How I saved RM20k for travels in 10 months

How I saved RM20K for travels in less than a year? I was inspired by a travel blogger from Boston. So what about you? Have you every thought of travelling to somewhere else or having a long vacation? Of course you have, we all do! In 2015, I decided just to do that.

I took a year to plan everything. My aim was to earn a RM20k in less than a year which included my living expenses, transportation and foods. I mainly budgeted my airfare around RM3k, travel insurance RM500, passport renewal RM200, and the balance in my bank account those are my living expenses. 

I was told that RM20k is never enough to survive in a country for 3 months. However, I have this to say,  Yes it is more than enough!". I am going to show you how I did it and I am completely 100% honest. I started with very little savings since January 2015, 10% of my full-time income was transferred to my savings account every month. I was a fresh graduate, I have bills to pay just like everyone else, a lot of bills.....:(( 

Monthly expenses:

• Car loan
• Medical Insurance
• Phone Bill
• Education loan
• Foods & petrol 

Let me reveal my saving tips now!

Tip 1. Make money as a blogger

I am often asked how to make a living from blogging? There are many ways such as ad space, affiliate income, products or services. That's how I got paid for every blog-post I've written in the past few years. So I managed to earn from my blog approximately RM400-RM1800 per post . I've been blogging ever since I was 19 and blogging quickly become an obsession. Fast forward a few years, I now have my own travel page on Facebook: Two Footsteps and I do earn from each of the paid advertisement. 

Hotel Review

Food Review

Beauty Review

Grand Opening Ceremony 

So have you ever dreamt of spending your days and doing work that you love so much? Want to be a blogger and start up with your own blog? If you'd like to learn more about this, soon I am coming up with a new blogpost to put together a guide for you! You can pm me on my page-> TWO FOOTSTEPS so I could send u the link and hopping it'll change your life in some ways. 

Tip 2. Freelance copywriter

Freelance, means I am working independently and a job that I can always work from home.  I was employed on a freelance basis to develop contents. Freelancing is good as a side hustle to make extra money, so figure out what you are good at, and work on it. There's are many ways you can send in your resume to hunt for a copywriter job, for example: JOBSTREET.COM. Simply drop them an email to those clients who actually looking for a copywriter. If you're just starting out, I recommend you to draft an email template or resume just to introduce yourself, and of course you can can also include some of your previous article to make yourself to look more outstanding. 

Feel free to contact me if you're looking for a copywriter:

fionev@hotmail.my

Tip 3.  Start your saving plans during Chinese New Year

What could be a better way than using the red packet money to kick start your saving plan? LOL. A lot of FREE cash, from here you can put all the money into your account. 

Tip 4. Make money while travelling- Personal Shopper 

For most of us, travelling is associated as " losing money" where we spent a lot of money on flight ticket, accommodation and entertainment. Is that true? But do you know that you can actually make money while travelling as a personal shopper? Yes 100% true! It is possible. When I travelled to Taiwan, I make money by selling Taiwan's product to people back in Malaysia by charging a small fee to the buyers. I earned RM2500 just in 3 days, and that's enough for me to pay off some of my travel expenses. 

*Keep any eye on my post if you wanna know how to start off your business as a personal shopper!

Tip 5. Contribute small sums of money to your savings regularly 

The easiest way to save money for travel, is try to set aside a certain amount of money immediately after your payday each month. For example: I saved at least RM1000 every month, in time the money will grow into a big amount. 

A word on debt: I have many commitments....

I know I know. But how to allocate your income based on percentages? Follow the 50/30/20 rule. 50% of your income will go to mandatory bills ( insurances, car loan, housing loan, credit cards), and 30% for entertainment ( vacations, movie, shopping) and 20% for savings. So its just up to you on making your own plan. 

Tip 6. Don't spend on unnecessary items

Saving money is ain't easy, the temptation to spend is everywhere and to save money takes determination. I was committed, I rarely spend on any branded stuff and I cut down a lot on entertainment. Instead of shopping, I often choose to be at home and work to keep spending to a minimum.

"Put it back....." 

-EXTRA TIPS-

Tip 7: Refer to my previous post!
Make good use of those online website to search for the best deals, cheaper flight and hotel. CLICK HERE http://www.fionev.com/2016/07/tips-tricks-uk-travel-visa-and-flight_18.html for more. Learn how to calculate your budget and that give you an idea of how much you need to save! Keep them on track, the price may drop in anytime to the price that you able to afford. 

For example: flight to UK were usually costing around RM 3000-RM4000, but I managed to get a promo price at RM2900 instead with Singapore Airline!WOW. 

Tip 8: Investment
Investment is the fastest way to earn, but make sure you find the right one. There's no entirely safe investment, if you cant handle any risk, then you probably shouldn't be investing. Here's my advice: Just invest in small amount of money which help you to accumulate your wealth. But PLAY SAFE and be wise.

Tip 9: Get FREE accommodation if possible 

Don't get me wrong. I am not asking you to stay over in stranger's house! A big NO. Unless if you are lucky to have some friends/relatives in overseas, it's going to be cheaper if you're staying with them. So to all friends in UK, from the bottom of my heart " thank you" for your gracious hospitality during my visit.

You don't have to be rich to travel the world, be smart and spend wisely. 

In short I am not saying that my tips are the best of the best, but it taken me a long time to figure out all of the possible ways to make more money or coming up with a budget travel. So if you want to learn any or all of these thing, keep reading and don't forget to subscribe me! :) cheers!