We all need a break now and again and taking a vacation is my favourite way to do this. The only issue? Money.

Most people book through a travel agent or book a “package holiday” and think they’ve scored a deal. If you’re the person that books your flight from the airlines’ website, you need to listen up! I have some great travel tips to help your money go further.

But you don’t just want “cheap”. It’s OK I got you covered.

I’ve used my experience from travelling to over 20 countries to give you the inside scoop on how to travel in luxury on a budget.

I love travelling, I mean who doesn’t? Or at least going on holiday/vacation. But sometimes I feel we get stuck behind the wall of cost, that always seems impossible to climb. We put it off because of how much it’s going to cost. Life is for living and that should never be the case, let me tell you why.

1. Accommodation.

One day I was at home and really wanted a trip away somewhere, you know, get away for a while. After briefly looking at prices online my dreams came crashing down and the realization that it would cost too much set in.

Want to trade?

I thought surely there has to be another way.

Well, after doing some research I found you can house sit for someone. Actually rent or more accurately, look after,  their whole house but you are doing them a favour!

I couldn’t believe it. And after checking some house-sitting sites online I quickly found a list of countries like Australia, France and the US where people needed their house looking after and sometimes the occasional furry friend too!

Have a home where you live? You can also house-swap with someone else across the world and stay for free! Seeing as accommodation makes up for the majority of your cost this is a HUGE money saver.

If you don’t like the idea of looking after someone’s house and the responsibility to take care of pets, then you could always rent a holiday home. In some countries, like Jamaica for example, they rent for a similar price to a hotel apartment.

A quick search on google and I found that you can rent a 3 bedroom house with a private beach and 4 members of staff for around $140 USD/night! Now, that might be a bit excessive but you get the idea.

You might also consider buying a timeshare.

2. Luxury On A Budget.

After all this you might be thinking: “OK, that saves a lot of money but I don’t want a vacation on the cheap”. Well there are some tips you can use to give you a little luxury while looking after your precious pennies.

• Find a local spa.

And I mean local as in for the locals. Anything aimed at a tourist will be priced accordingly, so dig deeper and find that spa that is half, or in some cases, 10 times cheaper than the touristy one.

I once found a spa in Indonesia that gave a 1 hour massage for only $5 AUD, 10 times cheaper than the touristy version down the road!.

A good place to start is TripAdvisor, though there can be many depending on where you visit.

Alternatively, you can ask some locals for advice, if they speak your language of course, otherwise you might end up in a game of charades!

• A private chauffeur.

One would usually run you $100s just for a day, but look further afield and you can find locals that are willing to drive you around all day. And for a lot cheaper than your average tour operator.

This applies everywhere. Even taxi drivers in Manchester, UK have started offering Pokemon Go sightseeing one hour tours for £20, which if you’ve ever been to the UK, is extraordinarily cheap.

• Fine dining on a budget.

It’s possible, you just need to eat where the locals eat.

Notice a trend here? If in doubt I always recommend finding out where the locals go. Sure you might go there and they might not speak your language or when you say tea they bring you a glass of wine but that’s OK.

It’s the fun of travelling, seeing new places and meeting awesome people.

What about you? How often do you travel and what travel hacks do you know of to save money and enjoy your journey even more?

About The Author

This is a guest post by Aaron Cresswell from Sensible Money Saver. Having traveled to 20 countries (and counting!), Aaron has seen the sights and loves to share with you his hints and tips on how to save you money everyday. Follow him on Twitter.