How can you make extra money for travel? Saving up can sometimes feel like a bit of a slog, but there are ways you can save money for travel bit by bit, without really noticing it going away. You can also get free money just by taking a few extra steps when spending. Here’s how I add to my travel fund!
Cashback Websites
These are great for getting money back on your spends, whether you’re purchasing larger investments or just bits here and there. For example, in the last year or so I’ve earned cashback on purchases on clothes and shoes from Vans, protein from myprotein and myvegan, home stuff from Dunelm and a camera from Olympus UK. There are so many different shops available for cashback from clothing, to home, to holidays to insurance.
Quidco is the one I primarily use, but there are others such as TopCashback.
As a side note, you can download an app called Airtime Rewards you can get cashback on your purchases from quite a few different places, and this money can be used to reduce your mobile bill each month. Redeem and it comes off your bill automatically. Use this code TFCQRTQG when signing up!
Surveys
Surveys are a brilliant way to get a little extra cash because you can fill them in when you have spare time. Most only take a few minutes, and whilst they are priced low per survey, it does build up quickly. I made around £30 a month, for three months running from putting minimal effort in.
Prolific
Prolific is my absolute favourite, and the one I find the most successful in terms of making quick money for travel. These surveys just appear in the studies section as and when they’re available. Keep a tab open at all times and you can just periodically check it. Sign up to Prolific.
YouGov
There are different opportunities to make money here, YouGov Direct and YouGov Safe. With Direct you get occasional surveys to complete, adding in bits of money to your pot. This money can be redeemed at any time.
YouGov Safe is a browser extension that gives you points for sharing browsing/viewing history from a few different websites. Once you hit 5000 points you can withdraw £50. You can also build these points up pretty quickly to begin with just by filling out information. Sign up to YouGov.
Read more: How to Plan A Trip Using Google Maps
Affiliate Schemes
Affiliate schemes are ideal for bloggers as they work through linking. These websites offer you a small percentage of commission when someone purchases something after following your link. The money you receive depends on what was spent and what percentage the retailer is offering, but if you are already reviewing and advertising products it’s a no-brainer to get affiliate links involved.
My favourite to use is AWIN as they have a wide range of retailers signed up, and you can pretty much find every kind of shop on there – clothing, shoes, travel, Etsy, books and way more. Other Affiliate schemes worth looking at include:
Saving Pots with Banks
A few banks provide this as a feature, but I’m personally only familiar with it through Monzo.
Monzo
You can create different pots within your bank account so you can separate money. There’s a nifty little tool that rounds up each individual spend you make, and that roundup money can go direct into a pot. You barely notice it going, and whilst it might only be pence here and there, it adds up over time.
Chase
You could also try Chase banking. You can get 1% cashback rewards on spends for your first year using this account. This adds up quickly on daily spending, and it’s all free money! Mine is currently on £39.82 from 4 months of use.
You can also create a roundup pot and this comes with 5% AER for the first year. So again, in a similar time period, I’ve collected £63.38 without really noticing it coming out of my bank. Adding the two together that’s over £100 in 4 months!
They often have referral schemes running – sign up with a referral code and you’ll both get an extra £20. When this is running, I’ll update here with a code.
