photography, sewn items, toys? Could you sell things you no longer use on Facebook Marketplace or ebay? Check craigslist for job postings – sometimes people need random services done (like irregular house cleaning).

6. Limit your spending to sales and maximize saving tools online

If you need to do some shopping, especially for clothes, wait until there is a huge holiday sale. I’ve seriously never bought anything at full price. I’ve done major shopping hauls the day before Thanksgiving, when there were Black Friday deals. I also usually only go to outlets. It’s worth it to do a little research on where some outlets are beforehand because they are so much cheaper than regular stores. I recently went to our outlets for Labor Day sales and got nice professional clothes from Banana Republic for $10 or less.

If you’re an online shopper there are some tools you should be using:

1. Ebates (Ratuken) is a rebate site where you earn cash back if you click through their website to your online store of choice. They have so many sites available – including travel. For example, I used Groupon Getaways to book a hotel and got $5 cash back by clicking through Ebates first. Every few months, they send you a check in the mail. It’s legit and according to my account, I’ve gotten ~$125 back since I’ve had my account.
2. Honey is a plug-in that will automatically detect when you are making an online purchase. It will then test multiple coupon codes to get you the best deal. Now you don’t need to scour the internet for a code that will work. Honey does it for you. It’s definitely gotten me some deals!
3. iBotta is a rebate app on your phone that awards cash back for groceries mainly. You add each item manually that you’ve purchased to your offers, then upload a picture of your receipt, and collect the amount shown. Once you have $20 (or more) you can redeem it through Paypal or in a gift card for numerous places. Some of the offers are obscure products that few people buy, but they also have generic items that can be any brand as well. The offers change weekly so check back often. Also, I would argue that one of the best uses of iBotta is for cash back on alcohol! If you purchase alcohol regularly (no judgement), you can redeem offers using an itemized receipt from any liquor store. Most products offer a dollar or less, but alcohol offers up to $4 or $5 cash back.

7. Use that Student ID

My last tip is to use your student ID whenever you can! So many places give discounts when you’re a student – movie theatres, museums, restaurants. It never hurts to ask and it might surprise you how many places have student discounts. Bring it wherever you go because you never know!

To see how I plan entire trips, CLICK HERE!

For tips on how to explore your own state (while you’re saving for bigger, better things), CLICK HERE!

Do you have any hot money-saving tips for students? Share in the comments below!

My Travel Essentials

• • Travel Insurance – Going on an international trip? Don’t forget travel and medical insurance with SafetyWing.
  • Travel Card – If you’re new to travel hacking, fear not! My favorite card for beginners gives you $750 in rewards when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months, plus lounge access, 10x points on hotel bookings, and free TSA pre-check!
  • Get Your Guide – Check out Get Your Guide for a one-stop-shop for booking travel activities.
  • Booking.com – This is my favorite hotel search aggregator, specifically for reading reviews. On Booking.com, the reviews can be searched for keywords like WiFi, breakfast, pool, amenities, etc.! So helpful!
  • Anti-pickpocket bag – Worried about having your valuables swiped? PacSafe makes the best travel bags with zippers and straps that lock and with mesh steel enforced fabric.
  • Merino Wool – Where are my chronic over-packers? Merino wool is the material you’ve been looking for. It’s naturally anti-microbial, so you can rewear it…so, less clothes to pack! I’m a fan of WoolX Merino.
  • Give the Gift of Travel – This is the perfect gift for travelers in your life! Tinggly allows you to gift experiences around the world, perfect for birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries.
  • Staycation Idea – Check out Resort Pass, which gives you day passes to resorts so you can use their pool, spa, and fitness center, a great staycation idea!