The ultimate budget hacks for every Country. Everything you need to know.

Hi budget travelers, today we have our budget tips for first-time or newer travelers so they know the mistakes they might make that could impact their budget. We’ll discuss various money-related issues such as transportation, budgeting for hotels, restaurants, and general travel advice to help you better prepare. This way, your money can go much farther, and you won’t feel like you’re just setting it on fire and throwing it away.

Money Hacks

what I want to do is I want to start with just general kind of money tips when you are traveling, and the first thing I want to say is make sure you know the exchange rate of the countries you’re going to. Knowing the exchange rate can be the difference between a quick trip to running out of cash because 5 pounds might seem like a lot or a little money, depending on the exchange rate. For example, is 5 escudos a lot or a little? You have to think about these things. What is 5 reals worth? Understanding the exchange rate helps you realize that a 3-pound Coke in England is actually $5. You might not want to spend that much for a can of Coke at a restaurant. It helps to know these things, so that’s the first thing: always check the exchange rate.

Don’t exchange money at airport

Other things with money: when you’re going to be taking money out or exchanging money, don’t exchange money at the airport. You usually always get a worse exchange rate, and that’s not something you want. You want your money to exchange into more money than possible, and the airport’s not the place for that. However, I will say this: if you’re going to a cash-dominant society like we were in Morocco and it’s all about cash, sometimes it is a good idea to at least exchange some money at the airport so you have some cash in case you can’t find an ATM or something like that.

Local bank debit card

Speaking of ATMs, they’re generally the best way to get the best exchange rate for exchanging money. We use our local bank debit card at a bank ATM when we travel. Why? Because your local bank is probably the one bank that’s trying to not mess you up the most. They want to save you the most money, so you’re going to get a good exchange with them and probably the least number of fees. Also, if you go to an ATM in a bank, they usually have lower fees than a private ATM service, so just have that heads up for that.

Don’t take the conversion at the ATM

Another thing: when you do take out money from the ATM, if they offer you the conversion, don’t take it. Don’t ever take the conversion at the ATM because they’ll say, “Oh, you want to take out €200? That’s great, we’ll convert it to $253.” And you go, “Okay, why?” No, know what your money’s going to exchange for. But the thing is, if you look at the actual exchange rate, you might see that the actual exchange rate for 200 euros should be closer to $226. Those conversions, whether it’s at an ATM or at a store, you’re not going to win, you’re always going to lose. So just say no, decline, I want the local currency, or the local currency equivalent. Then your bank can handle the exchange rate.

I know just now we went to a bank here and I got €200, and they offered me the conversion of $253. Well, at the exact same time, I looked up the official exchange rate and it was $226. So just heads up for that, don’t do the conversion because you can lose up to what, 10% of your money right there.

Try to get a credit card with no foreign transaction fees

Another thing with cards, let’s talk about one: make sure you always call your debit card, your bank, and your credit card companies to let them know you’re going to travel and where you’re going to travel. But on the budget side of it, always try to get a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees if you’re going to be traveling internationally. Because that can add on 3% to every single purchase. It starts at $100, will be $103. It’s not $1000, it’s $1030. And that can really add up. So do try to get a credit card with no foreign transaction fees.

Transportation budget Hacks

But now I want to focus on some transportation budget issues. One thing: when you’re looking at your tickets, don’t just look at one website to buy your tickets. What we do is we’ll look at kayak.com or skyscanner.com. We’ll get their prices and see if they have a deal on Delta. Why don’t we check delta.com as well and see if I can save a little bit more money there? Look around because most of the time, you’re buying the same ticket anyway, but be open to searching a bit more. So just going to one site could be an issue. I’ll sort out that budget hat for you.

Use incognito mode for plane tickets

When you are searching for plane tickets, make sure you’re searching in incognito mode or safety mode, or whatever words secret modes they have, so they don’t track your cookies and artificially inflate the price a little bit to inspire you to buy earlier. Okay?

