How To Fund Your Wanderlust (If You're Just Living Paycheck to Paycheck)
Pag mahilig mag-travel, mayaman agad? Hindi ba pwedeng pinaghirapan muna? :p
One of the most common misconceptions about people who often travel is that they have bottomless pockets to fund their passion. While this may be true for some, most of us still rely on our nine-to-fives to feed the wanderlust. But sometimes, you just don't really need to spend a lot for that dream trip.
Wanna be a millionaire? Go to Vietnam!
Saving up for that trip takes a lot of hard work, discipline, and knowing how to maximize your available resources. Here's some ways how I fund my wanderlust:
WORK/ONLINE JOBS
Surprise! Surprise! Contrary to popular belief, most travelers still keep a full time job.
Lucky are those who make a living through traveling but for a breadwinner like me, 'traditional' work is still my primary source of travel funds. I also boost my earnings by doing part time work. Sometimes I work 12 hours a day (or more) and/or during weekends just to earn extra money. There were times I even had 2-3 part time jobs just because I needed to save up for an upcoming trip.
What type of online jobs are available?
There are lots of online/freelance jobs you can do from writing, data entry, web design/development, graphic design, SEO - virtually everything except manual labor.
As for me, I've been doing general/business transcription for about four years now. I love that I can work on the projects around my schedule and doesn't require a special skill set or sophisticated software aside from a downloadable audio playback tool.
Where can I find online jobs?
I know there are lots of sites out there that promises you can earn $1,000+ a week, but if it sounds too good to be true and/or asks you to pay or purchase anything before you can get a project, it's a sham. A trusted site is oDesk. I started finding online jobs through this site and eventually worked directly with clients.
How much can I earn?
Varies; depending on the type of job you take and how much time you're putting in (if you're working on a per hour rate). But just to give you an idea, I earn between Php5,000 - Php15,000 a month from transcription work. This kept me afloat during the seven months I was unemployed. :p
CUT BACK ON SPENDING
No-brainer, right?
If you have a habit of buying a tall frappe three times a week, that's more or less Php1,500.00 a month if you do the math! By cutting back on this alone, not only will you save a thousand bucks, you'll also be saying goodbye to those extra calories. :D
Also avoid going to the mall during SALE! You might think you're saving a lot because items are 50% - 70% off (blame it on marketing) but the tendency is to hoard, and now you have these things that you don't really need which end up gathering dust. But then again, you can still turn that around and do a garage sale (another way to fund your wanderlust). ;)
USE YOUR BENEFITS
By benefits, I mean your SSS, PAG-IBIG (Multi-Purpose Loan), 13th month pay, and unused vacation and/or sick leaves that are convertible to cash. I don't know if you've heard something like if you don't use your contributions, they lend it to somebody else so might as well use it, right? :p This should be your last resort if you still don't have enough funds after doing the first two above.
Am I eligible for the loan?
The easiest way to find out your eligibility is to inquire with your company's HR department or you can refer to these sites: SSS and PAG-IBIG.
The catch?
Both loans are payable within a 24-month period.
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There, I hope I gave you some ideas on how you can fund your next escape. Would love to hear your strategies as well. Now, let me go ahead and finish that project. Will need the money for another adventure. ;)
K
This is my contribution to this month's blog carnival:
Blog compilations will be hosted by
James Betia of Journeying James
Complete compilation of previous Pinoy Travel Bloggers' Blog Carnival here.
Got questions? Comment below (and don't forget to subscribe to replies; I always reply to comments) or shoot me an email at ktorres_07@yahoo.com.
These are helpful tips. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Ryan. Hope you can share your tips too. :)
ReplyDeletehelpful tips!!! thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Jherson. Will think of other ways to get funds. haha
ReplyDeleteIf there's a will, there's a way... So don't block the driveway. Char! Makagawa nga ng similar na post... Pag sinipag ako. :P Thanks for this 'teh! :))
ReplyDeleteNice write-ups! Salute to you.... really a very good tips to those who are new in travelling or should i say "late bloomers" like me...hehe...really love to travel and most of the time financial status ang pumipigil....Congrats! this really a big help when you want to travel....
ReplyDeleteI've also tried oDesk on my unemployed days. :D It's just too bad that their rates are very low nowadays specially for newbies. People just keep lowering their asking price just to get the jobs. :(
ReplyDeleteI just did, getting a secured loan will benefits u and of course ur endeavors.. eye opener to para sa mga may misconception about traveling... hindi nga mayaman ang karamihan, pinag iipunan lang. Nasa tamang panahon lang at passion!
ReplyDeleteGood for you. :)
ReplyDeleteDiba, feeling lang nila andami-dami nating pera kasi lagi tayong nag-ttravel hehe Kung alam lang nila pano pinaghirapan yung perang ginastos para dun hehe
Yes, it's sad that it's hard to compete with the rates of other nationalities especially Indians. We just need to be more creative in pitching our skills.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started, I think it took me two months before I got my first project. Then as I was able to build my portfolio, I started increasing my rates then got clients of my own outside oDesk. Tyagaan lang talaga. :)
Thanks, Weng!
ReplyDeleteNobody's too 'old' to travel. As long as the passion is there, then go. :) Good luck to your future travels!
"If there's a will, there's a way... So don't block the driveway." - aylavet! hahaha
ReplyDeleteJoin ka na kasi sa PTB teh para you can join the blog carnivals too. :)
PTB... Pulmonary Tuberculosis? Char! Tamang bobo lang. Haha. Sorry naman PTB din ang abbreviation ng tuberculosis sa healthcare industry. Eeeehhh. I'm shy. Pilitin mo pa ako ng konti. Pilitin mo pa ako. Haha. :P
ReplyDeletearti! di na kita pipilitin. mamaya i-susuggest ko na lang sa FB group na i-review ang blog mo. :)
ReplyDeleteFor a seasoned traveller like you, I think you forgot to mention the wise use of credit cards. That gives us a lot of talking points:
ReplyDelete1. Know your billing cycle so you can only spend within your means. That particular beautiful silk scarf from Bangkok may be cheap find that you'll pay the following month may be $200 more than the "petty cash" section of your monthly budget.
2. Never settle your bill on anything below the total amount. Here some will say to just pay he finance charge. Oh but the 3.5% is a deal breaker in the whole point of saving to fund your wanderlust. You could've gone to a day's meals for your another trip. Worse, if you paid the one time purchase, say the silk from previous item, for 4 months. [(-$200) - (payment on first month)] - [(remainder) + (3.5% of remainder)] - [(remainder 2) - (3.5% of remainder 2)] - [(remainder 3) - (3.5% or remainder 3)] = that beautiful scarf ain't cheap after all.
3. Paying bills' total amount gives you a good creditor standing. This, for me, is the point of having a credit card. It is for you to have a good reputation with banks because even if you have just 2 credit cards, your records are shared all other banks. You get more perks such as in more loans offered, easily approved loans, higher credit limit (from 20,000, mine are between Php250.000 to Php500,000!), etc. This is good because when you hit your 30s you can know buy a house and lot (and not a condo) because you realize the past 5 years that being a traveler means having a place you'd call home to go t