Travelling is considered a necessity in life, and one that you generally can’t afford to lose or live without. However, the costs of travelling are incredibly high. Whether it is high train fare tickets or the expenses of running a car,if you are looking to make some savings, then here are some ideas for you to consider.
Buy in Advance
Whether it is a plane ticket or a train ticket, buying in advance will usually present cheaper options. Also, if you have flexibility around travel times, then that can help lower costs. Taking flights at times that people don’t like to travel or train tickets in off-peak times will help you to find cheaper options. In expat FB groups I’m in many people use apps like Skyscanner to compare the various flight costs quickly to show you which days and times are cheapest to fly, meaning all you have to do is book. My own experience is that it’s cheaper to fly midweek than near the weekend.
Buy over longer periods
You can get significant discounts by buying a 3-day, weekly, monthly or annual pass for most commuting transport. In our region if you buy the monthly rail ticket between two points, you can also go anywhere at all on weekends as long as your ticket is over a specified value. Visit this website that runs your transport to see what they have to offer you.
If the upfront cost of a longer-term ticket scares you, figure out what you’ll be saving in the long run. Then if you need to, budget for it over a month or two so that you can begin to pay upfront in cash and save money doing it!
Employee benefits
Many businesses offer ways to help you buy your annual season ticket, such as lending you the money to buy it and then taking regular payments from your pay in monthly instalments. This will help you to avoid large annual fare costs and could save you a large percentage of the cost compared to buying daily tickets for example.
Some companies also offer bike to work schemes, where you can get reduced bike costs, and again, they will lend you the upfront costs and take monthly payments out of your pay to enable you to budget for it. My husband had been looking into this option before he was gifted a bicycle. And cycling to work is not only great for the environment, but also for your body and mind!
One thing to keep in mind with these schemes is that you will have to pay tax on the amount of money you’ve saved, but this still results in a larger discount than paying for the full ticket price yourself. Check with your employer for more details.
Student discounts
Whether you are a full-time student or even a part-time student, many transport companies offer student or young person discounts to help you afford to travel. Discounted travel while I was a student was one of the things I loved; it was less expensive than owning a car, filling it up, and paying for parking! The NUS offers a wide range of discounts on their website.
If you are learning to drive, then you can look at offers for things like free mock tests on sites like toptests.co.uk which should help you to pass your theory test at the first attempt. Taking numerous tests will cost you every time you take one, so try to avoid these unnecessary costs by preparing well for your theory.
Drive smoothly
Fuel costs are enormous and can put people off the idea of running a car. Even the most fuel-efficient of cars still cost a lot to fill a tank, although it does last longer. Driving smoothly can reduce the amount of fuel that your car consumes, and it can also save you regarding wear and tear on tyres and brakes, not to mention that if everyone drove this way, there would be fewer bottlenecks and accidents.
Driving carefully will also help you to stay safe and lessen the likelihood of having costly repairs through minor bumps and scratches. If you do get small scratches, then it could be worth seeing if T-cut will help to remove them instead of going to a garage as they will usually charge a lot of money even for minor scratch repairs. It is also worth fixing repairs quickly so that they don’t worsen.
Learn a new skill and change your oil yourself (it’s not hard – all you need is an oil filter wrench and an oil pan), and don’t forget to check your fluid levels regularly, and rotate your tires to prevent uneven wear which will result in having to replace them sooner.
Do you have any additional tips you’d like to share? Write them in the comments below and we can learn from each other!
