The Reality of Saving Money…

Let’s face it, saving money is especially tough in this economy. While the economy is at an all time low, prices continue to rise. Many of us have mortgages, children, car payments, school loans, insurance, household bills, and more. So, how in the world are we supposed to save money?

There are many ways to cut down on spending. Although, nobody ever said it was easy! Here’s a quick question for you; If it was easy to cut down on your expenses, would you actually save your money? At first most would say answer “Yes, of course, why wouldn’t I save?” BUT… Would you really?

My belief is that most people tend to make changes to their lifestyles and the way that they spend their money only when they’re feeling under pressure financially. I truly believe that it sometimes takes something unfortunate like a recession or a loss of a job to happen in order for you to make some of the most important financial decisions of your life.

How We Saved Our Money…

We’ve put a lot of hard work and effort into saving as much money as possible for this trip. Admittedly, we’ve had to make some drastic changes in our lives in order to save the money that we have. On top of that we have created a short list of money saving techniques below that have really enabled us to reach our savings goals and we’re hoping that you’ll be inspired to do the same after reading some of our best tips on How to Save Money for an Around The World Trip!

Cut your habits by 50%.

If you smoke two packs of cigarettes per day, try smoking just one pack today. If you dine out 4 times per week, try dining out twice this week.

You wouldn’t believe how much you can save by cutting your habits in half. If 50% is too extreme for you, start at 25% and slowly make your way towards 50%! Saving is all about CUTTING DOWN!

Track your daily, weekly, and monthly expenses!

Try writing down EVERYTHING that you spend this month. Track every dime for accuracy. Yes, it’s a lot of work but at the end of the month you can look back and break the numbers down to find out an average of how much you spent on a daily and weekly basis.

Once you figure out your daily and weekly averages you should set goals for yourself based on your spending. Why not try to cut your averages down by a couple dollars on a daily basis? Think about it this way… if you cut $2/day off of your daily budget you could end up saving yourself $60 this month with this method alone!

Avoid dining out like the plague!

This one was tough for us! Liz & I love dining out. We really cut back on dining out about a year ago and it’s saved us a TON of money.

Instead of dining out, head to your local grocery store with some of your favorite meals in mind and for the money you would’ve spent dining out you can now throw together a weeks worth of meals!

Don’t get us wrong, we still dine out occasionally but usually only when there’s a deal or we have coupons. To find out how we manage to find coupons to all of our favorite restaurants, SEE BELOW!

Coupons, Coupons, Coupons!

You don’t have to feel like a cheapskate to use coupons. It’s not called being cheap, it’s called being SMART! Believe me, once you get over the initial embarrassment of using coupons you will NOT turn back!

I’ve had this infatuation with finding deals and coupons for about 2-3 years now and I cannot even tell you how much money I’ve saved by using coupons and doing a little research on the web to find deals on things I’m planning on purchasing.

Here’s a few of my favorite coupon websites: RetailMeNot , Coupons Inc , Cool Savings , Coupon Surfer , Coupons.com , Smart Source.

To find the best deals on technology/gadgets I always search Google Products first! My second choice is Amazon.com a company that gets a LOT of my business! (If you’re planning on purchasing anything on Amazon in the near future, be sure to click through on this link and I’ll make a small commission if you buy something). Just throwing it out there!

In order to get restaurant coupons, you’ll need to sign up for the email clubs of all your favorite restaurants. Once you sign up you’ll soon start to receive coupons for free desserts during your birthday month, buy one-get one entrees, $10 OFF $20, etc. Liz and I are both signed up for a bunch of different email clubs and we probably receive an average of 3-5 good deals per month.

Some clubs like Fridays, and Smokey Bones offer free Member Cards that you swipe every time you dine at their restaurants. Once you reach a certain amount of “points” on your member card, you’ll receive a free dinner and even $20 credit towards your next meal! It’s a no-brainer if you dine at these places regularly, even occasionally!

Tip: Create a few different email accounts for yourself and sign up for the email clubs with all of your accounts! This way if you receive a coupon that can only be used once, you’ll have a few of them!

Unplug EVERYTHING!

Yes, I’m serious about this one! Unplug anything and everything that you’re not currently using in your house. Did you know that a lamp that is plugged in but is OFF still draws power from the outlet it’s plugged into? Yep! Anything that is plugged in and is in the OFF position still uses a small amount of electricity!

