Traveling on a student budget isn't easy. Airfare, room and board, and study abroad tuition can be a big barrier to education abroad and student travel in general. The rewards, however make it all worthwhile. Your time studying abroad doesn’t have to break the bank and, depending on the destination and program, it could be economical. Your dollar goes a lot further in places like Thailand and Costa Rica, than in most North American cities. With some planning and saving you can go abroad, build new relationships, and experience new ideas and ways of life.
Having international experience on your resume can set you apart when you’re ready to start looking for a job. In today’s globalized market so many employers, in all sectors, are looking for candidates with international experience and intercultural sensitivity. With a travel budget planner, you can better prepare for the experience of a lifetime. If you’ve never used a trip budget worksheet, read on to learn how to use our budget travel tool.
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The truth about budgeting for travel
To be honest, budgeting for travel isn’t easy. For one, many people are out of practice with hard-and-fast budgeting for any upcoming expenses. When your car breaks down or other unexpected expenses loom out of the blue, it can be very tempting to dip into your travel savings rather than make other adjustments to your daily expenses / cost of living. “Luxury” expenses like travel are all too easy to prioritize behind “necessary” expenses.
But hear us out. Travel is no longer a LUXURY. Pushing your comfort zone and building empathy for our greater global community is an investment in your future. If we could all be so fortunate as to learn more deeply about ourselves and our own culture through the guise of travel, the world could be better off.
Luckily, GoAbroad’s student travel budget worksheet can help! A travel budget worksheet will ensure you keep track of the many expenses associated with international travel that you need to consider and include in your budget. Having a visual of your income, spending, and saving can help you wrap your head around what you need to reach your goal. Wondering where to find such a trip budget worksheet? Look no further than GoAbroad’s trip planner budget template!
Download our travel budget planner for students below!
List your income, savings, debt, and even your goals all in one place. Writing things down keeps you accountable and organized. By writing down your expenses, you can get a better idea of where your money is going. It sounds like a lot: organizing, tracking, holding back the urge to buy those cute new boots. With this worksheet, we think you’ll have this student travel budget planning under control.
How to use our travel budget planning resource
Our student travel budget planner is set up for monthly budgets. It might be easier to manage your finances in shorter time frames, versus semesters, trimesters, or years. Start with what you know. The first question is, if you’re traveling with an organized program, what does your tuition or program fee cover? This is extremely important as it will inform the rest of your planning and saving.
1. List Your Income
In the income section, add in all of the credits that your bank account receives on a monthly basis. This can be from your part time job, your full time job, your babysitting gig, your side hustles (teaching English online, anyone?). Whatever earnings you’ve got, put them down here.
Add them all up and this is the number we are working with from the get-go.
Not as high / as much as you’d hoped? Consider getting a part time job or finding other ways to bring in additional cash. Nothing wrong with asking for a loan from the Bank of Wealthier Family Members or for a cash-advance on birthday or holiday presents.
2. Add Your Savings
If you already have a savings account, insert the numbers here that represent how much money is currently sitting in it. If you don’t have a savings account yet, now is a GREAT time to consider opening one (and setting up automated transfers to it—but we’ll get to that later).
Another key part of this section is to estimate your ideal savings goal. Is it $5,000? $10,000? More? You don’t need to pull this number out of thin air—you can estimate the cost of your program and travels first.
How to Accurately Estimate Your Travel Costs
While there are countless different opportunities for student travel out there, the types of expenses you’ll need to consider when budgeting for travel shouldn’t vary too wildly.
Here are the basic travel expenses / cost categories to consider:
- Airfare
- Passport and visa(s)
- Program fees/tuition
- Housing/Accommodations
- Food (don’t forget to consider snacks and beverages in addition to meals)
- In-country transportation (this can include local city transport and regional travel)
- Project supplies (textbooks, notebooks, pens, work gloves, flash cards, etc.)
- Travel insurance
- Souvenirs
- Activities and sightseeing
If you can’t figure out what is covered in tuition or a program fee online, reach out to the program provider or university. While you’re at it, ask them what they think your average costs might be. Reach out to alumni of your program, because who better to give you advice than someone who was already there. As program alums they may already be expert travel budget planners. Read up on your destination online. Find out what an average day in your destination costs according to other travelers.
And here are a few resources to help you make more accurate travel cost estimates:
- Estimate Your International Internship Costs
- How to Understand Your Study Abroad Fees
- Breaking Down the Cost of TEFL Certification
- Volunteering Abroad: Costs, Fees, & How to Fund It
- Your Teach Abroad Start Up Costs
3. Do You Have Debt? Don’t Leave It Out!
If you’re already in the red (*shakes fist at student loans*), be sure to calculate into your student travel budget planner how much you need to set aside monthly to continue paying down those costs. If you’re a pro planner, you will incorporate your monthly payments into your budget savings goal (so that you can still stay on top of your payment schedule even while globetrotting).
