6 Simple Ways You Can Fund Your Gap Year
Dreaming of some time spent away from the stresses of school? You’re not the first person to feel that way. In fact, countless students decide to take a break from their education with an interesting type of vacation known as a gap year. A gap year can be the perfect opportunity to revitalize your spirits and re-energize for the years ahead. Plus, a lot of students find that during their gap year, they learn important life skills and improve their independence, so that they’re ready to stand up by themselves in the long-run.
If you’re not sure how you’re going to be able to cover the costs of your gap year, and you know that your parents aren’t exactly happy about the idea of flipping the bill on your behalf, the good news is that there are other options available that can help to make your dream vacation a reality. Here, we’ll take a look at just some of the simple ways that you can afford to fund your gap year.
1. Plan Ahead and Save
This might be one of the most obvious ways to afford your gap year vacation – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it should be overlooked. If you want to get the most out of your gap year, then you should probably start saving the money from your after-school job as quickly as possible. It’s going to cost at least a few thousand pounds for you to pay for everything you need, as well as over-seas travel and accommodation. Make sure that you plan ahead, and look for the best options to reduce your expenses wherever possible. For instance, traveling during shoulder seasons is almost always a good idea.
2. Consider Using a Sponsor
If you’re interested in the world of sports and athletics, then there’s a fairly good chance that you’ve heard of sponsors before today. In the right industries, sponsors will pay celebrities huge amounts just to promote their brands. However, there’s no reason why you can’t apply those same principals to your gap year funding exercises.
If you’re looking for a sponsor to help you make the most out of your gap year, a good place to start is by looking at businesses that help you to make the most out of your project. For instance, if your plan is to travel around the world and start organic gardens for small communities, then you should reach out to gardening communities and other businesses involved with agriculture for help.
3. Consider Crowdfunding
There’s a good chance that you’ve heard about the phenomenon of crowd funding before today. After all, there are countless different websites out there that can help you to build money for your dream – whatever it might be. In fact, some people have even raised enough money for huge parties and potato salad. If you’re worried about finding a sponsor, and you’re not sure how else you’re going to find the cash, consider reaching out to your community through a crowdfunding app. This is particularly good for people who are using their gap year for something positive, like a creative mission or a charitable event.
4. Get A Personal Loan
These days, people use personal loans for all manner of different things – from improving their house to paying for a new car. One of the best ways that you can make the most out of a personal loan, is to think about using it for your gap year. A personal loan is an unsecured form of loan that you can simply pay back month after month as you would with any other loan. Getting a personal loan is usually quite a cheap and easy process. All you need to do is make sure that you can afford to make the repayments every month. Remember, just because it’s unsecured doesn’t mean you don’t have to pay it back.
5. Work as You Go
While you might have saved some of the money up for your gap year by working part time while you’re getting your education, there’s a good chance that you might not have saved enough to fund the whole trip. On the other hand, you could simply run out of cash along the way. If this happens, you could consider getting a working holiday visa and earning money as you go. Teaching English is a good way to cover costs.
6. Be Creative
Finally, make sure that you’re creative with opportunities to save money. For instance, aside from food and flights, accommodation is often one of the most expensive parts of enjoying a gap year. There are plenty of ways that you can reduce the cost of accommodation by sticking to hostels or planning your travel to go to places where you know people so you can hang out on their couch for a day or two. You could even consider house-sitting to save yourself a little bit more money.
