Tips for Saving !

Assalamualaikum!

*WARNING! Really long post but hopefully beneficial to those who wants to travel.

I love travelling and I think that's sort of obvious now. 

The thing that I love about traveling is that I get to see different cultures, that feeling of amazement when i see how they are different from us, that awe when i see how Allah's creations, how different their sunrises and sunsets, how their timing are different, oh! the differences are what i love seeing and experiencing. =D

So in order to travel, I have to save up, see.

All of my trips are all sponsored by myself.  

Here are my saving tips! Bismillah..

1. Open up an extra account! 

I started saving since I was a little girl, approximately 10 years old when I really really started saving. My parents had an account open for me, and every year, duit raya yang dapat I akan put half of my collection in my ASB. For halal savings, you can keep your money is Public Mutual, Tabung haji, CIMB Islamic, etc etc. Let your money stay there, jangan gatal nak kuarkan until and unless you really need it.

2. Discipline!

When I studied in college and UKM, alhamdulillah my parents didn't have to fork out much money. In college we were given a sum of money for every semester, and when in UKM, I received monthly allowance from PTPTN. Thank you PTPTN and government =') The amount of money takdelah banyak. It's just enough for paying my bills, petrol, food and stuff and alhamdulillah, I manage to save up. 

I break down my allowance/gaji into 3 parts: Responsibilities, Savings, Miscellaneous.

Responsibilities are my bills, rent, transportation, food, zakat, etc. These are where my money will go as soon as I receive my gaji/allowance. 

Savings are savings for travel and future family. It's best if you have a different account to transfer into when you receive your gaji or allowance. I have more than 1 bank account, fyi. Ngah ngah!

Miscellaneous are entertainments, shoppings, unnecessary stuff that we just want and don't need. Hehe!

Now gaji/allowance being 100%, take 50% out for Responsibilities, take 30% out for Savings and the rest 20% forMiscellaneous. this is my percentage. You can change the percentage up to your affordibility =)

Your Savings share must be the first to go. Transfer it into a different account. Ups to you. but this must be kept hidden from your gatal-spending-mood-swings. If you're putting it into a different account, don't make a debit card for it. Just atm would be fine.

If your 50% share of responsibilities exceeded it's budget, padan muka. Sape suruh tak jaga budget? Ahahaha! kidding la. We all have that time kan. When that happens, take the extra money from the Miscellaneous share. whatever it is, DO NOT TOUCH YOUR SAVINGS!

If you spend less than 50% of your Responsibilities share, then good for you!! You can use that up to reward yourself for your tiring month, or take your family out for a treat or put it into savings, it's up to you. It's best though that you just don't spend it too much so that you have more stock for the next month.

And all this requires DISCIPLINE! You can do it bebehs!

3. Plan your trip early!

If you're aiming to go travel overseas, plan where you want to go. Once you know where, check out their currency and try google for some travel stories online. I do this every time coz I wanna know what it's like there. Mahal ke tak, hotel senang cari ke tak, what kind of transport is cheapest and most convenient, food camane etc etc. Every country is different, so google it out. Jangan malas please.

Maybe to some "wah?!? Bapak ah kau spend RM10k utk jalan jalan?! baik guna duit tu untuk feed orang orang miskin!" 

Surah Al-Hujurat, Ayat 13:

O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.

Anyway, planning your trip early means you have to book your hotels early and try to ask for student price or seasonal discounts. Some places, it's cheaper to take their domestic flights to cross countries, but some, it's cheaper to go by train. again, google about it. This part here, you need a credit card. Heee.

It will be a great advantage if you have friends or relatives wherever you're heading. Saves a lot of cost. So get in touch with your friends and family!!

*Also, bring some instant food too like maggi, kurma, sambal, serunding, etc etc so that you can save money from food expenses. =)

4. Get a good company!

Choose your travel buddy wisely. You want to have a good time experiencing stuff, so better have your friends or family who has the same objectives as you do =)

5. Jangan malas!!

This is your trip, so save up, discipline yourself, do your research, be careful and have fun!

So this is as brief as I can get, and I hope I didn't bore anyone to sleep.

If I did, GOMENASAI!

Watashiwa only human des trying to help des!

Good lucku dessuu!

Happy saving! =D