New Timer : saving money

[walexis25]

I don't know if this should go here but oh well I have already started. xD
Well, I was just wondering how everyone else raises money or saves to go see
their SO. My SO lives in brazil and I want to go there next summer to see
some world cup games and etc. I know I am looking at more than 2000 dollars.
So any advice?

I am working two part time jobs but that money goes for gas
and college stuff.

[kittyo9]

I spent less than a thousand last year visiting my SO in Peru for a few weeks, but of course your cost is going to vary depending on whether you're staying with your SO for free and how much you're going to spend on souvenirs/food/outings and how good of a deal you get on your plane tickets. I would definitely recommend to start searching early (like 8-10 months in advance if you can) using a search engine like Kayak (my preferred choice) and check back now and then to get a feel for the prices. Then you can pounce in the next few months when you see a good deal. I ended up with a $665 ticket (could have had $610 if I had acted on it sooner!) when the average ticket prices to Peru were around $800-900 by doing that.

Other than that, I just had money saved up from working several summers. I applied to and won a lot of scholarships while I was in undergrad, so the overall cost of actually attending was manageable for my family. Apparently that is not something that a lot of people do (which baffles me, because it's literally free money), so if you haven't applied to many scholarships (especially local scholarships, such as those through your hometown, church, or some other group you're part of), definitely look into it.

I think most people would recommend addressing your costs. For example, do you drink a lot of soda or juice? You can switch to just drinking water instead and save some money that way. You can also try buying more items in bulk, coupon clipping (tons of coupons available online), trying to drive more efficiently (combining trips and taking care of errands that are in similar locations together; these won't make as big a difference, but things like accelerating slowly, driving with your windows closed, and avoiding using your brakes when not necessary will improve efficiency over time), stop drinking alcohol if you do, make your own popcorn for the movies and have stay-at-home movie nights (rental or arrrr pirate, I don't judge), try buying international copies of your textbooks, renting them, or just using copies already available at your school's library, do your laundry less often... there are a ton of ways but I ran out of fuel. xD

You can also try selling some stuff on ebay if you have things to spare. USPS will ship boxes to you for free and you print your postage at home, then drop off your package in a mail box or at the post office for USPS to send.

[Ejoriah]

kittyo9 gave a pretty good list, but I just wanted to add that being in an LDR usually comes with a sacrifice in "lifestyle"... I know I don't go out nearly as much now (to bars and such) because a night out is EXPENSIVE and that money is better saved. I see you're 18 so I guess bars are not really supposed to be something you do quite yet :P but still, if you go out often watch your spending there, restaurants overcharge everything~
Are you prone to impulse buying? Ask yourself if you really need something before buying it. If you need something new, shop around for your best deal.

Just basically... know where every cent you spend is going, and figure out if there are cheaper alternatives for things.

[Jazi]

being in an LDR usually comes with a sacrifice in "lifestyle"... I know I don't go out nearly as much now (to bars and such) because a night out is EXPENSIVE and that money is better saved. I see you're 18 so I guess bars are not really supposed to be something you do quite yet :P but still, if you go out often watch your spending there, restaurants overcharge everything~
Are you prone to impulse buying? Ask yourself if you really need something before buying it. If you need something new, shop around for your best deal.

Just basically... know where every cent you spend is going, and figure out if there are cheaper alternatives for things.

Just wanted to add to Ejoriah's post - Before I was in an LDR I would buy Subway (food) A LOT. Like at work on my lunch break I would buy my lunch.. Once starting my LDR I started bringing my food to work with me from home - it saves you a lot of money over time.

You might think you're just spending $10 here, $5 there and that it's not very much... but in actual fact it adds up to A LOT of money that could be better saved to spend on a trip. Just be careful with your money - don't buy things you don't need.. and you really will have to cut down on the dinners out, new clothes, cinema trips.. etc. Have to find ways of free/cheap entertainment in an LDR

[Jess!]

Hummm, you are in a worst situation than I am, but I need(ed) to work to raise the money too. the quantity I needed was obviously smaller than yours, but I would put the money from work in a box and my parents still gave me pocket money, and that one was on my bank account. I just used that one in the bank account and ignored the money I had in the box! I think this does not work for a lot of people (my friends don't understand how this works for me), but is an idea and worked for me and I was a huge spender some years ago. Sometimes I would use the money in the box carefully and then take money from the bank account to replace it, so that I alwys knew that that money was there no matter what. The only negative thing of this is that with bigger amounts of money it may not work. Now that I write it this sounds very unhelpful, but who knows.


You can try to save the money you spend in your mobile (ahhh a hard one being LDR) and, this is very hard, go out very rarely or when going, have just one drink or coffee. It sucks, but if you're already taking 2 jobs you have to tight the budget a little. I did this: everytime I went out I planned ahead what was I going to drink/have and stick with that.

You can also plan your expenses weekly ahead. First try to write every little thing you buy during a full week, and then see where can you cut sometimes there are things we don't even notice. Being portuguese this also means paying attention to each expresso you take. Very cheap, but in the end everything counts! After doing this, plan your expenses for example each sunday for the next week, (cutting already some things).

I hope my advice is useful. The money I had from work was very little and hopefully my parents could help. With our low salaries I doubt how much money I could earn without their help, but I really hope you are in a better situation and in the end the efforts will be worth it!

[walexis25]

Thanks to everyone that replied! I will defiantly start cutting back on what I spend like on fast food and stuff. I made an etsy shop too! But thank you everyone I appreciate it!

[conejita_hada]

I don't know if anyone else said this, but if you're close enough to your parents' home or have another location where you can host a garage sale - ask around if your friends want to get rid of anything, they can "donate" it to you and that's basically free money for your travel funds after setting aside a Saturday to do it, anything leftover you can save for another garage sale (and do a repeat later) or just donate to a thrift shop, shelter, etc.
I have a friend who offered to host a garage sale to raise funds for my SO to come to the US for a visit next year and her garage sales usually get $400-$600. I don't know if this is the norm for garage sales though, and it could depend on where you live in the US.

Also, put all your change into a jar. Since I don't usually dig in my purse for the exact change when I'm buying something with cash, my change adds up. It probably won't add up to hundreds of dollars but even $20 is important. You can get the coin rolls from any local bank and once you roll it and bring it back to your bank, they'll give you the dollar amount. It's way better than CoinStar, etc. that charges you to count it!

[MattDavies86]

Pretty much as people said, working hard and cutting out what you don't need, hell I used to spend money on stupid things like DVD's, Games or anything online I'd see, or I'd buy lunch every day in work, I've stopped that and make my own lunch, far cheaper, saying that, I earn a really good wage and there are a lot of things I have to pay for right now that you wouldn't :P

[Riyko]

I agree with cutting back on what you don't need as well as selling things you don't need, want or use anymore. I also make money online to help with the expenses, while i'm not rich I make a fair amount each month depending on how much work I do.

Good luck!

[BabyGund]

Admittedly, I'm a bit older and have a FT job, but even still, trips to Canada are not inexpensive. Because I'm older, I really don't get actual gifts for my birthday anymore. So my parents just gave me cash and that's how my Canada slush fund got started. Maybe if you have birthdays and Christmas and etc coming up, you can nudge family that way...