We’ve been unplugging anything deemed unnecessary in our home for over a year now. Since putting this plan into action we have saved an average of $50 or more per month on our electric bill. We have saved so much energy that National Grid sent us a Home Energy Report letting us know that from the month of (12/19/09 — 1/20/10) we used 46% less energy than our EFFICIENT neighbors. Not 46% less than ALL of our neighbors, 46% less than our EFFICIENT neighbors! When it comes to ALL neighbors, we use just under 75% of the energy that they use. See our actual National Grid – Home Energy Reports HERE, and HERE.

As you can see in the second report above, over the course of the last 12 months we’ve used 51% less energy than our neighbors. National Grid claims our savings cashes in at around $983/yr. Pretty interesting, huh?

Tip: My best piece of advice that I can give you is to go out to Walmart or a similar store and pickup a bunch of cheap power strips that you can plug all of your appliances, lamps, etc into. Spread the power strips out around the house so that all of your TV’s, DVD Players, Surround Sound Systems, Computers, Printers, Routers, etc are ALL on power strips. This way when you’re done using your appliances all you have to do is switch off the power strip and you’re all set! Note:  Although the power strips are connected directly to your wall outlets, they cut off ALL power to your appliances so you no longer have to worry about unplugging each and every thing in your house after you’re done using them. This tip should prove to be a huge help!

Sign up for an Interest Bearing Bank Account.

Do your research and find a bank that offers a good APY interest rate. Think about it, it’s FREE money! Who doesn’t want FREE money?

I jumped on board with Charles Schwab Bank a little over two years ago when the interest rate was at 3.01%. Now a days, you’d be hard pressed to find such a deal, although there are still some great deals to be found if you really do your research.

Here are some of the excellent benefits that come from banking with Charles Schwab:

They offer above average interest rates on their checking and savings accounts. They used to offer some of the highest rates until the recession hit. Unfortunately now my checking account is at a measly 0.50%. Still, this is double the APY rate that Bank of America offers at the moment.

Another amazing benefit to banking with Schwab is the fact that there are no such thing as ATM fees. Charles Schwab is one of the only banks out there that will reimburse any ATM fee you are charged WORLDWIDE!

Not only do they waive ATM Fees, they also don’t charge any foreign transaction fees! If these benefits don’t hook you in, then I don’t know what will. Banking with Charles Schwab can and will save you a boat load of money when traveling abroad, believe me. To see what you’re being charged by other banks while abroad please refer to my previous post on how to Minimize International Fees While Abroad.

Apply for a Rewards Credit Card.

Warning: Credit Cards can be very dangerous! In saying that though, it all depends on how you plan to use it and if you’re responsible enough to pay the credit card balance in full each month in order to never get whacked on interest.

I’ve had one credit card in my life and it was for a span of maybe a year when I was 18 years old. Since then I thought they were quite possibly the most evil things on earth. Not that I had any issues with the credit card that I had, it’s just that I have heard and read so many stories about people get themselves into life full of debt and it’s just a terrible situation for anybody to be in.

Normally I would NEVER advise any one to get a credit card but I’m going to recommend a credit card that could turn out to be very beneficial to you if you play by the rules and you use it correctly.

Charles Schwab currently has one of the best credit cards on the market. It offers 2% cash back on ALL purchases across the board. Sure, there are a few credit cards out there that offer 5% cash back, but they’re usually only good for gas and grocery purchases. The Charles Schwab Invest First Visa works best if you have a bank account with them due to the fact that your cash back is automatically deposited into your bank account at the end of each month. If you’re interested in finding out more about this card, please click HERE.

Tip: If you’re planning on making some big purchases in the near future it would definitely be beneficial to apply for this card. I now solely use this card for all of the purchases that I make on a daily basis whether it’s for plane tickets or a pack of gum at the store. If my family is booking a vacation or making a big purchase I simply offer to charge it on my credit card and have them give me the cash that way I make the 2% off of the purchase. Sweet!

REMEMBER: If you pay off your balance in FULL at the end of each month when the “minimum payment” is due you’ll be in business. If you don’t plan on paying in full, it might not be worth the 2% interest that you’re earning for using the card.