And another thing is, when you’re looking for those tickets, here’s another tidbit I have for you: don’t wait. The longer you wait to buy your tickets for your planes, your trains, your hotels (and I’ve got to give you your chow but book your hotel rooms), the prices here, they get a lot of people who think, “Oh, I’m gonna get that last-minute deal.” I’m gonna tell you right now, those last-minute deals don’t come around very often. That’s why they’re so great when you do get them. You need to be booking in advance to get your tickets to get your best prices, because if you do wait last minute, even the cheap airlines get really expensive, and the hotels, well, they book out and their prices get ongoingly higher too. So don’t wait to book. That’s a big budget plus for you.

Don’t fall into the trap of those low-cost airlines.

Make sure you book early. Okay, I didn’t mention those cheap airlines. I do have another kind of budget thing I want to tell you about, and that is, don’t think that all those low-cost airlines and budget airlines are actually as cheap as we think they’re going to be. I know they advertise prices like “fly for 1 pound” or “fly for $20” or “go across the US for $89”. Look, the cheap airlines are cheap for a reason, because they charge for everything. So, if you’re gonna have to pay to check your luggage and maybe pay to have a carry-on and pay for the period ticket and pay to use a credit card, these kinds of things add up and that can really hurt your budget. But the thing is even worse sometimes is that bad airlines, they don’t go to the main airport, they go to an airport outside of town. So then you have to pay for the transportation in and out of that airport, and if you’re getting a flight that comes in at least 8, leaves at 6 AM, there might not be public transportation out there, so you gotta pay a taxi to go out there. I know for me, I used to fly from Los Angeles, landed a lot, and one time I flew back on a Sunday. Well, the problem was my flight was at 6 AM on a Sunday from Stansted. I had to take a 100-pound cab ride to the airport for my 30-pound flight because there is no transportation. So sometimes the idea is look at the easyJet and stuff like that, see what their prices are, then compare it to British Airways or the Lufthansa or the TAP like here in Portugal because sometimes you’ll see as loud getting in it like noon is way better than 6 AM or vice versa. See what I think about those things.

Public transportation is always best

Also, when you are traveling, don’t forget public transportation is your best friend, especially if you’re at public transportation will get you everywhere, buses and trains and things like that, and they’re super affordable. The thing is, I know a lot of people like to do taxis and Ubers everywhere. The thing is, taxis and Ubers really eat up a lot of your cash for things that you could do for a fraction of the price with public transportation. So if you do go to a town, get a good view of what the public transportation is there, and listen, they got metros, they’ve got trams, they’ve got buses, all kinds of stuff that can help you out, and that’ll get you around for a fraction of the price.

Don’t forget to collect miles

Okay, when you’re buying all these things, you’re booking these tickets and stuff like that. One another thing I’ll tell you is, don’t forget to collect miles. Sign up for the frequent flyer program of the airline you’re flying with, sign up for the membership rewards program for the hotels you’re staying in because one of the things is sometimes they give you discounts like lower prices for a member or you might get free Wi-Fi or maybe a free breakfast or maybe a free upgrade or a hack just getting on the plane earlier can make a big difference, and so don’t forget to just sign up and collect those points ’cause you might get some other free stuff too, but it’s a nice thing to have.

And going along with those points, another thing I’d say is, don’t forget to use your points, but don’t always feel like you have to use your points. What I mean by this is if you collected a lot of points to get a free flight, don’t use a free flight on a cheap trip. Like, I will never use my miles to do a free trip from the US to Ireland cause those flights are really cheap. I’ll use it for going from the US to Japan or am I using a foreign upgrade somewhere. Make sure you use those miles for the right kind of stuff, see the bigger bang for your buck with them.

