Money-Saving Tips While Volunteering Abroad

Many interested volunteers are deterred by the matter that they have to pay in order to help. In fact, volunteering abroad, in all possible sense, is never for free. However, there are things about volunteering that you can do in order to save money.

For the most part, volunteering abroad would require payments for your lodging, food supply, medical insurance, language training, monthly stipend, in-country training and transportation. Not only that, some volunteer programs require fees for other extensive trainings like pre-departure awareness and camp seminars. Moreover, others are required to pay for safe supervision fees.

Among those things that you have to get for yourself, there are actually some of them that you can do without or can do just by yourself.

For you to be able to volunteer without spending much, check out the following money-saving tips:

1. Pay for necessities.

Make sure you spend your money on things that you need the most while volunteering. They are:

• Lodging
• Medical insurance
• Transportation
• Food supplies

The rest of the requirements can be done before your scheduled quest like the relevant trainings and monetary allotment.

However, if you feel like you would not need your agency’s help for the short-listed things above and you are relatively confident that you got everything for yourself, then you can try the next tips on saving money while helping in another country.

2. Resort to cheaper accommodations.

Better yet, try to talk it over with one of the locales in your host country as some of them can offer you a much cheaper place to stay in exchange for less amount of money.

Subsequently, this will lead you to another money-saving tip that can greatly help you in your volunteering endeavor.

3. Enjoy country delights.

Avoid eating in hotels and restaurants every time. You eat several times a day and just imagine how much money it would cost if you do so.

If you can stay with a host family, you can eat with them and contribute to their regular food expenses. The best part here is that you can enjoy a taste of their cultural food and that would make your experience even more worth taking.

4. Take the public transportation.

You might feel the need to take the taxi every time you want to travel because you think you are an alien to the new community and that, in a way, you want to guarantee your safety. However, that is not actually how it should always be. If you do, you might end up being pre-occupied with how you are going to sustain your transportation needs although out.

Instead, try to commute like the way local people do. You are actually giving them the impression that you are knowledgeable and there will be few chances for you, as a foreigner, to be charged way too much than the usual rate.

5. Volunteer in a group

You might not have noticed it that way, but yes volunteering in group really saves your money. Whether is about transportation and accommodation you will always be paid comparatively less amount if you are traveling with your pals. Hence group volunteer opportunities can be an ultimate chance for you to enjoy the volunteering journey meanwhile saving some pennies.

6. Reserve your shopping intentions for last.

This might be such an extra effort for impulsive shoppers but you must realize that you can get the most of shopping when you are already about to go home.

Being a part of some meaningful volunteer opportunities is always in our wish list. And you will enjoy the most of this social service if it can be done with as less cost as possible. Following the tips above can help you save money in a much larger amount that you can eventually use for buying souvenirs. Avoid shopping for unnecessary things especially the ones that you can also get from your home country. Besides, you sure do not want to pay for extra luggage fees.