Travel on a budget by focusing on flights and food
We often get asked how we can travel on a budget. People assume that since we teach Financial Peace university, we have to sacrifice all fun – especially travel.
The key to being able to travel is ultimately prioritizing travel above other things. We keep other areas of our budget incredibly low to be able to put a little more into our travel fund. Still, we have big goals, so we don’t set aside a ton of money for our trips. Budgeting wisely before and during travel means we are able to keep our costs low and travel more frequently!
We’ve found over the course of our travels that the two things that can easily ruin a travel budget are flight costs and food costs. Here are our top tips to stay on budget!
Travel on a Budget: Flights
Patience is key in this area. It can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of planning a trip and book a flight right away, but being patience and shopping around can often help you find a better deal.
Another key is being willing to sacrifice the amenities many flights offer. Flying isn’t always glamorous, so it can be tempting to splurge on fancier seats. Being willing to skip the extra food and give up some leg room can save you hundreds of dollars.
Another tip for flying is to pack light! Baggage costs can be steep, so we try to consolidate into as few bags as possible. Often times we each bring a personal item and we share a carryon. Not checking a bag saves money on most airlines! Check your airline’s baggage standards to see what will save you the most on your trip.
Finally, being willing to travel in the off season will save you lots of money too. Traveling to the beach during spring break will cost you a lot more than it would during a less peak time!
Travel on a Budget: Food
Food can be one of the sneakiest things in a travel budget. It’s so easy to indulge in all sorts of treats and drinks. Plus, grabbing food while on the go can quickly add up!
Bringing your own snacks and a water bottle will save you lots of money at the airport. We also try to pack snacks on road trips too, because those little pitstops can end up costing you! Sure, it’s often only $5 a time, but every stop on every trip is a lot of money!
When traveling, we also do our best to continue making our own food. Not only does this allow us to eat a little healthier while traveling, but it saves us a ton of money! Stop at a local grocery store to stock up for some, or even most, of your meals.
Finally, plan ahead. We love to try food in new places, and could easily it out for every meal. When we travel, we prioritize what places we REALLY want to try, and plan times to eat at those establishments. We allow a little wiggle room for when things come up, but only eating out a few times keeps us focused on our goals – health-wise AND financially!
What other tips do you have for traveling on a budget? We’re always on the hunt for new tips that will help us travel even more!
into the studio where Dave records and films for his shows. The wall is covered with hand-written notes from past guests who have paid off their debts. We were greeted and welcomed in true Tennessee fashion, “Y’all”s and everything! We got checked in, snagged some complimentary lattes and cookies at the cafe… Sidenote- if you want to become the Osegard’s new best friends: coffee is the answer. We were there nice and early, so we had plenty of time to chat with our wrangler, Kat, and the video host George Kamel. Everyone we talked to was so kind, caring, funny, and so genuinely excited for us to be there! They made us feel like the celebrities.
When it was almost time for us to join Dave on the air, Kat got us our headset and we were officially tethered to the wall. Like a well-oiled machine, they clear the furniture in the lobby to the sides, and gather all of the visitors towards the entrance. They have a camera on the visitors, and this gives us a clear line-of-sight to Dave in his chair in the studio. We have a sound check with Kelly, and give a wave to the camera to set up the shot. And we were LIVE!
music. What a surreal experience! I just kept grinning like a fool, and leaned down to give Alyssa a nice, awkward don’t-smack-the-microphone-on-your-face hug. We did it – we were out of debt, we made our trip out to Nashville, and we yelled at Dave Ramsey. I’d call that a successful trip!
One of the biggest advantages of traveling kid free was having a little more flexibility. Rides break down a LOT. If you’re in line, we encourage you to stick around. Disney does a stellar job of closing, fixing, and re-opening rides very efficiently. Almost every ride was fixed in 10 minutes or less, but for people with kids, that’s too long to wait. With uncertainty if it WILL be up and running soon, the lines cleared out super fast. We would often end up on the ride faster than if it hadn’t broken down!
Our first stop was the 
The next stop on our journey was a two and a half hour trek up the east side of the Grand Canyon/outside part of Navajo Nation. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip, because the views were spectacular. It seemed like every 10 miles or so was another place to pull off the road and check out the views. It was totally worth slowing down our trip to stop for a view times. 
With our body clocks still on central time, we got on the road by 7 am before it got too hot! We noticed on our map that Balanced Rock was right by the hike, so we stopped there first to grab some pictures.