And with those points, another thing I’d tell you is, don’t always feel like you have to stay with them and always have to fly with them because the thing is that might be a more expensive flight. You might see how if I fly Aer Lingus, it’s actually $200 cheaper than flying with Delta. Sometimes this happens. And so what you need to do is kind of balance, is that worth the miles? Are the miles worth $200 or $400 for a longer trip? You want to think about those things cause that’s one way you might be like, “Yes, I want to Delta ’cause I love them and we do,” but on a budget, maybe it’s a better idea to look at your options out there. Don’t be beholden to the miles.

multi-city ticket

And when you’re buying your plane tickets, another bunch of things you can think about is use what’s called a multi-city ticket. Now you know there’s round-trip tickets where you leave from Chicago, go to London, come back from London to Chicago. The thing is, if you do a multi-city ticket, I can fly from Chicago to London, and then I do my trip to Europe, and then I fly back from Rome to Chicago, and I don’t have to double back to London. Now, the thing is, these multi-city tickets might cost a little bit more money, but if you use it, you don’t have to double back, so you’re not wasting a travel day or wasting the money to go fly back to that location ’cause a lot of times that costs to get back to London is gonna be more than if you just bought the multi-city ticket. Okay, so definitely check that out. And when you’re booking tickets, go have that option. You’ll have a return ticket, a one-way ticket, and then a multi-city ticket or multi-destination ticket.

Hotels budget Hacks

OK, we’ve got the transportation out of the way, now we have to think about our hotels and some budget things to get there. One little thing I’ve noticed: I see a lot of people kind of count on the hotels to have the toiletries for them. The thing is, some hotels will make you pay for the toiletries, or you’ll have to go to CVS or a Walgreens or a pharmacy to pick up your stuff. Don’t forget to bring your toiletries with you. Just get the travel sizes from Target back home just to save yourself the money because you know, your toothpaste, your toothbrush, all these little things, they add up. So just have that with you so you don’t have to worry about it at your hotel.

Don’t eat at hotel or get free breakfast

Now, onto serious hotel stuff. One: don’t pay for breakfast at a hotel. If your hotel is making you pay $20 or $10 for breakfast, realize that you can go to a café outside, maybe get breakfast and a coffee and a pastry for a couple of euros here in Lisbon or from the US, you can head to a restaurant and pay $5 to $10 for breakfast versus the $15 and $20 at the hotel. So don’t pay for breakfast; that’s an easy way to burn through your budget.

Another thing I have seen with breakfast is if it’s a hotel that gives you free breakfast, don’t oversleep because if you get your breakfast there, maybe it’ll get you through lunchtime or just make it so you’ll only have to have a snack at lunch. So you can save some money in your food budget that way.

Be aware for Hidden costs

Another hotel thing I would say is watch out for the hidden costs. You want to read the reviews of your hotel and see if the resort fees are included, or are there extra taxes you have to pay because those can add up. I know in Vegas a couple of years ago, I paid for my hotel online at $150 a night, and then, “Oh, sir, there’s also a $25 resort fee that gives you Wi-Fi and access to the pool.” It didn’t matter if the pool wasn’t open; I still had to pay that. So my $150 hotel room jumped up to $175, and some places have higher resort fees than that. Some banks also charge you extra for the fees they go along with your hotel, so it can take a hotel out of your price range that you wouldn’t look at in the first place. So do have a heads up for that.

Airbnb or local apartment

Also, with accommodation, if you’re in a group of 4 people or more, I would think it would be a good idea to also look at the opportunity to rent an apartment when you travel because a lot of times apartment rentals are cheaper than having to rent two hotel rooms, okay? You could look at that also. It can save you money because you can have breakfast at the hotel, at your apartment, where you can cook dinner or lunch at your apartment, and it gives you a kind of base to be had. So that’s actually one thing that we do a lot with our family because we’ve got kids; they have a place to play or rest and stuff like that. It’s very nice, and it does save us quite a bit of cash.

