As a student, I traveled to total 22 countries debt-free. Fortunately, I also graduated Pharm.D (Doctor of Pharmacy) and MBA (Master of Business Administration) debt-free.
I left the U.S for awhile and traveled even more after graduate school. All in all, I traveled to 33 countries in total in my 20s.
The most asked question “How?”
While traveling as a working student and as I started pharmacy school, I have been asked a lot “How do you afford traveling?” “You’re so young to be traveling to so many places, how do you do it?” My simple and direct answer to that was always, “I saved up for it.”
The Misconception
It’s funny that my coworkers would tell me that they think I have a secret rich boyfriend who is funding my travels that’s why I travel so much. Few classmates thought I’m either secretly married or divorced from a rich doctor that’s why I get to dress nicely and travel often. The other travelers I’d meet while traveling would say they think I come from a rich family and that my parents are paying for my travels that’s why I get to travel a lot at a young age. Then, there’s also few people I traveled with thought I’m a famous blogger with brand sponsors paying for my travels.
Truth be told, what they’re all assuming how I’m able to travel as a college student – is all incorrect.
The Truth
I never obligated anyone to fund my travels. I never asked/borrowed money from anyone to use for my travel. Fortunately, I never took out a loan from the bank just to travel and I never paid interest/late fees on my credit cards because I made sure I always paid the balance in full every month.
And to clear things up – I never had a secret rich boyfriend. I was never married. My family is not rich. I never had a blog as a student. I actually just started blogging recently in 2023.
So yes – I was able to travel all on my own from hard work and my learned practical ways of what I’m willing to give up just to save and travel the world.
In short, it’s safe to say I was making wise choices to save money so I can travel as a college student without any loans.
Practical tips to travel and graduate debt-free
I want to share the eight practical tips I learned and practiced in my 20s that may also help you save money for travel.
Please note my tips are what I learned and practiced over the years in my 20s. These practical tips are my learned saving methods that worked for me and allowed me to travel and graduate debt-free. Please keep in mind, these practical ways may not necessarily work for everyone. However, I still hope you could learn a little or get inspired to save, travel, and graduate debt-free.
1. Be a working student – have part-time jobs while in school
I have been a working student since I was 16 years old. However, I started having “two jobs” when I was 20 years old.
It’s all about establishing a routine and managing your time.
Of course, my priority was school, but I also used my time wisely because I wanted to save money to travel. Before graduate school, I worked full-time Monday to Friday and had another part-time job on Saturdays while taking college classes. Then, when I started pharmacy school, I had a part time job on the weekends and another paid job sometimes only on weekdays in research.
It’s really hard, particularly in the beginning, but trust me once you trained your body and mind on a set routine, it’s automatic and you’ll feel more productive. If you can handle and manage this, you’ll be saving money for travel.
2. Find, apply, and receive scholarships with monthly stipend
I was blessed and lucky to receive scholarships and graduate debt-free, but it wasn’t an easy process. It’s very competitive and difficult to stay persistent, but it’s worth-it.
Do your research, ask around, be open-minded, and deplete all your options and resources before you give up. So, just keep trying. The money you will be able to save with the monthly stipend given to you will add up if you budget your expenses wisely. Thus, you can use what’s left for traveling. That’s what I did with mine.
I have always been the type of person who thinks in advance. Before finishing high school, college, or graduate school, I always think “How NOT to have student loans?” “How to have a guaranteed job after finishing school?” I was already searching, applying, and doing the work even before I graduated because I was determined to graduate debt-free with a guaranteed job after.
I was very lucky and blessed it all paid off that all my education was tuition-free and I also received monthly stipends through scholarships. It’s possible because I didn’t give up and I had A,B,C,D plans in case something doesn’t work out, I have backup plans.
I have also been very practical at a young age, I didn’t care about going to prestigious, well-known or expensive schools. My mindset was always, “as long as I don’t have student loans, that’s what matters to me, I don’t want to have to pay or think about student loans after I finish school.”
