Being a digital nomad is probably going to be the best decision you have made in your lifetime. The journey will be fun, though there might be challenges that tend to spring up when it comes to, for example, financing your life as a nomad. Your income may not be high or stable enough to take care of all your expenses, so you must devise ways of saving money with your newly found lifestyle. The truth is that you can save a lot if you wish to. Do you want to find out ways to save money as a digital nomad? Our guide is your best friend!
6 Ways to Save Money as a Digital Nomad
1. Save on Accommodation
As a digital nomad, accommodation would be one of the costly responsibilities to handle. Therefore, it creates huge potential for you to save. You do not necessarily have to lodge in hotels while you are on your trip. It could unnecessarily eat deep into your pockets, and we know you don’t want that.
Airbnb is a great way to save on accommodation. By booking a month at each time at different places with Airbnb, you can spend just a few hundred a month to get cheap lodging. Sign up for Airbnb here.
Housesitting is your best option when it comes to saving money on accommodation. It costs you little or nothing to do that. You can hook up with someone or people who are on a business trip or away on vacation and offer to watch after their pets or water their plants in exchange for free accommodation in their home. Of course, you have to keep the house secure and ensure that everything is intact when they come back. The free accommodation is not the only benefit you get from housesitting; you get to be in touch and mix up with the locals, and you’ll love it. This is a good way to get to know their lifestyle and culture. Also, you will be kept company by the pets who most times ensure you have a great time playing with them. There are platforms where you could easily find open housesitting options. All you need is to pay a small fee, and the door of countless opportunities will be open to you.
In a scenario whereby you were not able to get a housesitting in your next location, you can scout for local accommodation before proceeding to make a booking online. You could travel to the place and get a hotel room where you could stay for a couple of nights. Within that period, you can scout for any long- or short-term rentals within the area. A lot of local residents are willing to rent out their apartments, but they mostly do not see the need to place an advert online. All they do is simply hanging a notice at the door or ask people for a referral. The hotel manager or other nomads could be of help; ask them if they have an idea of places for rent. Doing that is actually a more cost-effective accommodation option for you.
Furthermore, staying longer at the destination makes accommodation cheaper. In essence, the longer you stay, the better your chances of getting affordable rates. No matter the accommodation you choose to book, staying for a couple of nights will make you pay more. But if you will be staying for a longer period, say a month or two, the rates will be reduced. Since the owners won’t have to search for new tenants and there aren’t any vacant rooms available, it increases your chances of getting a discount. Also, it is advantageous to spend a longer period at a place; with this, you can get to learn the local lifestyle and culture. This, in turn, increases your work productivity because you will have more time to yourself.
2. Stick to Affordable Means of Transport
This is the second aspect where nomads usually blow their funds. There is no need to spend big on transport when you can use cheap and comfortable means.
First things first, if you are going to be flying, then you should focus on discovering sites that offer the cheapest flights available. You can set your particular travel date or month, and the entire option of available flights will be made accessible to you. This makes it easy to find cheap ones. If you don’t have any particular choice of a city yet, you can simply pick the country you wish to visit, and the site will display the cheapest city. There might also be cases where you don’t even know where you want to go next, just forget about inputting your destination; the sites will display the most affordable flights that are departing your current city or country. This is really an easy step for any nomad to take. It is super flexible.
Making use of public transport within your travel destination is an option every travel nomad shouldn’t fail to explore. Ensure you make use of them whenever possible. Airport taxis often charge outrageous sums to convey to you around the city. Every major city has a functional public transport system that could take to any destination within the city at a rate that is way cheaper than that of the taxis. You could make use of road or subway transport services. More so, do not forget to find out how secure your would-be destination is before arrival. Some public transport workers could be a bit shady, and you might fall, victim, especially at night. One should be extremely careful when it comes to this.
3. Try Not to Go for Nutritious Low-Cost Food Options
Obviously, this is an essential part of every trip you are making. You certainly need to eat in order to function properly. Getting an affordable restaurant to fill your tummy is not much of a big deal in most parts of the world. But there are also other ways by which you could get cheaper options
Your first option of getting cheap food would be to eat like the locals. Patronizing tourist restaurants always will make miss out on the delicious local dishes, and you will also have to pay more. Simply look for what and where local residents eat. The cost of food will be relatively cheap at street food stalls or local restaurants.