Do yourself a favor and make an attempt at implementing one, two, or a few of the above “Ways to Save” in YOUR life. I promise that these methods of saving money will enable you to reach your goals faster. Take it from us, we’ve made changes in our lives and I can tell you with confidence that the changes that we made were definitely for the better.

If you’ve benefited from our list of “Ways to Save” in any way, please feel free to let us know by leaving a comment below!

–

Do you have any advice, tips, or methods that you use to save money? If so, feel free to share them with us by leaving a comment below!

Where you headed…?

Many people have asked us the same questions over and over again… “Where are you going on your RTW Trip?” and “What route will you be taking”?

Well, the truth is that we don’t really have an actual planned route around the world. We’re not interested in planning our whole trip out from A to Z. We want to take it day by day. We like to call this type of traveling “itinerary-less traveling”. We might not have a plan that’s set in stone, but what we DO have is a list of  eight must-see countries that we need to check off!

Egypt

The land of Ancient History. The kings, the tombs, the pyramids, the temples, the deserts, the culture, the environment and the atmosphere. All of the above were factored into our decision to visit Egypt. After contemplating back and forth about where to start our RTW trip, we decided to do a quick Kayak search for flights to Egypt and we found a great deal [BOS-CAI] for ($600/pp!) We knew that this deal wouldn’t last long so we jumped on it!

Greece

A country that I didn’t get to visit when I traveled Europe in 2008, and a country that Liz has always dreamt of visiting. The sun, the sea, the people, the food and did I mention the sun? You see, Liz is someone that I categorize as a “tanaholic”. You know, someone that is completely obsessed with the sun! She would have no problem spending her days soaking up the rays. Me? Not so much. As much as I love the sun, I love to get out and explore. Considering that Greece will be one of the most expensive places that we visit on our trip, we plan to only spend about two weeks in this expensive country. We will most likely spend a few days in Athens, and then take a ferry to one or two of the many beautiful Greek islands.

Thailand

Sigh… THAILAND. We have heard nothing but GREAT things about Thailand and we’re really looking forward to spending a lot of time here. Assuming it’s as beautiful as it’s portrayed, we will probably end up staying here until our visas expire! To be honest, we’re looking forward to Thailand the most for a million different reasons. The culture, the food, the adventures, the activities, the wildlife, the islands, the beaches, the diving and the outrageous bargains that can be found on accommodations, food, adventure activities and more! Thailand is known to be super beautiful, super friendly, and last but not least super CHEAP!

Laos

We’re still learning about this somewhat unknown country called Laos. We had never even thought about visiting Laos until we saw this incredible video called “The Long Way Laos” from our new travel blogger friends Aaron & Georgie from HappyTimeBlog. After watching them tear through Laos on a motorbike we were hooked! As an avid motorcycle enthusiast/rider myself, I was instantly jealous of their trip through the mountains of Laos. If and when we make it to Laos we’ll be sure to give our new friends a shout out for the recommendation.

Vietnam

Vietnam is another country that we hadn’t really thought about visiting. It wasn’t until after doing a little bit of research on places like Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang, HaLong Bay, Hue, and more until we decided Vietnam would be a place that we were interested in visiting. Not only is Vietnam supposed to be incredibly scenic, it’s also rumored to be extremely cheap! I’m hoping that we’ll be able to rent a motorbike and explore the outskirts of this beautiful country.

Malaysia

From the Petronas Twin Towers of Kuala Lumpur, to the beaches of the Perhentian Islands. Malaysia is a destination that we’re pretty excited to travel through. We haven’t done too much research on Malaysia as of yet but we have heard that the assortment of cultures and foods is out of this world. At the moment we don’t plan on spending a whole lot of time in Malaysia but hey, you never know!  After Malaysia we plan on traveling south by train to Singapore where we will fly to our next must see destination, Indonesia!

Indonesia

We’re really looking forward to visiting Indonesia. Mostly because we plan to veg out here for as long as our visas allow us to. We’re hoping to do accomplish ALL of the following things during our visit to Indonesia: attempt to learn how to surf, go snorkeling, go diving, hike Mt. Bromo, explore the islands on scooters, fall fast asleep in our bungalow hammocks, catch a few Balinese sunsets, and simply just R-E-L-A-X!

