All The Frugal Ladies Personal finance with a feminine touch
#FrugalSuccess Story: When Adventure Calls, Better Save Aggressively!
We’re a day late with our weekly #FrugalSuccess Story, but this one is sure to get you in the adventurous spirit. One of our biggest passions at ‘All the Frugal Ladies’ is travel and today’s story comes from one of the most known travel bloggers, Adventurous Kate. Back in the beginning of 2013, Kate posted an open and honest article on how she saved $13,000 in just several months!
We recommend that you check out her entire post (by clicking here). But, we’ve summarized her story in quick bite-sized information:
- Step 1: In February of 2010, Kate secured a full-time job with a $50,000 yearly salary (giving her a take-home pay of about $3,000 per month after taxes). This is also when she decided to save for a RTW (Round the World) trip.
- Step 2: Kate made a list of all her monthly expenses.
- Step 3: With that list in mind, Kate made a big lifestyle shift – including putting her dating life on hold in order to save extra cash! Another significant sacrifice was deciding to move back home to save money on rent.
- Step 4: She set up a separate bank account solely dedicated to her savings for travel. She kept a maximum of $500 in her usual personal checking account and would not go over that limit.
- Step 5: Kate took on freelance work – writing $20 an article. Her paychecks here went straight to her travel account.
- Step 6: She lived a crazy, hectic, and somewhat food deprived life for a few months. Kate also had some unexpected expenses (e.g., a car breaking down), but she persevered.
- Step 7: Kate departed for Bangkok on October 20th, 2010 and had saved just over $13,000 since February.
Why are we featuring Adventurous Kate’s story? Besides saving for a RTW trip and dedicating herself to a frugal lifestyle change, her story is real and she details exactly how she succeeded. We believe people should share more of their success stories so we can all learn from one another.
Do you want to be featured in our weekly #FrugalSuccess Story column? Email us at info [at] allthefrugalladies [dot] com. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
