How long did it take you? - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

scorpricorn · 01-03-2006, 12:28 PM

How long did you have to save up money before you could go on your trip?

**omisan** · 01-03-2006, 12:59 PM

About 3 hours, but that's because I'm a Colombian drug lord.

xanthuos · 01-03-2006, 05:37 PM

Right on, Omi. I'm an American drug lord. Let's see, the current 5 week trip I'm on took about 2 weeks to gather the funds for. However, mine is a unique earning situation, and not applicable to most.

**bluepea** · 01-03-2006, 05:53 PM

One day of sweet tax returns.

aSiAnRiCk · 01-04-2006, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jamiepeaski@Jan 3 2006, 09:53 PM
One day of sweet tax returns.

[snapback]96311[/snapback]

x2 lol

**Jen05** · 01-03-2006, 06:35 PM

I'd say about a year of part-time work while paying/going to school and a painful summer office work. My trip was about $6000 though. Well worth the hours slaving away in the office though!

**TheJake** · 01-04-2006, 12:41 PM

My bank account seems to have a perpetual hole in it. I have never found where the money goes. I travelled mostly on credit cards and have regretted that decision ever since.

adx · 01-05-2006, 11:22 PM

first time around for 13 months away: scrimping from the earnings of a social worker and nominal monthly profits - around 15 months of saving those yes yes dollah bills ya'll. the ratio's gotten better. this time around i'm out for 3 months and i only worked for 1.5 months in a shit-kicker food service position.

VisceralTrek · 01-30-2006, 07:21 PM

Saved for 3 years, and have about 35000 for a 2 year jaunt!

**TERI** · 01-30-2006, 07:32 PM

lets see.... its been about a year and im still in debt. i have a secret bank, but i dont know how much is in it so far. I feel like im never gonna get there.

**Joker** · 01-30-2006, 09:40 PM

8 hours. But that was an extreme: Billed $65 an hour to fix a surround sound and whole-house audio system :D

$450 plus the $50 in my pocket :D

chelseafc05 · 01-31-2006, 01:57 AM

^$65 an hour ...you rip off merchant

**Joker** · 01-31-2006, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by chelseafc05@Jan 31 2006, 02:57 AM
^$65 an hour ...you rip off merchant

[snapback]100695[/snapback]

Highly skilled labor!

:D

**SuDz** · 01-31-2006, 12:00 PM

I'm starting to save now for my trip in October. I don't know how much of it I will save up towards the trip but just anything to get me going is helpfull. Maybe it will just be enough for the ticket. Maybe the first few days. No idea. I just know once I get my tickets and stuff straightened then I can use my regular savings and credit cards etc. I use them well so I don't worry about late fees and charges on them.

All in all by the time it comes I will have been saving pretty much all summer.

SuDZ

**Diorama** · 01-31-2006, 07:58 PM

It took me a year and a half to save for my year long trip. I saved $10,000. But then again i still worked lots over in oz and I came home with $5000 in debt. hahaaaa It's crazy how much you can spend. plane ticket, gear, insurance, tours, attraction admissions, BEER, wine, rent, food, ....But I don't regret it. Work two jobs, go crazy do whatever you can. The pleasure of traveling the world far outweighs the pain of working two shitty customer service jobs!

**BelfastFlyer** · 03-01-2006, 08:11 AM

I get an annual bonus in work which usually covers my hols/travelling, I just have to make sure I dont blow it all on my credit cards tho!

Degrassi · 03-07-2006, 02:24 AM

A year of part time work (bartending/retail monkey) while I attended school, and now I'm working in England. Which really means I'm just leaking money more slowly, since it's impossible to save anything in London.

But for official purposes I'll say a year, since I'm counting this as travel. I only work part time, and have spent so many weekends in other cities I pretty much owe easyjet my firstborn at this point.. And in 10 weeks I hit the road with my backpack...

**blinkchick2134** · 03-07-2006, 09:29 AM

With my Europe trip (3 weeks) I saved from Sept to when I left in June. I was working a part time job and had already paid for hostels/hotels/transport in advance.

I usually do mini-vacation, that mostly involve TP meet-ups, and I save for few weeks.

Right now I'm budgeting my ass off. At this moment I only have the usual bills to pay (rent, electric, car, credit cards, etc) which are all due the 1st week of the month. The occasional vet bill, doc visit, or perscrip throws be off every now and then.

My first paycheck is pretty much free to use except for gas, food, clubs/bars/concerts and daily purchases. The second is my rent/bills paycheck. I work on commission so whatever I get over a certain amount with the 1st paycheck I put into my saving account. Also I'm doing a medical trial which pays 450 for the year. Any money I get for bdays (I love crazy relatives) or holidays I put straight into savings.

I planning to graduate with my BA in 2010 and joining the Peace Corps for two years. I'll be putting my savings into a two-year CD during that term and when I get done my tour I'm using my allowance and savings to travel for as long as it lasts me.

**benna2** · 03-07-2006, 10:03 AM

I have been a constant saver, but for no one trip in particular. It really helps to open a separate bank account for travel money. Then I took a percentage of every paycheck and put it into that account. When the time came for a trip, there was a lot less money related stress, because I had a bit of a head start.

**lauren313** · 03-07-2006, 03:31 PM

Well, for my (sort of) round the world trip begining in September, I started saving in the summer of 2004 (that sounds so depressing!). And I'm probably only about halfway to my target total! However, I have only had two summers of work (so about 4 or 5 months in total), and as I finish uni in June, I'll have longer to save this summer!