And speaking to save yourself some real cash, don’t forget about your friends. Look, you can go stay with your friends when you travel. One of the best parts when we travel is going to see our friends. Sometimes we stay with them, sometimes we don’t, and for a budget-conscious person, staying with your friends can save you a bunch of money. But I will say this: remember, friends and fish smell after three days. So if you’re going to go someplace, like say you’re going to go to DC and stay with your friends, I don’t know, we would just stay with our cousins, okay? We stayed with her for two nights, and then we stayed in downtown DC for three nights because look, we love you, you love us, and we want to keep it that way. So it’s kind of a mix and match that way. But don’t think that you don’t need to stay with them, but just have the heads up because that could be a way to save a little bit of money.

Now, if you are staying in those apartments, it’s really nice to save money by cooking at your apartment. Everything is. That kind of leads into a food budget idea for you. One thing is don’t be afraid to go to the grocery store or the supermarket to pick up some snacks and get some food there because you can kind of find beautiful parks like this Jardim da Estrela here in Lisbon and have a picnic here. I mean, we did it a lot of times when we lived here. Our Sunday afternoon, we’d go to church, and then we’d come here and have a little picnic. It was a really nice thing, and it saved us a lot of money. So that’s one thing. Though I do know not everyone wants to go grocery shopping and cooking themselves when they travel. Most people are on vacation; they want to eat at a restaurant. So here are a couple of tips to help your budget in terms of restaurants.

Foods: Not everything is free

Don’t assume everything or anything’s free, okay? I know in the US, you can get chips and salsa and free refills and stuff like that. That is not a worldwide phenomenon, sadly. No. For example,  in Portugal, you pay for the bread and the cheese and the butter they bring to the table, and then on the menu, you don’t realize all of these little things you gotta pay for. You want another Coke? Most likely, you’re going to pay for another Coke. So just have a heads up for that. Just knowing what’s free, what’s not free, because that’s how you can end up paying an extra 5 or €10 on your bill when you didn’t realize it. I mean, what’s 5 or €10 added up over a week? Hey, that’s quite a bit of money you could be doing other things with, right?

But probably the most important budget tip for restaurants when you travel is don’t eat at the tourist restaurants in the touristy, touristy, touristy parts of town. You go to Rome, you have those both away the tourists go, you follow, and those restaurants there are always packed with tourists. And here’s what happens when you go to tourist restaurants: you pay twice the price for half the taste, and you don’t want that. So make sure you kind of venture out a little bit farther from the tourist centers to go to restaurants. If you see a lot of locals there, the food’s probably good, and likely the price is good too. So do have a heads up for that because eating in tourist areas is always gonna get you, whether you’re in Orlando or you’re in Venice. Venice is horrible for that. You’ll see those things out there.

Sim card things to keep in mind

OK, I’m gonna finish off now with some general budget advice when you travel, and these are things I’ve seen people make mistakes with when they have gone abroad. The biggest and most expensive one: don’t forget to tell your phone company that you’re gonna be traveling. Look, I love having internet and checking my comments from my fans and fellow travelers, and checking my bank balance to make sure we have the money to pay for our trips and stuff like that. But the thing is, I need to make sure my phone company knows when I travel so I could get that international data plan. Because if you don’t have the international data plan, you can rack up seriously high bills on your phone. And you may say, “Oh, I’m only gonna check it once a day for a little bit.” Yeah, I got a phone call from AT&T when I was in China, and Liam was 2 years old. He got on my phone and was watching YouTube, and we had like a $500 bill. Like, what? I wasn’t even there. Oh, someone turned on cellular data. You know, have a big bill. Well, look, you’ve gotta be careful with that. Make sure you let them know and get that plan. If you’re not gonna get the data plan, turn off your data, turn off your phone, and just use it as a Wi-Fi device. But for safety reasons, I always recommend getting even the cheapest international plan in case you need to make a phone call or check a map or something like that. It can make a big difference. But yeah, seriously, don’t forget to tell your phone company you’re gonna go and get that plan.

