We all know that if you decide to backpack around the world you need to stretch your budget for as long as possible, this article will show you the usual and the not so common known ways to save while you travel.
Eat at the hostel from the free stuff
Most hostels will have a free stuff cabinet, this is basically full of all the stuff people leave behind, some hostel keep it for staff, but you just need to ask whoever is in charge where it is and I'm pretty sure they will happily share it with you. As a bonus, ask them what day they clean the fridge and if you promise to help them and they will share the good stuff found in the clean up.
Check the lost and found
Depending on the country hostels have a legal obligation to keep stuff left for a certain amount of time, it is however a pain in the ass to get stuff back to their owners and most people end up leaving stuff behind because of shipping fees. In 7 years running a hostel we have been "gifted" with countless amounts of goodies like tablets, cameras, cellphones and clothes. Most clothes we wash and give them to charity, however we also let our guests take them if we feel they need it, with the technology that is left behind we try to give it a hostel live, that's why you'll see tablets laying around our hostel for guests to use.
Open a Referral Link from Booking.com
Booking.com lets you open anyone a referral code, this is basically a unique link that you are meant to share on a blog or website. Make all your own bookings through this referral link and you will receive some money from it eventually.
Book Non-refundable Rates
Most booking websites will let you choose between standard and non-refundable rates the difference between those are the flexibility of each. Standard rates are generally more expensive, but let you cancel up to last minute; Non-refundables offer a cheaper price, but with stricter restrictions and if your plans change, you will most likely lose your money, so make sure you plans are set on stone.
Travel Light
Most low cost airlines will charge extra money for checked bags so is cheaper and better to travel as light as possible, is hostel acceptable to see people use the same clothes more than twice!, just make sure you use deodorant and that at some point you hit the laundromat unless you want your dorm mates to secretly hate you.
Buy Alcohol in Bulk
Most hostels are small business with small teams, if a hostel sells alcohol on the premises is a bit annoying when you buy one by one, talk to the person in charge and ask them if you get a deal from buying a dozen/case of beer. In our case when people buy in bulk they save around 20%, if you are not a heavy drinkers you can do this with dorm mates and split the bill accordingly.
Always Pay Cash
Before you get to a hostel, ask them whats their preferred method of payment and then ask if you can get a discount if you pay that way. Most hostels prefer cash as it is easier to hide from the taxman, also keep in mind that in South America if you pay with card most places will charge you a fee on top.
Check the hostel's website
Hostel owner hate paying commission to big corporations like Hostelworld and Booking and that's why most hostels will offer further discounts if you book directly with them. In our case we offer a 3% discount and a further 10% discount for payments using crypto currencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, yet most people still book with them and pay more than they should!.
Don't be shy to ask
We have noticed that most people are embarrassed to ask locals about ways to save money, mostly because they don't want to be seen as cheap travelers or because the language barrier, this however is a mistake as we think that nobody is better suited than a local to show you the cheap spots and the deals available! for instance ask about the cheapest menu restaurant or how to get the bus from point A to B
Volunteer
Ask the people running the hostel if they need help with stuff, there are certain stuff that nobody wants to do like weeding or cleaning gutters, cleaning water tanks/cistern and any hostel owner will jump at the opportunity to exchange a bed for these annoying shores.
This is just a glimpse of the ways that exist to save money while traveling, these tips are written by a 8 year small hostel owner, we've had over 15.000 peopled stay with us and being a small hostel we get to talk to everyone and hear their backpacking stories.
My next article might be about all the awkward things we have to endure in 8 years, like walking in into a living room threesome or that time I mistakenly made eye contact with a guy jerking off or the guy who offered me 100 USD to go and buy him condoms.
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