4. Outline Your Monthly Expenses
Car payments, phone payments, food budget, fun budget. Whatever you spend monthly, add your expenses categorically to the left hand column. Be sure to update this regularly as the value of your budget projection vs. actually spent will likely vary over the month. You can use an app like Mint to streamline your expense management even more easily. Don’t leave any expenses out if you can, otherwise your budget planning is for nought!
5. Identify Some Savings Goals
It’s one thing to say “I’m going to save up for my travels abroad.” It’s another thing to dig deep and specify exactly what you’re saving up for. Try to have separate, mini-goals for tangible expenses in your travels, like your airfare or enough to cover the cost of a new travel backpack. Maybe you’re obsessed with coffee and want to buy a new Aeropress. Maybe you want to have your first month’s rent and deposit already taken care of before you set foot abroad. Having smaller goals will make accomplishing your big savings goal feel even more feasible and within reach. You got this!
5 helpful student travel budget apps
Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a financial wizkid to be a budgeting wizkid. There’s an app for that! Actually, there are a few.
1. Mint: Personal Finance & Money
Mint brings together all of your bank accounts, credit cards, and bills. If it’s all in one place, your finances are easier to keep track of. You can also create a more customized budget worksheet with Mint. We know the GoAbroad one is beautiful, but we also understand you may need need to create your own, more specialized budget to supplement ours.
2. GoodBudget
Set up envelopes for your various categories of expenses, and allocate a certain amount to each. An app like GoodBudget takes some of the day to day decision making out of saving because you’ve already decided how much you will allocate to each category of expenses.
3. Digit
Digit analyzes your spending habits and determines the right amount of money for you to put aside each day. The app automatically sends that money from your checking account to your savings account so you don’t have to worry about it. By analyzing your habits and accounts everyday, Digit is never transferring more money than their extremely intelligent algorithm thinks you can afford. Digit is automatic, personalized savings.
4. Trail Wallet
Budgeting and saving does not become less important once you start on your journey. Apps like Trail Wallet help you keep track of your expenses while you are on the road, so that you can continue to be smart about your spending habits. Add Trail Wallet to your smart phone to make budgeting on the go a cinch.
5. Moneycado
Did you ever wish you could have a digital piggy bank for travel? Well, now you can! Check out Moneycado, the first-ever savings account created solely to help you pay for travel. This app can help you stay on track with built in savings plans and projected trip itinerary costs. It’s your one-stop-shop… without the shop… to help you manage your student travel budget.
A few more tips to help you cut down travel expenses
- Use currency converters and flight-booking apps. If you’re booking your own flights and accommodation, consider travel hacking apps and websites that direct you to more budget-friendly options and promotions. Pay attention to currency conversion rates with an app too. It’s important to know how far your dollar can go, and there are several apps that will give you real-time conversion information. Being able to quickly look at the currency conversion can also keep you from overpaying for something. Three Euros might not sound like much, but is that apple really worth $4 USD?
- Apply for scholarships. You can also check out GoAbroad’s Database of Scholarships and Financial Resources for more suggestions on how to fund your international adventure. You’ll be amazed at how many funding sources and scholarships are out there. Have you spoken to the financial aid office at school? Find out if there are specific grants or scholarships for study abroad. Maybe your financial aid package can cover some study abroad costs.
- Over-budget. If you save more than you need from the get-go, you’ll have extra funds to cover one-off splurges on weekend trips or extra souvenirs. You might even save a little to have handy when you (eventually) return from abroad?!
- Make some cuts. Consider cooking more and eating out less. Do you have old clothes and books you can sell to a second hand store? Choose pot luck dinners and game nights over nights out on the town with friends. Are you at school? Consider applying for a work study job or another part-time gig at your university to supplement your savings. Save your loose change (it really adds up!). You’ll be amazed how much you can save by making small changes to your everyday routines.
- Find accountability partners. Writing it all down in your travel budget worksheet will help. Writing down your goals will help you remember why you’re working so hard to save, and will keep you accountable. Consider sharing your travel budget worksheet with a friend or family member so they can help you stick to your plans too. If you know some of the other students you will be traveling with, share tips and information since you all have the same goal. Compare trip budget worksheets to make sure you didn’t leave anything out.
Affordable travel is not impossible!
Start planning—and saving for—your dream trip abroad.
The idea of creating a budget and sticking to it can be stressful. With some planning, organization, and diligence, traveling abroad doesn’t have to be a financial burden though. We’ve shared a few good ideas for budgeting for travel and saving, but with a little research you can find several tips and plans to suit your needs. Start planning ahead of time to make sure you are fully prepared before you leave. Finances do not have to be a barrier to international travel so fill out that student travel budget worksheet and start saving!
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