A Simple 5 Step Plan to Travel More Year Round…with kids
Do you dream about seeing the 4 corners of the world? Ever wish you could see more than you’re seeing through the windshield of your mini van? I know I do! As a kid, I was a natural explorer. When I became an adult I started to think that wild side just wasn’t natural and I tried to suppress it. I tried to just live the happy suburban housewife life. Well, let me tell you something folks, that can leave a lot of regrets. Now, more than ever, I am determined to let that inner wild child have her fun and ya know what? She’s taking my kids along for the ride! I have started a simple 5 step plan to travel more year round…with kids! Now, the last step may not be for you. I mean, let’s be real. But the rest of them…I promise will set you on a path for travel and adventure if you don’t hold back!
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The goal
My traveling goal right now is to take 5 significant trips each year. I realize, that it might take me a few years to reach this goal, but for now, that’s where I am at.
I want to take my kids with me for some, I want to take vacations with Tom some times and I definitely want to get away with my girlfriends as well. When it comes to traveling the world, I’m not really picky about who comes along for the ride.
I’ve also decided that while I love the idea of seeing other countries, I haven’t really given my own country a fair shot. So, before I branch out to other countries my goal is to explore the
This dawned on me one day after speaking with a couple from the Netherlands. We had dinner together in the Dominican Republic and I listened to them tell me all the places they wanted to see in America. And this whole time I was thinking I had to leave America to have an adventure.
So let’s talk 5 step plan. What has it taken for me to feel confident enough to say I will travel more year round?
Get out of debt
Get. out. of. debt.
I want to roll my eyes and jump for joy at the same time. It is crazy to me how many years I allowed myself to be tied down by debt. How many times I turned down trips or excursions because “I didn’t have enough money.”
Really, I just spent too much time pretending I had money…but using credit cards and racking up debt left and right. Ick.
Well, no more ladies and gents. No more. In January 2019 Tom and I made our final debt payment and it was the best feeling in the whole wide world.
I challenge you to add up how much money you spend on debt each month. That means student loans, credit cards, car loans … anything you are paying interest on! Now consider how much money you would have in your pocket if you didn’t have to make those payments anymore!!
Jaw drop.
So how do you even get started? After building an emergency fund of $1,000, it’s time to get yourself a debt payoff plan. The Debt Snowball is the tried and true method that Tom and I used and in the first 6 months we paid off $6,000 of debt!
BONUS STEP: Downsize your lifestyle
So getting out of debt is great. We all want a life with financial freedom. But are you living a life that is currently keeping you tied down financially?
Maybe you’re debt free with the exception of your huge mortgage payment. On top of that mortgage
You spend 3 hours every weekend maintaining the pristine, green, yard and another 3 hours inside scrubbing the 4 toilets, vacuuming every level and trying to clean the massive windows. Yes, I am speaking from experience. Read our story here.
If what you really want in life is to get out into the world more, then maybe it’s time to consider not wasting so much time and money on 4 walls that are keeping you boxed in. If ya know what I mean.
Live on a budget
Now, while you pay off debt (and after) it is so important that you stick with a solid budget!
I used to think that living on a budget meant I would be dirt poor, have no fun and life would feel really restricting. It is quite the opposite, friends. Living on a budget allows me to have full control over my money and I get to choose where it goes.
Practicing minimalism on a budget has also been one of the most helpful things because it has allowed me to truly see what I value the most in my life.
When you really see where your money goes each month, it makes you a lot more intentional about what you spend it on.
Other posts you’ll love:
- Shopaholic Help: 11 Ways to Stop Overspending for Good
- How to Dress Like a Minimalist…and Have More Money!
- My Top 28 Minimalist Blog Posts
- How to Start Saving Half Your Income
Build a savings
Once you have freed up money in your life by becoming debt free, you suddenly find yourself with a huge surplus of cash. Especially if you started finding extra ways to make money in order to pay off debt faster.
A major part of my plan once we freed up all this cash was to not dig ourselves back into debt. –Good idea, right?
So we opened a Savings Builder savings account.
With the Savings Builder account through CIT
This is like the most genius savings plan for anyone!! Saving $100 per month should be relatively simple and with the Savings Builder account, you will also make compounding interest on everything you save! For us, our goal is to eventually start saving half our income each month!! Can you imagine how much $$ we’ll be earning in interest when we hit that milestone?!?
Get a Savings Builder started today.
Create a flexible income from home to travel more
Creating a flexible income from home not only allowed us to pay off our debt faster but also gave me the freedom in my schedule to travel more year round.
In case you hadn’t guessed it, starting a blog was how I created my flexible income.
Not only has the blog provided me freedom in my schedule, but it has also become a great source of passive income. Passive income is when you create something once and continue to get paid for it over and over again.
How I set my own hours and make money with a blog
If you have ever considered starting a blog, there is no better time than the present! My course is currently on a massive discount of only $75! On June 1,
By June 1st this course will be totally revamped and I am holding nothing back! There were so many questions that I didn’t have answered when I first started blogging and so many tutorials I wished I would have been able to see! My goal for this new and improved course is to answer all of those questions for aspiring bloggers! Get the course now!
Other posts you’ll love:
- 30 of the Latest Side Hustles to Earn Passive Income
- The Passive Income Stream That Made Me $500 in One Week Without Working
- 21 Jobs That Let You Travel the World
Travel more and homeschool our kids
Now the only thing that could potentially stand in the way of my travel more year-round goal is that pesky school calendar.
That’s why I decided to homeschool!!
Okay, so that’s not the main reason. But it definitely played a part. Not only do I love the idea of being able to travel throughout the year but also give my kids this amazing, hands-on learning experience!
I definitely get that this step isn’t for everyone, but I wanted to share a little bit about why in the world I chose to homeschool. Trust me, I’m as surprised as you are.
When it comes to traveling for homeschool, instead of just reading about the White House, we can go visit it! If we want to learn about Gettysburg, we’ll just plan a trip!
Now, I know it won’t always be quite this easy, but my hope is that as the years go on and our savings gets bigger and bigger travel is something that will become more and more possible for us!
Now tell me…where do you want to travel to?
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