Australia

An expensive, yet must see country on our list. We’re thinking about renting a car and driving along the coast until we reach Sydney. We’ll see what happens! We hope to be able to dive the Great Barrier Reef, drive along Great Ocean Road, visit a national park or two, see the Sydney Opera House, photograph some wild Koala’s and Kangaroos, and maybe even reconnect with few Aussie friends that I met back when I was traveling through Europe!

Then what?

Well, we’re not sure. It will all come down to what our finances look like once we’re ready to leave Australia. If we’re still hungry for more and we decide we can afford to travel on then we’ll most likely head over to South America before heading home. Only time… (and money) will tell!

With just about 3.5 months until departure, we dream of the day that we’ll begin a new chapter of our lives and we look forward to see where in the world the wind will take us.

We’re all vaccinated and ready to go!

After 3 appointments and 13 shots later we’re fully vaccinated and ready to travel the world! At this point after getting so many shots within the last month you’d think that we should be well protected from nearly any disease out there. Right?

Our first visit to the South Shore Hospital Travel Clinic was on 12/31/09 and according to our practitioner we received an all time record of shots in a visit. (10!) Yes, TEN! Five in each arm to be exact. We left the clinic with our arms feeling a little sore but that wasn’t our only issue. We were really hoping that we wouldn’t get sick from getting all of these vaccination in one visit, or better yet one hour! Fortunately for us, we were in good hands as we soon realized that we were being taken care of by one of the best travel clinic practitioners in all of Massachusetts! Thanks Dinah!

The vaccinations that we received on our first visit (12/31/09) were the following:

• Hepatitis A
• Typhoid
• Japanese Encephalitis (1 of 2)
• Meningococcal
• Tetanus-Diphtheria
• Seasonal Flu
• H1N1
• Polio
• Rabies (1 of 3)
• Yellow Fever

Our next visit was on 1/7/10 where we recieved our second in a series of three Rabies shots.

• Rabies (2 of 3)

And last but not least our final visit on 1/28/10 consisted of our third and final Rabies shot and our second and final Japanese Encephalitis shot.

• Rabies (3 of 3)
• Japanese Encephalitis (2 of 2)

During our last visit we got to talking about a subject that I had been researching for the last few weeks. Anti-malarial tablets. Scary, right?  Which type should we take? What are the side effects of each brand? Should we risk not taking them? How many pills will we need? The answers to these questions seemed to really vary when researching the Internet. Some people take off to areas that are infected with Malaria with no thoughts of purchasing anti-malarials, others do their research and decide that it would probably be best to go to any length to stay healthy on a trip of this magnitude.I mean really, who wants to get Malaria!?

It seems like a no-brainer, right? Well not so fast. There are plenty of downsides to taking anti-malarials can be extreme! Some of the side effects include; nausea, mouth ulcers, blurred vision, rashes, sensitive skin, headache, dizzyness, itching, confusion, depression and even risk of suicide!

Our practitioner recommended that we take Atovaquone (Malarone) a well known and trusted anti-malarial that has the least side effects. After doing some research I found that Malarone seemed to be a somewhat popular choice for travelers, and an expensive choice at that!

Put it this way, my three month supply of Malarone (90 days / 90 Pills) with insurance coverage cost me $90.00. $1/pill! Curious to know what it would have cost if I didn’t have insurance? Try $736.00! ($8.17/pill).

After all was said and done at the pharmacy I spent $110.00 on three prescriptions; Malarone (Anti-Malarial Tablets), ZPak, and Cipro (Antibiotics). To me, it was a small price to pay considering two things. 1. I want to stay as healthy as possible while I travel, and 2. This is the only money that I’ve spent out of pocket as of yet due to my insurance covering ALL of my vaccinations! $110 is pocket change compared to the money that I could have spent on vaccinations alone if I didn’t have insurance.

—

Have you traveled to malaria infected areas? If so, what did you decide was best for YOU? What types of anti-malarials did you take, if any? We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to leave comments below!

If you reside in Massachusetts and are interested in finding out about vaccinations, or prescriptions that you’ll need for your upcoming trip do not hesitate to contact the South Shore Hospital’s Travel Clinic at 781-624-8580. Make sure you ask to be seen by the best travel clinic practitioner around, Dinah McDonald.