For me, the quality of education and college experiences are important, but I think calculus classes taken at an expensive univesity is still the same subject as taken at a community college.
And at the end of the day, it’s really what matters more to you.
3. Reduce your expenses
Other people will tell you to create a budget, track your expenses, figure out spending trends, and cancel/remove things you don’t need. If that works for you, you could do it that way.
However, I never do that because I always look at my credit card transactions to see/track my spending and figure out what is important to me. If not important, I’d stop buying or cancel it. If important, instead, what works for me is when I pay for something, I keep in mind how much it costs and think of ways how I could reduce that.
For example, I think about my daily necessities as a student- rent, food/grocery, transportation, hygiene products, laundry items, books and school supplies. Here are my practical tips that helped me reduce these expenses:
Rent – having a roommate will lower rent, utilities, and internet costs
Food/grocery – cooking at home, meal-preps, packing lunches, eating out less, learning to make favorite meals and favorite Starbucks drink at home
Transportation – paying off the car early (so you’re not paying extra for interest), walking to work/school, finding good deals car insurance with student discounts, moving/living to places 7-10 mins away to commute (to save gas money)
Bonus tip: Try to be debt-free if you can. Being debt free is really what allowed me to save more and reduce my expenses. I took the “How to reduce cost at the next level” – that I paid off my car at age 21 and bought another brand new car and paid it in CASH at age 24 after saving up for it. That’s how I was so determined NOT to have a huge monthly payment
Hygiene/laundry products – buying in bulk or taking advantage of any promo discount, make sure you look at the expiration dates. Most sale items expire earlier so choose/buy the longest expiration date. This is my practical way of stocking up, but getting good discounts if buying more.
Books and school supplies – I never bought brand new books except for lab workbooks that must be new. I recommend always looking online or visiting school sites for used books and deals. Buy school supplies including a laptop during the months of sales.
4. Give up things that are NOT important to you and/or that will NOT have a positive impact on you or will NOT help you in the long run
If you can’t entirely give up something, you could just reduce or spend in moderation.
Clothing – buying summer clothes in the winter and shopping for winter clothes in the summer (lots of sales) It’s rare that I buy clothes without any discount. I always search and would only buy if there’s a sale or discount. There’s always discounts you can find online.
It took me time to learn that just because something is on sale doesn’t mean I should buy it.Even if something is on sale, if you don’t need it, that makes it still expensive. In my mid 20s, I learned to ask myself “How often will I use this? Do I need it? What occasions can I wear it?” If I can’t wear it for more than 3 occasions/events and won’t help me gain confidence, I will not buy it. I also learned through the years that I like white and beige color basic clothing that I could wear in multiple ways, styles, and seasons.
Beauty/salon maintenance – Make-up, eyelash extensions, manicure, pedicure, eyebrows trending, hair color maintenance. I gave up all of that as a student. They’re not that important to me. Just because I gave up on these, doesn’t mean I didn’t take care of myself or didn’t care how I look.
For me, other important experiences made me feel good that I value more. What I consider self-care and self-love to me are eating healthy, quality meals, taking myself out, and traveling which give me peace, joy, and experiences.
I didn’t spend a lot of money on make-up. I only buy basic make-up when traveling, but usually, I don’t use them often. Instead, I learned to take care of my skin by prioritizing and investing more in a good skincare routine.
Entertainment – I never had a TV since I was 20 years old. If I did watch TV, it’s during the holidays with family at my parent’s house. My point is, I never paid for cable or subscriptions because I don’t use/need them.
Cancel subscriptions and memberships you don’t need to save money.
My sister shares her Netflix, Disney Plus, and Hulu subscriptions with me. However, I didn’t start watching Netflix until after I finished my PharmD & MBA classes since I had more free time. I usually watch shows on YouTube for free.
I also didn’t have to spend money on gym membership since I had free gym access from my previous work and university.
