I am a professional artist and I am an artist tour guide. I love to paint, I love to paint on location, I love to travel!!! I get a lot of comments from artists stating that they would love to travel, but cannot afford it. So many replies come to mind at this statement. I work hard, I save money so that I can travel and paint. It is a priority for me and it fulfills my dream and my passion for painting on location.

How bad do you want to travel, paint, sketch and explore? It is always possible to save money to travel if that is your dream and a priority.

Start by opening a savings account and name it Travel Savings! Here are the things that I did to begin saving.  Every paycheck I transferred $20 into savings as soon as my paycheck was deposited (to start and you can do $5 if that is what your budget allows). When the next paycheck was deposited, any $ left in the account from the paycheck before that was not allocated for a bill or a payment that had not cleared yet, was also transferred into the Travel Savings account.

I stopped buying fancy cups of coffee and made my coffee at home. I chose to invest in a great coffee maker and by the end of the month it had paid for itself And left $ to put into my savings. I made meals on the weekend that would create leftovers to heat up during the week so I would not be tempted to eat out. I made and took sack lunches. It is amazing how much more $$ is left over at the end of a pay period or month if you are not eating out or buying fancy coffee/drinks/sodas. It is exciting to see that savings grow. It becomes a thrill each month when you see your balance growing. I only bought clothes or shoes when my old ones were worn out. If you wash in cold and hang to dry, your clothes last longer. You can purchase new inserts for your shoes that cost less than a new pair, but make them feel new. If I do need a new piece of clothing, I save for it in my budget and purchase clothing that will travel well and dry fast.

I use my library card to borrow books (e-books too), borrow movies or watch free streaming videos from the library service. I borrow books and videos on traveling in the places I want to go visit too. I put up a map of the place I want to visit where I will see it everyday.

Every purchase is proceeded by the question "Do I need this item more than I want to travel?".