“How can you afford to travel so often?”

That’s a question I get more often than any other about my travels. The true answer: I make it a priority.  I have a good job with a decent salary, but I can guarantee I’d have a much fuller savings account if I didn’t travel so darned often.

Confession Time: I’m not saying it’s at all smart, but I often put spending for travel in front of saving for my retirement.  I have also put my money towards travel at the expense of what others may consider a priority…everything from buying a home (will I rent for the rest of my life?… and does that make me a bad person?) to curating a fabulous designer shoe collection (hotels over heels).

But for those who are not quite so carefree with their long term savings plans, I did a little savings experiment last year that actually worked.  If you follow the rules, you’ll end up with enough money at the end of 2015 for  2 domestic flights, a discounted international flight, or a few nights in a nice hotel and a new set of luggage.  Its easy and if you look at it like a game, its also kind of fun.

How does it work? All you have to do is set aside some money every week for a year. The first week of January, you set aside $1.00 (or it’s equivalent in another currency if you’re reading from overseas).  Week two of the year, you put aside $2.00. Week three, $3.00. I pride myself in having an intelligent reader base, so I’m sure you see the pattern here.  By the end of the year, your last contribution is $52.00.

If you do this every week, at the end you’ll have $1,378.00 to spend on travel (or whatever you choose).

I tried this last year and liked it so much I decide to do it again this year.  I created an excel spreadsheet to track each week of the year and to show a sub total each week, I stapled it on to a manilla envelop and voila – my fancy savings plan. Now all you have to do is find some place to stash it and remember each week to “donate” to yourself.  I admit there were weeks that I forgot to put my money in, but then you can just catch up on the following week.

I’ve heard some people criticize this approach to savings. They say its easy to start, but takes a lot of monetary commitment as the year goes on.  By December you are stashing away $202 for that month – which may be hard for someone who has limited funds or for people who are spending a lot of money at the end of the year on gifts or holiday travel.

This may be true, but it is not a reason to not give it a try.  If you get through even half of the year when you realize putting away this money is too much for you, you still will have saved $351.00. That’s better than nothing.  And as for the argument that you are being asked to sock away the greatest amounts at what is typically a time of spending – well, go ahead and break the rules. You could switch around the weeks and save $52 in May or October, and save the lower amounts in December when you may need more cash on hand to buy gifts or that fabulous New Year’s Eve outfit.

So give it a try. Start your travel savings account and let me know how it goes.  And please leave me a comment and let me know what you’re saving for (bonus points if its travel related)!