Me Vs. Materialism – Saving for travel
- By The Lost Londoner
- 26 February, 2013
- 8 Comments
Having trouble saving for travels? Me too. But I’m finding it easier every month, here’s how..
Deciding to travel has changed my life in more ways than one. On the plus side it’s given me a focus, it’s a passion that drives me. I feel like my life is building up to this profound moment when I take off on my great adventure to discover what the rest of the world has in store for me (Enough cheese?) But on the flip side I’m having to drastically alter my lifestyle to save the funds for this trip.
When I first made my plan to travel for a year I didn’t think much about the cost. I knew what I wanted to see and do, I knew that by doing this I hoped to change my life and myself. But the amount that I would actually need to save to fund a year on the road never sunk in until I sat down with a calculator and figured out how much I could actually save at a push.
Saving has forced me to give up a few things such as..
- Clothes
- Partying
- Eating out
- Not looking at price tags
Some of you might be reading this and wonder what the big deal is. But when you are a party girl with no cooking skills that spends £200 a month on clothes, IT’S A BIG DEAL!
The biggest adjustment in my life is battling materialism-
Ma·te·ri·al·ism [muh-teer-ee-uh-liz-uh m]
1. Preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.
Unfortunately this has had a hold of me for too long. Before now, nothing has bought me more satisfaction than going to Westfield (UK’s largest shopping mall) and walking out with bags of clothes, jewellery and other stuff I just don’t need. I then spend the night prancing around in my new get-up, guzzling down a ton of over-priced drinks before finally collapsing into my bed still fully clothed. The pay off of all this? …Many days spent hanging out of my ass.
Admittedly I have a lot to do in terms of budgeting and condensing my out-goings but the first step is saying no to the luxuries I don’t necessarily need. Just by doing this I’ve been able to put by enough to make me happy when I take a peek at my savings account. I’ve also drastically reduced the amount of time I spend in town drinking myself into a coma. I’ve gone from going out once or twice a week to once or twice a month. Unless it’s a large social gathering I don’t even feel the need, I LOVE a drink and that’s the hardest part, but I can live with having a few glasses of red with the girls at home.
Ultimately the biggest question is “How much do you want it?” If you are serious about saving for travel you need to re-think your spending habits. Do you really NEED that new bag or DVD? How much would the money spent equate to in foreign currency? What will this stuff mean to you when you leave it behind?
These are the things I keep asking myself. It also feels good to be less materialistic. I don’t need to impress people with the things that I own or own a lot of things to keep me happy. I look forward to embracing this way of life more intently, it’ll help me when I’m travelling and all I have is the bag on my back.
Do you have some great saving tips? Then comment below!
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Frankly I need to do all these things just to afford travelling around London itself! Tfl and their blimmin’ ridiculous fares. Any way, I’m sure all the sacrifices you’re making will be worth it when you get to Australia with amazing memories of the year you just had.
Also if you have any extra stuff, car boot sale! Sounds daft but I’ve made a few hundred simply after selling things I didn’t need or want.
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You know what, that’s an absolutely genius idea! I’ve never had a car to do in the past but now I totally can!
Ha! Brilliant post! My big break with materialism came when we emigrated to the UK (or repatriated if you consider that I only ever had a British passport). For the first time in my life, I had to justify every single plate, cup, appliance in my life. My light and silky South African clothes were totally useless in London’s humidity / rain / cold and my strappy sandles even more so. It was the break I needed. I used to spend hundreds of Rands on clothing, music, DVDs, eating out etc. The whole experience taught me that accumulating and hoarding stuff I’ll never look at again isn’t worth it but a weekend in Bruges or a surprise trip to the Balkans really is. You’ll never regret letting go of materialism!
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This is incredible how much money you can save when quiting parties, extra shopping and smoking. My advice also would be to start cooking at home and don’t spend too much money on dining out. I find it the best idea to save some money every month. If you add up how much money you spend on cakes, cheeseburgers, candies and pop drinks you will be like “WHAT!?” Good luck with saving x
The only problem being that I can’t cook! ahhh :-/ I’m pretty good with not blowing money on food meaning I live on beans on toast and biscuits!
Great post! I had to do this when I decided to study abroad in Australia for a year. The cost of living is so much more over here! It definitely helped not spending heaps of money on clothes and partying though, although that was quite hard to master haha. Good luck!
I know exactly what you mean, I’ve just arrived in London this week (from South Africa) and have been tempted by those damn macbooks but £1000 can go quite far while travelling. I sold my DSLR camera and purchased a point & shoot, I’m opting for experiences vs possesions.
To be honest my macbook has been an amazing investment mainly for the blog. I am tempted to buy a mini-SLR but I think I will also opt for a point and shoot at the some point!