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Budget. Save. Have no life.
Kidding. Well kind of, I'll explain more below.
After I had committed in my mind in July 2022 that I was going to thru hike Te Araroa starting December, it meant I had 5 months to seriously save some moolah. Three and a half months off work requires some planning.
Firstly I read blogs of previous hikers and comments on the Te Araroa facebook group to find suggestions of what Te Araroa actually costs an individual. It ranged from $7,000 to $10,000 for the full thru-hike incorporating both North & South Islands. While I am only hiking the South, I settled on keeping in my mind the $7-10,000 budget range. Because really, I'd rather be way under budget than over!
I am lucky to work in an organisation where I am able to apply to take my annual leave at half pay, so with my current annual leave balance of 2 weeks and nearly a weeks worth of public holidays over Christmas and New Years, it afforded me five weeks of paid leave.
Then comes the two months of no pay. This surprisingly doesn't make me nervous. Maybe because I've quit my job, packed up and left for overseas multiple times before or moreso that when I want something, I take the risk and know that somehow I will try and make it work however possible. That's where budgeting comes in to play.
I remember arriving into Heathrow Airport in 2017 and the immigration official looking at my passport and heavily questioning how I can afford so much travel and so much time off work. To be honest, my passport isn't a great look. Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Spain and Morocco entry and exit stamps twenty times over - if I was that immigration officer my alarm bells would have been ringing too. He most probably thought he's got a single, thirties, female drug mule here. Except I wasn't. He asked me multiple times, how am I getting my money? And I proceeded to gave him a lesson into how budgeting works. I save my money, I repeated, now fearing I'd be deported if I didn't get my point across. I even showed him my bank funds just to prove, I can indeed save! Thankfully it worked.
So below are 10 tips for saving. It may not suit everyone but here is what has worked for me!
Tip #1 - Boring budgets
Create yourself a budget and stick to it. There are many budgeting templates online that you can use but I stick to a simple 60:40 rule.
I get paid weekly on a Wednesday. On payday I transfer 60% of my weekly pay out of my account and into a high interest savings account. Leaving me with 40% of my pay available for rent, petrol, expenses and fun. It is a stretch some weeks I will admit. Then next payday, before my pay comes in, I go on my online banking and what money I have remaining in my weekly expense account I transfer across to my savings account. Thereby starting anew every week. While this is strict the thing to remember - it's not forever, it's just five months.
Having only limited funds in my bank account makes me seriously evaluate each and every swipe of the card (just not for my morning coffees, I don't think twice but more on that later).
Tip #2 - Change things up
I shopped around for better deals and rates and so I ended up changing mobile phone plans, saving me $30 a month. I changed insurance providers, saving me hundreds. I even price shopped for a dentist, sad I know. I looked for ways to reduce my spending any way I could. Not just on the big items like insurance, even the smallest of savings like taking a keep-cup everywhere so that I could get discount coffees at most cafes. Yes if I was extreme, I could have cut out spending money on my morning coffee completely and stuck to instant but Renay without a good morning coffee is no fun to be around at all. It was a matter of sanity. Plus I also know that you still need to be able to enjoy the present even when budgeting so forgoing my coffee was never really in doubt.
Clothing. Stop buying seasonal clothing or fast fashion. You really can wear dresses and skirts and tops over and over again. Do you really need a new dress for that one occasion? Previously, I would have hit the shops but this year I've made a conscious effort to re-wear and repurpose. Oh and do you know who has a great wardrobe - your friends!
The middle tips should go into a bit more detail, explain more. Keep them short and to-the-point. E.g., if you're writing a post about how to blog, you can write something like: "Decide how often you want to blog. Be realistic about it. Think you can blog twice a month? Commit to once a month and stick to it."
"Include quotes by experts in your post to add credibility." – SEO specialist
Tip #3 - Sell that Stuff
Do a wardrobe or garage cleanout and sell things you no longer need. Second to this - make things to sell as part of your hobby. Sell your time too and keep an eye on apps like Airtasker and pick up a few tasks here and there for a little extra cash. When you start breaking it down, you may only get $30 for selling something you no longer need but that $30 becomes one of your nights accommodation in a hostel, or that amazing steak, chips and salad dinner you've been craving as you eat your 2 minute mi goreng noodles for 5 nights straight on the trail.
Tip #4 - Meal Plan
The biggest saving I made was by far from stopping buying lunches each day at work. I'm limited for cafes nearby work so lunches can set me back anywhere from $13-$20 dollars. So an extra $100 in your bank account at the end of the week is quite noticeable. I started meal prepping on a Sunday and found by doing this I was able to get my lunches down to about $8 a serve.
Sticking to a nutritious meal plan also results in you less likely craving or going in search of the snack bar for those 3pm munchies. Every dollar adds up!
When it comes to meals it really is about finding a balance between allowing yourself those extra treats here and there and saving.
Tip #5 - Manage memberships
If you're paying $30 a week for a gym membership you're not using, get rid of it! There are plenty of online workout tutorials you can watch for free or join some community classes in local parks or neighbourhood run clubs that are free or at most $5 a class.
Luckily I had a $19/week gym membership which is probably one of the cheaper ones here on the Coast so if you can find something cheaper, try it, or negotiate a cheaper membership with your current gym.
I didn't want to give up my membership as for one, I needed strength training for my Te Araroa prep and two, I loved going each day. It made me happy and kept me healthy. What I even surprised myself by doing was stretching (I feel old) each day and this mean less money spent on a physio or massage to relax those tight glutes.
Tip #6 - Subscription stocktake
Have you ever written down every subscription you're currently paying for? It's surprising how much it adds up to a week. We think at the time its just $10 here and $10 there but somehow they all creep in. Before you know it your'e paying $60 a month for a streaming app you open at night, spend an hour scrolling to find something to watch, only to find nothing, close your laptop and choose bed instead. I did a stocktake and got rid of subscriptions or apps that I no longer really needed that were costing me money. This included swapping premium subscriptions to basic models or better still 'borrowing' friends passwords to use their accounts.
Tip #7 - Shop Second-hand
Facebook marketplace and Gumtree are your friends. Join an ultralight gear group, hiking buy swap and sell groups, a second hand outdoor group. There is literally a group for everything and everyone. I picked up a second hand PLB for half the price, dry bags and other small items that most are simply selling due to an upgrade or they no longer are using. There are some really good bargains to be had!
Tip #8 - Credit Card Rewards
This one isn't for everyone but I started paying for everything by my credit card which had an awards program attached. I would purchase items on the card and then pay it off straight away and that way I was accumulating points which in the end I could cash in for either gift cards, flight credit or receive cash back. It starts adding up. You just need to be very switched on and strict at paying things off straight away so to not be hit up with the interest charges.
Tip #9 - Maximizing Tax Returns
In Australia we are required to lodge a tax return each year. I know you can save money by doing it yourself but you can actually get a greater return by paying a good tax accountant to lodge your claim for you. Once I received my tax return, I transferred it straight into my savings account and set this amount aside as my 'income' for the remaining 2 months of unpaid leave.
Tip #10 - Finish strong
Your final tip will lead into your post’s conclusion. For example, “Lastly, knowing just a little bit about SEO can go a long way in helping your blog succeed. You can learn more about SEO in our guide.” Then be sure to add a link to your guide here.
I am certain that you will find other ways to save that will work for you but I've found myself a good balance of enjoying life whilst saving.
Oh, and get rid of UberEats.
That Weiry Walker
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