How I Saved 100K Philippine Peso to Travel 5 countries in 2015?

How I Saved 100K Philippine Peso to Travel 5 countries in 2015?

I just want to share with my readers how I saved 100K Philippine Peso to travel 5 countries in 2015. My trip never focused in five countries as I was traveling around the Philippines as well. The monthly travels started in August 2014 after my surgery and until now I still find ways in traveling onto nearby provinces.

Related Article: How I Prepared Solo Travel to 5 Countries in 2015?

It took me five to six years before I reached this amount without the plans of traveling in the future. You read it right, 5 to 6 years. Traveling was not on my radar in 2009 to 2012. I kept my money on my savings account and time deposit account. The reason I saved a huge amount of money was to buy a motorbike like Honda Scoopy but it never happened.

I Quit my Office Job to Pursue Online Work or Work at Home

My office job for ten months never paid well as I was getting paid minimum wage. Although I was able to save money, I only had PHP5,000. The ultimate reason I quit my office job was due to hyperacidity. Since online work became as a part-time gig before quitting the office job, I decided to pursue it as a full-time job.

As I was able to earn enough money through an online job, automatically I became a breadwinner since I am the eldest. Mostly, I helped to pay the bills at home. I worked almost 12 hours a day which it helped me to earn more.

Advantage of Working at Home

• No more commute every day
• More time of spending my lunch break, snack break or dinner break (no more hyperacidity)
• More savings

Disadvantage of Working at Home

• No more office mates
• Being distracted by some family members
• You’ll get addicted working for more because of the money
• Eye strain due to long hours of working (I got astigmatism and need to wear eyeglasses)

Related Article: Seven Years of Working as a Virtual Assistant and Counting

Living a Simple Lifestyle

Since I was a kid, I learned how to save money. I grew up without bad vices. My route was home-school-home. When I went to college it was home-work-school-home. Working part time in college was a great help for me in order for me to gain working experience. Money was never spent on new clothes or shoes. There was a time when my old clothes still fit me after a decade. Most of my clothes were hand-me-downs. Although I admit I’ve bought some clothes before but not that really expensive. I am not a shopaholic. Not being a fashionable person helps me not to buy several clothes as I am more into t-shirts, jeans, and shorts. I am not materialistic and my family is not even rich.

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Investing on Gadgets

The expensive things I’ve bought were a netbook (I sold it), a laptop, a smartphone, an iPad, and a DSLR camera which inspired me to be a digital nomad. So you think, I am materialistic because of these expensive things? No, this is what I call investment.

Taking Up Photography

When I purchased my DSLR camera, I was able to play Adobe Lightroom which is an another skill I can add up to my resume.  Wedding and portraiture photography became a side gig of mine. I maintained a blog but never updated at Fotografi Rox. See, buying expensive things with a purpose is an investment.

Keep a Savings Account

I started with savings account which I had PHP5,000 from my previous job. From my online job, I tried to save money monthly until it reaches at least PHP 20,000. It is where I get my life expenses.

Keep a Time Deposit Account a.k.a an Emergency Fund

When the savings account reached PHP 20,000. I took the PHP 10,000 and transferred it to time deposit account. Every month, I put PHP 2,000 in it.

Invest in the Stock Market

When savings and time deposit were growing, I decided to take PHP 5,000 from my savings and opened an account to invest in the stock market.

Related Article: COL Financial Stock Market Investing – How to Open an Account?

Keep a Travel Fund

When I started traveling in November 2012, I decided to open another savings account for my travel fund which I saved at least PHP 20,000.

Working on the Road

When I got my netbook in 2010, I started traveling and bringing my work with me even in the small islands of Cebu just to try what it feels like to be a digital nomad. In 2013, I got my passport and promised myself to travel one country a year. The first two countries served as vacations as most of my trips were 4 days and 3 nights. My short trips cost me at least PHP 20,000.

Related Article: How I Started Being a Digital Nomad?

But 2015 was different as I had my ups and downs during my trips. It challenged me to be a solo traveler with difficulties on the road and personal life. Working on the road helped me to sustain this kind of lifestyle.

Even though I am not Bachelor Degree holder, hard work pays a lot. Gaining skills and being passionate about the work you do help you to gain confidence. Because of this life experience, I became resilient.

So how did you save money for a long-term travel?