We did not forget the nomads who have excellent culinary skills. Most of them would prefer to make their meals. If you fall within this category, we’ve got you covered. You can always locate the local market and buy fresh produce from the local traders. Buying fruits and vegetables will be super easy and affordable, and you will be supporting the local farmers and contributing to the economy of your host destination. Going to the fancy supermarkets could also be an option for you to consider. Still, we do not always advise this because of its cost implications – you pay more because of product packaging and transport.
4. Be Careful While Choosing Your Working Space
Most people become digital nomads for the sole reason of work. Therefore, there should be a saving potential here. For you to work smoothly and effectively, you will need a comfortable working environment and fast internet. Surely, you can get cheap options within your destination.
Recently, cafés offer you free Wi-Fi with decent speed to get you up and running. Of course, you’re going to want to buy food or drinks at the café. We strongly advise that you look for the less crowded cafés in your vicinity – when a lot of people are connected to a particular Wi-Fi router, the browsing speed will surely decrease. This is also a good place to network with people, especially if they visit and work there regularly as well. The flip side is that the busy and noisy environment might not be favorable for you, so your productivity might decline.
Another possible explorable option is your accommodation, but this largely depends on your working personality. Some people enjoy working from home because it is quiet and they get to focus fully on their work. Others, on the other hand, dislike the idea because working does not permit them to achieve much. If working from your accommodation sounds like a better option for you, you should ensure that there is a proper work station and stable interne before you book it. A work desk and a chair are a must-have because you certainly do not want to work on your bed all day. It is not going to work because your chances of being sluggish or sleeping off will be high. Feel free to scout for other ways to make your accommodation a productive work environment.
Our third pick in this category is the coworking spaces. They are not actually the best choice to make when you want to save money, especially when you are going for the big names. But if you still want to use them, ensure you make a long-term booking. It is normally cheap to book for a longer period (say to 1-3 months) rather than paying daily. There is a little walk around when it comes to this; if you are going to spend just a few days in town, we recommend that you look for spots that offer free visitor passes. They will permit you to work for free for a few hours per day. You might get lucky and stumble on the ones that allow you to work all day for free. You must note that the smaller and newly established coworking spaces offer cheaper rates.
If you care about getting mobile internet to enable you to work anywhere and anytime, then you should consider purchasing local SIM cards. They are not expensive, and you can easily get them from vendors. After purchase, you can top them up with data. Sometimes you may not wish to change the SIM card on your phone, and we truly understand that. The best option would be to but a mobile hotspot and insert the new card in it. You can get to connect through your phone or laptop Wi-Fi.
5. Sign Up for Travel Insurance
As a digital nomad, you definitely need travel and international health insurance. We never relent on letting our visitors know how important this is. A lot of people believe the better to save money is by avoiding insurance. This is undoubtedly wrong. Yes, we know there are indeed expensive insurance policies, there are also a few in the market that are quite affordable.
You must not go for the big names. We can assure you that you can get some insurance companies that are not well-known who can give you irresistible offers. Some of them cover both your health and your equipment. In the event you are traveling with an expensive item, you can get it insured as well. Registering with an affordable insurance company makes you a double achiever – you get to be on the safe side while saving costs at the same time. The only flip side to this is that you might have to input your permanent address while filling the form, and you may not have one. If you have a home address, then this wouldn’t be a problem for you.
We recommend SafetyWing Insurance. See our review here.
6. Use Financial Platforms with Low Transaction Charges
Having to spend plenty of money on withdrawal fees while on your trip is a bad idea, and it is also avoidable. The bucks you spend on paying for transfer charges could be used for other needs, so don’t waste it! Not to worry, you can have access to affordable and reliable options. Some platforms offer you free bank accounts – you do not have to pay a dime while opening them. These accounts could be opened online; this is an easy way out as you do not have to go to any physical bank branch to fill your forms. These platforms do not charge any fees for your withdrawal in different countries, and they have apps that are compatible with your smartphone. Making transactions are easy-peasy. This will come in handy when you have clients or customers who make use of different currencies and required making exchanges all the time. You get to save a lot of money by using these platforms, and we advise you not to travel without them.
Conclusion
With the guide above, there is no way you wouldn’t save money and still enjoy yourself as a nomad. Have fun! Did you enjoy this post on 6 ways to save money as a digital nomad? Let us know in the comments below if you have other thoughts on how to save money as a digital nomad.
