Originally, this article was about how to save for travel. In light of the recent events, it made sense to write this article to be a little bit broader in regards to saving money. As a disclaimer, I am not a financial advisor of any sort. I am writing this article solely from personal experience, using tips and tricks to save close to $20k for a four-month travel adventure in 2018.

Don’t Quit Your Day Job. In Fact, Work Harder:

This is probably your biggest source of income or in many cases your ONLY source of income. Working harder (and smarter) at your day job can mean opportunities for advancement, raises, bonuses, overtime opportunities, etc. If you work on commission, this is even more applicable; the sky (or really hours in the day) is the limit for you! Every cent that is not used to pay for necessary bills can be saved.

When I was saving for my four-month trip, I took on every personal training client I could fit into my schedule. I also took on extra hours at the gym working on projects, mentoring new trainers, and even taking floor shifts to cover for other trainers because literally every dollar counts.

Start Your Side Hustle:

I DO NOT mean invest a ton of money into a brick and mortar shop, tons of inventory, or intense franchises. I DO mean find something you love, with very low start-up costs, and monetize it. Love to craft? Start an Etsy shop. Love to shop for deals? Join Poshmark. Love makeup? Become a brand ambassador. You get the picture.

Me? I love fitness, learning, and supporting others. Online and remote health and fitness coaching was and are a natural fit for me. By putting a portion of JUST my Beachbody coaching paycheck* aside each week for two(ish) years, I was able to save up not quite $7k for my travels, more than a THIRD of the cost of my entire four-month trip.

Starting a side hustle is NOT easy, effortless, or fast. It will most certainly take blood, sweat, and tears. If you put in the work though, it’s totally worth it, financially and otherwise.

Start a “No-Brainer” Savings/Investment Account:

Saving money doesn’t have to be hard. It can actually be automatic and fairly painless. There are so many apps that can help with automatic savings and investments.

My app of choice is Acorns because of all of its features and its rock bottom cost. First the cost – $1 a month for up to a million dollars in the account. Now the features.

So far, I have used four of the features: Round-ups, Recurring Investments, Found Money, and Invites. Round-ups and Recurring Investments are sneaky ways to save your own money that you have already earned. Found Money and Invites are ways to basically earn FREE money that is re-invested into your Acorns account for making purchases or inviting friends to create Acorns accounts.

In the last two years, I have saved a couple of thousand dollars using all the features without really thinking about it. For now, the money is sitting in the account, but if/when I want to use it for travel (or anything else), it’s there.

All these little additions to your savings account add up quickly. Plus, the money is invested so you make money on what is sitting in the account as well – you can be as conservative or aggressive with the investments as you want. With that being said, I would appreciate if you could use my referral link if you decide you want to open an account! 🙂

Track Your Spending:

In addition to making more money, you also need to spend less money. This requires you to TRACK your spending and then make adjustments. Everyone is different, so I am not going to tell you what you need or don’t need, but every expenditure is less money saved. Do you need all the streaming or can you pick one or share with someone? Do you need Starbucks daily or can you use it as a once a week treat? What spending habits can you limit or cut out entirely?

Pick a Credit Card and Use it Wisely:

Credit Cards can be dangerous for some people but they can also be an awesome tool if used wisely. The first thing would be to consider what type of card you want – where do you want to focus your “perks”? For example, I wanted the card with the best travel perks. I researched and decided initially the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card was right for me. I eventually upgraded to the Chase Sapphire Reserve which has a higher annual fee but way more travel perks that I was willing to pay for via the annual fee.

After you pick a card, make sure to use it wisely and pay it off quickly. I put everything on my credit card because I earn points that I can then use for travel. But I pay my credit card off every single week so that I never pay any interest. The points are essentially another form of free money. So far I have used my points to buy a business class flight to Egypt and a flight to South Africa. These flights would have cost me well over $3000 had I paid for them in cash and not points.

Do Not Pay Fees and Fines. Take Advantage of Bonus Offers:

If you are looking at opening a new account or credit card, make sure to look for and ask about any and all new accounts, referral, or bonus offers. These can get you $100-500 dollars or up to 60k points if you do all the things to qualify. Again, free money. Also, pay attention to requirements on all your accounts (new and old) to avoid paying fees and fines. These add up QUICKLY and are a complete waste of money.

*Team Beachbody® does not guarantee any level of success or income from the Team Beachbody Coach Opportunity. Each Coach’s income depends on his or her own efforts, diligence, and skill. See our Statement of Independent Coach Earnings for the most recent information on the actual incomes of all our Coaches.