10 Practical Ways To Save Money For Your Dream Vacation

However, because it's tempting to invest it all into something else, if you're serious about your dream vacation we recommend this technique: grab yourself a piggy bank for adults and make sure that all the money you save goes straight into it.

Obviously, you're only allowed to break it for your holiday.

But let's teach you our favorite tricks, first!

1. Plan your meals & skip takeaways

Tell us if this sounds familiar: it's late, you open the fridge, and all you see are a couple of out of date products and random ingredients that wouldn't work together. So what do you do? You grab a takeaway. Again.

Unfortunately, food waste and takeaways add up!

• Instead, create a meal plan at the start of the week;
• To save time, try and include a few recipes that can be batch cooked and then reheated the following day or frozen for later;
• That way, you'll only buy the ingredients that you're actually planning on using soon and you'll be more motivated to stick to the recipes you've got planned.

2. Bring your packed lunch to work

On average, people spend$53 a week on takeout lunches. That's roughly $2,756 a year. In other words, a lot of holiday money that goes into overpriced food instead of your piggy bank for adults!

When planning your meals, add a couple of extra recipes or double the doses so that you can take your leftovers to work the following day.

3. Walk and cycle as much as you can

We're so used to hopping into our car whenever we need to get somewhere that we don't even stop to consider other alternatives!

• Start walking to places whenever you can;
• How about cycling to work, too?
• When you really, really can't, save money on petrol by checking your local public transport fares.

4. Be mindful of what you buy

This tip is both one of the best ways to save money for your dream vacation and a mindset change to avoid clutter: stop buying everything on the spot!

• Try the 30-day rule instead: wait a month before purchasing the item that caught your attention. If you still want it, fair enough. If you don't (and that's much more likely), leave it;
• This will help you save money by breaking free from the endless cycle of retail therapy and shopping sprees.

5. Buy second-hand

Fine, sometimes you'll still need to buy that item. But what if you could save money for your dream vacation and do a good deed at the same time?

• When you buy second-hand clothes or products, you also help reduce waste and, sometimes, that money can go to charity rather than a huge multinational company;
• Obviously, you're also getting yourself a high-quality product at a much lower price.

6. Quit smoking

• An average pack of cigarettes costs $6.96: if you smoke two a week, your habit will set you back over $700 a year!
• Whether you're an avid smoker or you only smoke one a day, quitting cigarettes will be lighter both on your lungs and wallet.

7. Choose supermarkets' own brands

Why pay more money for something that tastes the same… just because of a different logo?

As well as planning your meals, choosing supermarkets' brands is another practical way to save money for your dream vacation while doing your grocery shopping or buying products for the house.

8. Cut down your bills

Making small adjustments at home will lead to saving money for your holiday without actively doing anything:

• Switch to energy-efficient LED lights. This trick alone can save you $8.33 a month, which totals up to around $100 a year;
• Be mindful of your water usage. Have shorter showers and close that tap while you're brushing your teeth;
• You really don't need to double your energy bills when the cold season comes! Try leaving the heating onfor fewer hours and even just a degree lower. To compensate, keep the heat within your walls by using curtains and draught excluders. Wearing warmer clothes at home can also work wonders.

9. Switch to filtered water

Why pay around $100 a year per person on… plastic bottles?

Since the cost of bottled water equals to 300 times more that of tap water, switch to charcoal filters and reusable bottles to enjoy the almost-free water that comes out of your magical taps.

10. Sell stuff you don't need

As well as saving money, you can actually make more by getting rid of all those things you never use but that others would love!

• We know, you think that everything you own is important, but trust us: there's always some clutter in wardrobes and drawers;
• Check your clothes, bookshelf and cupboards to see if there's anything that you can sell on eBay, Depop (for clothes) or Facebook Marketplace, for example. Not only will you save money for your dream vacation, but you'll probably have a much tidier house, too.