Simple ways to find funds for your tour.

Alright, so you have taken the leap of faith and signed up for a trip hoping that somehow the money you need will grow on the tree out your window. Here are some simple, and more likely, ways to find funds for your trip.

1. Cut back on unnecessary expenses – In order to make your savings plan successful you need to put your travel plans as your top priority. That may mean you or your parents giving up some of your regular expenditures. For example, many people make a trip to Starbucks every morning spending $5 - $7 on a cup of coffee. If you brew it yourself and bring it from home you can save over $150 per month or over $1800 per year! Eating out less often, drinking your own bottled water instead of a daily soda, buying clothes secondhand, cutting back on your utilities usage, finding a cheaper cellphone plan without data charges etc., dropping your cable/satellite plan and just watching Netflix instead are all areas where you may find ways to save. By examining your spending habits closely you may find other ways to save significant amounts (you may even develop some healthier habits in the process!).

2. Sell anything you don’t regularly use – Many of us have quite a few items we have accumulated that we think we need but in reality we rarely use. When I was in my early 20’s I lived in Southeast Asia for two years and frequently moved from town to town. I had to be able to stuff everything I owned into a suitcase at a moment’s notice. I came to realize how easy it is to do without many of the things I thought were essential. When I got home I gutted my room and found a plethora of items that I didn’t need anymore (I still had my high school football practice jersey!)
When examining your stuff a good test to use to decide if you need it or not is the 6 month test, if you haven’t used it in the last 6 months odds are that you don’t really need to have it around. CD and DVD collections, dad’s old fishing gear that he never uses, last year’s prom dress, instruments you don’t really play anymore, sports equipment you don’t use, that treadmill that is just gathering dust in a corner, books that you have read over and over again, anything! Having a yard sale is a start but many people come to yard sales looking to score crazy deals and won’t pay you what your stuff is worth. Try Ebay, Amazon, Craigslist or even local consignment shops to maximize your earning potential.

3. Work your network – If you really start to think about the amount of people you know you’ll be surprised at how long the list is. People at church, school groups, close relatives and distant obscure cousins, neighbors, people you work with etc. Now think about what would happen If everyone you know thought about everyone they knew. The numbers would add up pretty quickly. Imagine if everyone on that list gave you $5 for your trip. You would reach your fundraising goal in no time! For example, if you had 100 people who each gave you $5 and they each had only 10 friends give you $5, you would have raised a total of $5500!
There are some great tools out there to help you spread the word and raise money for your cause. You can link a PayPal account to your Facebook account so your Facebook friends can donate with one easy click. You can start a campaign at gofundme.com. You have a built in Donate button in your EF account that friends and family can use to donate directly to your tour costs. You could even go “old school” and start a letter writing campaign. Just make sure everyone you know and everyone they know knows, you know?

Here are some other suggestions that may prove beneficial to you:

Have your rich Uncle Sam pay for it. If you sign up at the right time you will have up to two tax returns that you can apply to your trip costs.

Get creative with credit. Many credit cards offer lengthy introductory 0%  interest periods (some up to 18 months!) and some great rewards. You could pay the EF costs in one swipe and buy yourself more time to pay off the credit company. But wait, there's more! Many cards offer great rewards for spending a few thousand within the first few months of using the card. You could pay off your trip and be well on your way to earning another one from your credit company all in one stroke!

Connect with your church or community groups and hold a fundraiser like a bake sale, a silent auction, or a spaghetti dinner.

Hold a video game tournament. Charge players to enter the tournament and then give away a portion of the "pot" to the winner.

The bottom line is, you have to make saving for your trip a priority. It also helps to think in terms of a monthly payment instead of a lump sum. Trying to come up with a few hundred each month is easier than finding the total price all at once. Make sure you thoughtfully consider every penny you spend, critically evaluate your needs and don’t be afraid to ask for help. You can do it!

What are you doing that is working for you? Share your fundraising success with others by posting your ideas below.