Bonus tip: Not having a TV saved me money, but it mostly saved me time because by not having one, I trained my brain to spend my time on other things that are more important that will be more beneficial to me in the future.
Bonus tip: Choose what you will be happy to remember. I’d rather spend my time with experiences like having nice, deep, catch-up conversations with family and friends, having a good laugh talking and hanging out with loved ones, and getting out there to travel than watch TV.
Furniture – I never bought brand new furniture except my purple mattress, school desk and chairs – bought them on sale (it’s important to me to have a comfortable sleeping, study and eating area).
I had a roommate for almost 3.5 years (lucky – the place already came with furniture). However, I lived alone for 3 years while in graduate school all on my own without any other furniture except just what I needed for studying, eating, and sleeping and storage (2 dressers).
I survived with only what I needed. The only expensive piece I had in my apartment was my purple mattress bed since I love sleeping. I don’t mind spending more on where I rest and spend most of my time on.
5. Search and practice life and travel hacks that work for you
To be honest, some of the best life and travel hacks, I learned them along the way as I journey my way through life. However, some of them I learned through reading articles/blogs and watching YouTube videos.
I recommend, before you buy something expensive, develop and practice a good decision-making method that works for you. For me, what always work is to give myself as much time as I need to research and find ways how to save money from the big purchase and if there are incentives offered/available. Through research and talking to people with experiences, I consider all of that before I decide if something is worth buying or not.
Use credit cards with rewards (cash back, points) and pay them on time to avoid interest.
The best travel hack that I learned on my own is by signing up for credit cards with reward incentives, spending $3-4k within 3 months to meet the required spending, paying in full monthly to avoid interest, receiving the incentives, spending it on travel, and repeat. Of course, I only signed up for a credit card when I know I will be spending $3k within three months and that’s usually when I make big purchases such as my travel flights, hotels, and tours, etc. Then, I also use the credit card ( without foreign transactions fees) to pay for food, shopping, transportation and other needs while traveling.
The best life hacks I learned are always searching and reading about “What I wish I knew in my 20s, 30s, 40s, etc”, and “What I wish I knew before traveling, what to avoid, how to maximize this and that, etc.” In addition, whenever I did bible study with the retirees and seniors at a nursing home care facility, I asked them life questions specifically what they wish they did when they were younger, and learned from them.
I love learning and gaining insights from people with more experiences and people who wished they could have done things differently. Sometimes, I’d like to think of it as – I don’t have all the time in the world to make all the mistakes possible so if I could learn some of them now, it’s good, right?
Bonus Tip:
I’ve said it quite a lot here, but I never buy anything without a discount or without getting any points/cash back. I rarely pay in cash. I used my credit cards to get rewards, pay them in full monthly, and receive cash back, points, or miles that I could use for travel.
When I have to buy something I don’t really need or just need for convenience/comfort, I make sure I shop or buy when it’s on sale, then I also make sure I get an additional discount for signing up or as a first-time customer or as a student discount whichever I could get.
I just don’t buy the sales price that’s already been reduced based on the store’s marketing strategy. I want to save more so I find and add an extra discount on top of the sale price or already discounted price. My point is, as much as possible and allowed, I try to get double discounts.
In my early 20s, when I bought a brand-new car and paid in cash, I had $5,000+ in savings from discounts, incentives, promotional rebates, and some negotiation.
Bonus Tip:
There are now accessible cash-back apps and coupons you can use – explore and find what works for you. I honestly would just search and use coupons “at the moment” – before buying to save extra money. However, I don’t buy or I don’t make a purchase just because I was sent a coupon by mail or email unless I need the products (which rarely happens to me).
6. Teach yourself to work hard, save hard, reward yourself, then repeat.
To appreciate your hard work, you have to reward yourself. To keep continuing to work hard and save more, you need to give yourself a break and time to enjoy life. For me, that’s traveling.
