Want to travel the world with your family on a limited budget? Here are some realistic ways to find financial freedom to travel.

Over the years, I have heard about multiple ways to save money. “Stop buying coffee at Starbucks, and make coffee at home instead.” “Use coupons to buy food at the grocery store.” “Buy products secondhand.” -And, while all these ideas are good, and they will in fact save you a little money, they miss a key component.
Saving money is really about attitude, and thinking about your life in the bigger picture.

For me, my bigger picture has always been to have the financial freedom to travel.

This revelation of how I wanted to live my life began in college. It took me longer than your typical 4 years to graduate because I worked multiple jobs. Some jobs paid a little more than others, so I was able to save a little. The reality is, I did have to take out a few small loans to pay for school, because, well, I live in America, but I knew I ultimately wanted to visit a foreign country. Each month I put a little aside, and in 8 months I was able to save $3,500 for my trip. I spent a month in India on that budget, and I still had a few hundred dollars left over when I returned.

That time in my life truly changed my life forever. Before I even got to India, I learned that it was truly possible to travel the world when you do not have a lot of money to start off with.

Though I took this trip when I was a single, young college student, I learned to repeat some of the habits I learned during this time to travel years later with my family.

So, here are some realistic ways to save money to travel the world with your family.

Set Financial Boundaries:

Setting financial boundaries is more than just having a budget, and allocating money to the necessary places each month or week. When we set boundaries, we recognize the greater good of our decision and we do not allow ourselves to get tempted in the moment. Sometimes boundaries come with sacrifice. When I was in college, for me the sacrifice was little. It might have consisted of something that was more superficial, like not having the most up-to-date device or the nicest clothes. Now the sacrifice might look like something that is a perceived necessity.
For example, recently my family went down to one car. When we had two cars, it was obviously easier to plan separate outings. Now we have to coordinate with each other a little more. Sometimes the sacrifice is when we all have to leave the house much earlier than we would prefer because someone needs to be dropped off.
Some other examples have been:
Deciding to homeschool my 4-year-old instead of sending him to preschool or daycare.
Renting instead of owning our home. This has saved us money on any upkeep or maintenance.

Make a list of perceived necessities in your life. What do you think you could get rid of?

Minimize Your Life:

Recently, there has been an upswing in interest for a more minimalistic lifestyle. And, I am here for it! I grew up in a house where my mom never threw anything away. It didn’t matter if something was broken, or damaged – she kept it. When I moved out, I realized how free I was. I had the simple necessities, but I was still constantly going through my belongings and getting rid of things. I still do this today. I am by far not an extreme minimalist by any means, but I have learned to live without things that I desire. This is key to saving money.

Go through your house room by room and challenge yourself to get rid of a large box worth of stuff. To make a little money from it, you can try to sell it on Facebook marketplace. As a family, my husband and I have made a few hundred dollars selling our stuff on this platform.

Do Not Lose Focus:

Long-term dreams are hard. Anytime I set I long-term dream for something that I want to see happen in a year or two years, I find that I can get easily discouraged or lose focus. What has honestly helped me the most is prayer and meditation.
Prayer and meditation help keep me centered. I truly believe that I cannot accomplish something with my own strengths alone. I need to remind myself that there is something working outside of myself that is helping me. I am reminded through prayer that “I am fearfully and wonderfully made”. Ps. 139:14 And, I am reminded through meditation that I need to believe in myself. There have been actual scientific studies that show the effectiveness of repeating mantras to yourself that you are capable of living the life you desire. Belief is a powerful thing. Now, just imagine when we put that together with action.

Be Patient:

Years ago, there was a small experiment done on young children that focused on instant gratification. About a year ago, this study was revisited in the mainstream with the “candy challenge” or the “fruit snack challenge”. Basically, the challenge was to place a small amount of candy in front of your child and ask them to not eat it. You tell the child that you have to leave the room for a little bit, but they can have the candy when you return. In the original experiment, the children were actually given a marshmallow and asked not to eat it. They were told that if they didn’t eat it while the proctor was out of the room then they would get a few more when the proctor returned. In both experiments, the child is experiencing some level of torture because they are forced to stay in the room with the candy that they are not allowed to eat. What I learned from this experiment is that patience is hard. It doesn’t matter how old you are. I also learned that, at any age, we struggle with wanting instant gratification. This is why streaming platforms like Netflix are so popular.

Again, any long-term plan takes time. You might not see the outcome for a little while. In the beginning, when you begin to save your money, you might only put $20 in your account because that’s all you have to put aside that month. The next month, you might put in a little more, and so on and so on. If you persevere, you will reach the financial goal you set.

To go back to the experiment, those children who were able to see the bigger picture, realized that if they waited they would get more candy. If we can see the bigger picture in our own lives, there is a greater reward in the end.