// This post is sponsored by Citizens Bank and Her Campus Media. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make *Your Blog Name* possible! //
Hello friends, I have a lot to share with you in today’s post! This past weekend I hung out with Jenna of Balance and Chaos at Citizen’s Banks 2018 grad party. We were so happy to finally meet in person, enjoy good food and play fun games while hanging out at Schenley Park. In today’s post we’re going to talk about a grad party with Citizens Bank & my advice on saving for travel. If you’re in need of a little travel in your life but are definitely lacking in the funds department, then I’m here to help! I used to believe I couldn’t afford to travel but quickly learned this couldn’t be further from the truth. Allow me to show you why!
A Grad Party With Citizens Bank & my
Advice on Saving for Travel
This past Saturday Citizens Bank threw a grad party at Schenley Plaza in promotion of their offering free student checking accounts! What’s also great about their student checking accounts, is that there’s no monthly maintenance fee while you’re under the age of 25. The party was a fun event with lawn games set up like giant Jenga and free food vouchers. I used my food voucher to get a dessert waffle from Waffalonia and was blown away by how good it was! There to hang out with me was Jenna Boron of Balance and Chaos. We had a lot of fun hanging out together and of course eating our waffles!
Altogether we had a great time attending Citizens Banks party and were so happy to team up with them. If you’re interested in learning more about why you should open up a checking account with Citizens Bank, click here. In addition to recapping the grad party I hung out at with Jenna, I wanted to share my best tips for saving on travel! It’s something I’ve had to learn to do, as Stefan and I always have the urge to travel but don’t have the most extensive funds to do so. If this is you, than we’re kindred spirits!
My tips on how to Save on Travel:
1. Skip hotels and stay at an Airbnb
This first tip is probably one of the biggest money saving travel hacks I’ve ever come across! Since Stefan and I began traveling more frequently last year, we almost always avoid hotels. Previously to our first summer vacation together, we had never used Airbnb before. But once we finally got around to using it, we haven’t gone any other way! One of the biggest reasons why I love Airbnb so much, is because oftentimes you can rent entire homes for less than $100 a night. What’s so great about this too, is that you’ll have use of a kitchen and therefore don’t have to eat all your meals out on your trip!
2. Grocery shop for snacks & meals
From my experience, most of the money that seems to be spent on trips is on food. It’s no secret eating out can be very expensive, which is why you’ll want to cook from your Airbnb a couple nights. Stefan and I definitely love tasting the local food scene on vacation but we try our best to eat in for a couple meals too. It really helps keep the cost down! So for my second tip, I definitely recommend doing a little grocery shopping! It’s great to stock up on snacks as well. During long days out exploring, it’s great to have a granola bar to stash in your purse!
3. If you’re on a road trip, use cheap gas apps
Gas saving apps are a lifesaver! I have been using the app “Gas Buddy” for a long time and almost always comes through with saving me money. It’s crazy how much prices of gas can vary so I never go on a road trip without using this app. Gas Buddy is set up so that you can scroll through nearby gas stations and compare the varying prices. Once you click on a gas station, your gps will open up and it takes you straight to it! I do recommend however that when you find a place to go, that you double check it’s not too out of your way. This app has definitely saved me a lot of money on trips!
4. Travel during the week rather than the weekend
Did you know that the time of week that you travel can have a huge impact on traveling expenses? Everyone likes to go away on the weekend but you can save on hotel/Airbnb costs and airfare! If you can make it happen, try leaving Monday night and coming home Friday.
5. Decide on how much money you want to spend
I’m not always the best at planning out a financial budget for vacation but this is something I’m working on improving. I find that before I leave vacation, I always intend to only spend a certain amount of money. However, doing this simple thing can save you so much more money than you’d believe. What I like to do is make up a list of the restaurants I’d like to try on vacation. Stefan and I also book an Airbnb to stay at and then figure out how much money it’ll cost. Once we’ve done all this planning it’s easy to come up with a rough budget. I also like to only put that amount of money in spending and keep that rest in savings so I’m not tempted to go over budget!