Experiences matter to me and that’s where I spend and enjoy my rewards to keep the momentum going – to motivate myself more, reflect on what I’ve achieved, look forward to what’s next to come and plan for the future that gets me scared but excited at the same time.
I’ve been told by my family, friends, supervisors, and professors that I’m a self-motivated person. To be honest, my secret to that is – I teach myself to work very hard, save very hard, then reward myself as much as I can.
This is my way of appreciating my hard work, appreciating myself, and appreciating life more.
Do what is good for your mental health
It’s also what I learned and found to be healthy for my mental and emotional well-being – rewarding myself through traveling. Traveling is my first line of treatment. It’s a 3 in 1 pill for me that gives me peace, happiness, and trust.
This reward method helps me save more by accepting and embracing delayed gratification for a while to save money, but when I travel I get to spoil myself since I use traveling as my way to reward myself.
Isn’t it more fulfilling to finally get something you worked hard for, you’ve been waiting for, and you’ve been saving up for after overcoming the difficulties and delaying gratification? Isn’t the experience and feeling more rewarding than when you can easily get something?
The value of experiences that’s difficult to achieve would be a lot worth-it and even priceless because these experiences can never be bought nor be taken away from you once you experienced them yourself. Your own experiences – they are yours, will be yours to keep forever, and will always be part of you, part of who you are, and part of who you have become.
What is the best way to appreciate something?
I believe the best way to appreciate something is first to experience being without it or less of it, then once you have it or experience it, the amount and level of appreciation you will have is enormous.
Just imagine always eating your favorite meal or ice cream every day, it’s true in the beginning it feels good and tastes good, but eventually, it gets a bit bland and feels boring – just like anything in life in the beginning—because you’ll eventually want to try something different and new. My point is you won’t truly appreciate a “good” meal, a “good” ice cream or even a “good” family quality time if you can always have it.
Sometimes, absence, saying no, and delayed gratification – are all good ways to help us appreciate things, people, situations, and options even more.
Learn the power of diligence, appreciation, and experiences. Allow yourself to embrace the “not now” because you have it in your mind and heart that when the time comes, “The money I didn’t spend now, will be worth so much more in the future.”
7. Automate your savings
Set up your paycheck direct deposit where your chosen percentage goes towards checking and a certain amount goes to savings. You could also do it a different way, you can set up your bank account to automatically transfer a certain amount of money from your checking to your savings account biweekly or monthly depending on how often you get your paycheck.
I recommend putting your money into a high-interest savings account or money-market fund account to park your cash for the short term.
Bonus Tip:
Don’t forget to automate investing too! The younger and earlier you start the better. You can set up your employer’s account where your chosen percentage goes towards your retirement automatically. Furthermore, set up an investment account with an investment management company and automate monthly investment a few days after you get paid.
8. Sell your things that you don’t use
Sell what you don’t need, what you don’t use, what you don’t want anymore, or simply things that don’t spark joy to have extra cash and save more
There are apps, local stores and online stores where you could sell your things. Rather than selling individual items, you may want to consider searching a store that would take it all and give you cash for it. It’s also a good way to declutter to keep what you only need and let go of what takes up space. It could give you more space in your place and peace of mind as you have less things.
Summary Key / Take Aways
- Be a working student – have part-time jobs while in school
- Find, apply, and receive scholarships with monthly stipend
- Reduce your expenses
- Give up things that are NOT important to you and/or that will NOT have a positive impact on you or will NOT help you in the long run
- Search and practice life and travel hacks that work for you
- Teach yourself to work hard, save hard, reward yourself, then repeat.
- Automate your savings
- Sell your things that you don’t use and want anymore
Saving money as a student is very difficult, but it’s possible to build and establish good spending and financial habits that will have a positive impact to help you travel and graduate debt-free. You have to be willing to work hard, practice reducing costs, and let go of things that will not matter to you 3, 5, or even 10 years from now. Have a mindset that will help get you to where you want to be in life and establish habits that you will thank yourself for in the future.
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