Travel Insurance

Another “don’t” I have for you for first-time travelers for budget issues: don’t forget to get travel insurance. I know you might think, “Why should I pay an extra 100 bucks on my ticket? Why should I pay another 20 bucks for insurance? Gotta stop.” But the thing is, if you’re traveling internationally, your insurance plan might not cover things there. My insurance from work doesn’t cover me here. So every time I go somewhere, I make sure I buy the insurance when I buy my plane tickets in case something happens. And the thing is, that’s not one of those ones that saves you money right away, but if the worst does happen, it does save you a lot of money in the long run. All right.Right, now some other kind of things I would say. Another budget “don’t” is don’t forget your budget. Look, if you’re gonna be traveling, know how much you can spend because I’ve seen people that can kind of get caught up in the

Always keep in mind your full Budget

moment and then like, “Yes, we’re gonna go for the $200 jet ski ride! Trip are we gonna let’s go, let’s go to Switzerland!” and spend too much money when they’re there. You get are very traveling much and caught up in the moment awesome when, but the thing is, you need to have a budget and understand what you’re going to be spending things on so you’ll blow a whole week’s budget on one kind of fun night in London, which can happen when you go to London, all right? So just have an idea of what your budget is to see and don’t blow it. And when you’re out without blowing your budget.

Do some Research

don’t forget to do your research about the destinations you’re gonna go to. What museums are free or maybe there’s a day of the week when museums are free and you can get those discounts? For example, in Spain, get the lunch special during the day; you can save a lot of money. How about a lunch special versus eating your big meal at night? And so if you do your research, you can find these things out. And the thing is, some cities you’ll find are beyond your budget. You know, people wonder, “Mark, why don’t you have more videos on Switzerland or other places like it?” It’s just too expensive for us to go there. I can’t afford to go there. We try to go to more affordable places because if you don’t do research, you realize, “I can’t do four weeks in Switzerland. I can do a week in Switzerland, but not four weeks.” Okay, so that’s where your research can kind of help you out with your budget.

Try alternative destinations

Another thing is, don’t be afraid to try different destinations. For example, here in Portugal, it is a very affordable vacation destination. Spain is very affordable too. So if you’re looking to save money and budget better, maybe you opt for a trip to Portugal and Spain versus Germany and Austria, or maybe you do the Baltics instead of Scandinavia, or maybe you do Southeast Asia versus Japan. You can save money by visiting the cheaper destinations, and even cheap destinations have great things to see as well. So, do have that.

Discount passes

And I have two things for you to finish off. One thing, don’t forget to get discount passes and cards when you can, but do your research. Make sure you know if it’s actually worth it. For example, do you get the city pass that gives you 50 museums and free public transportation? Well, it might depend if you’re going to go to all those museums. If you’re not, it might not be worth it. And another pass that I find that’s not always worth the money are the Eurail passes because the thing is, unless you’re going to be doing a lot of train travel, maybe the price doesn’t justify it. You might want to do a combination of cheap airlines and just normal train tickets versus the Eurail ticket because that’s one way you could be more efficient with your money.

Best time to travel for budget traveler

The last thing I want to say is, don’t think you have to travel just in the summer. Look, if you travel in the offseason or the shoulder seasons, you get significantly discounted plane tickets, discounted hotel rooms, very few tourists, so the lines are much less, and you can get a lot more bang for your buck if you’re going in those shoulder seasons. And what’s great is if you come to Europe in September or early October, the weather is still pretty good too. Or if you’re coming in April or late spring, it’s still nice weather and all kinds of stuff, and it’s a fraction of the cost. That’s really, really helpful, so do have a heads up for that.

So, I hope this blog helped some new travelers, maybe some old travelers as well, with some better ideas to help budget and save some money on your travels and your stuff. If you want to learn more, maybe how to save money while you travel so you can travel longer, or maybe you want to think about how do I save money in order to travel, we have blogs on that as well to help travelers out. So, do check us out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, all the great social media sites. So, if you have any other budget advice, please put it in the comments section below so we can help out other new travelers and seasoned travelers save a bit of money so they can enjoy traveling longer.

Thank you for reading.