As a graduate student, I’m constantly on a budget. Whether it’s during my everyday routine while living in New York City, or traveling somewhere new, I do my best to watch my spending. When I started traveling more in undergrad, I needed to find the best ways to save money, while still doing what I love. I did my research, finding several blogs and influencers to follow, as well as useful articles. But I’ve found that for each person, saving money while traveling looks different. And it’s especially different if you’re a student. Below, I’ve listed tips for any budget student looking to travel and ways to save money, both before and during your trip:

The off-season is your friend. It isn’t always glamorous to travel in the Fall/Winter, especially when it’s cold out and you’re craving some sun and the beach. However, prices in the off-season drop considerably. September isn’t exactly the off-season, but the crowds lessen considerably due to many heading back to work and school. Since late August/September is also when we students head back, try a long weekend in September or October, when many schools have some holidays or Fall Break. Personally, my favorite is to travel in January. Prices after the holiday have dropped, as most people are heading back to work and starting off the New Year. Some of my favorite trips taken were in January to both Amsterdam and Paris. It also makes for a great time to enjoy sites, without the usual large crowds that visit in the warmer months.

Flight apps work. They really do. Some of my favorites are SkyScanner and Skiplagg. They make it easy to save flights, watching when prices drop. One feature I like, and I often do, is to select “everywhere” from their recommendation list: this tells you what flights are cheapest, to any destination, and when. This makes travel more spontaneous, and also a little like a fun game. I also monitor airline websites themselves, such as Norwegian and JetBlue, which are known for their frequent flash sales, Following brands and magazines, such as cntraveler, also help with this, as they post weekly travel deal alerts on Instagram.

Make an itinerary. Plenty of people prefer to travel by going with the flow: decide on a destination, have a loose idea of where you want to visit while there, and simply get up each morning and go. I, on the other hand, prefer itineraries. It helps to keep me structured, making sure that I can get out there and see a good amount of sites or experiences while in a specific place. What also makes itineraries so great is the planning that goes into them; by looking at what neighborhood you want to spend time in, you can also look up places to eat beforehand. I find this helpful, as I can filter out places that are too expensive, instead of trying to pick something on the spot and spending more money than I intended to. It also helps to set aside money for visiting museums, galleries, gardens or other tourist sites. That way, you know how much you need to be spending.

Pro-Tip: Check ahead of time to see if some cities have Cultural Passes, or museum passes you can purchase for a couple of days in advance. In Paris, for example, the museum pass that can be used at multiple locations. This helps to limit your spending, and further allows you to plan ahead on where you want to go.

Determine how much you want to save per day. And stick to it. While living and traveling in Europe for two months, I made a commitment that I would only spend 20 euros per day. This was possible, as my living situations were already paid for, as well as flights between countries, and I was also able to stay with family and friends. This made spending only 20 euros a day not hard; I would typically eat a small breakfast, of either a cappuccino and pastry, and search for places (or plan in my itinerary) lunch spots that had specials, or were relatively inexpensive and could be bought and eaten while on the go. Dinner sometimes would go a little bit over, but if I had managed to save on breakfast and lunch, this never was too much of an issue.

Pro-tip: Book an AirBnb that has a kitchen, or a kitchenette. When I visited Iceland, which is known for being expensive, my friends and I made a stop at the grocery store first thing to pick up basics, such as eggs, cereal and milk, so we didn’t have to spend too much.

These tips are what I use while traveling as a graduate student, although I am certain they could be used for everyone. Remember, though, not everything works for everyone, and you might want to ball out a little while traveling, or maybe you hate making itineraries because you’re a planner in real life, and prefer to relax while on vacation. Either way, there’s beauty in getting out there and seeing the world. Thanks for reading!