I like to think I’m pretty good at backpacking without much dosh. I’ve been a student for like, ever, and before that earned, like, nothing.

Yet despite moths coming out of my wallet on my morning chocolate milk and pie run, I’ve managed to travel around Europe three times in the last five years. These trips haven’t been luscious, or extravagant, or held much dignity, but gosh darn it, I was physically there.

And hell, I’ve done some stingy things on my travels to stretch out those last ‘coupla months, but I haven’t had to call my dad and cry while cooking old newspapers with the oil I wrung out from my hair. So I’d say that’s a success.

#1 Washed My Undies In The Shower To Stretch Out Laundry Costs

Mate, I cut my laundromat frequency in HALF by wearing my undies inside out when they were dirty, then washing them with a bar of soap while I showered. Buck: saved.

#2 Survived On Zucchinis And Rice

It’s no secret that cooking your own food is cheaper than going out. And while I do love eating new and exciting things, I limited myself to one or two national dishes per country, depending on how long I was staying there.

Every other night I lived on a solid diet of zucchini, rice and oil. Sometimes tuna, sometimes whatever was in the free-for-all basket at the hostel.

#3 Slept In The Park During San Fermin

Do you have any idea how expensive accommodation is during the Running of the Bulls in Spain? Like, a month in Poland’s worth. To save about a billion dollars in bedding for a couple of nights, I put my rucksack in a locker at the train station and spent my night in various parks. Oh, to be 18, right? (Sorry mum.)

#4 Carried Half A Broccoli Across Two Countries

I bought a single broccoli with some cheap fish in Oslo and realised later that that single vegetable cost me ten dollary-doos. Horrified and ashamed, I packed it in my carry-on and ate the stalk later in Finland as an entire dinner. 

#5 Used A Tea Towel As A Regular Towel For A Year

Tea towels are just smaller, cheaper versions of towels. After some dickhead stole my people-sized towel, I used a rotating collection of ornamental tea towels to dry myself for about a full year.

#6 Used Baking Soda Instead Of Toothpaste

A box of baking soda is £1.40 and it lasts a looooooong time. Longer than three tubes of toothpaste. It probably doesn’t make your breath smell minty but I reckon I saved, like, tens of dollars in the meantime.

#7 Followed Randoms In Copenhagen To Navigate Myself Without Internet Charges

When I was staying with friends in Copenhagen, there were times I had to entertain myself. Instead of shelling out on a map, or taking out a mortgage on roaming charges, I decided to follow random cyclists on my bike in the hope they were going to the city. It worked until I ended up at some dude’s house in the suburbs.

#8 Tried To Cure Bed Bugs At The Thermal Baths

I got mad bed bugs in Slovakia. Like, I thought I was just getting bitten by mozzies that I couldn’t feel for four nights but by the time I got to Budapest, I looked like a human pomegranate, and was scared no hostel would take me. The cream from the pharmacy was $10 but the thermal baths were like the same price.

Long story short: it didn’t work, I bought the cream, and I made many tourists very uncomfortable.

#9 Spent 10 Hours On A Bus To Save $15

$15 could buy you like a month of accommodation in Russia in 2014, and my time is worth literally nothing.

#10 Slept At A Train Station So I Didn’t Have To Taxi Home

In Vienna, the trains stopped after midnight – a fact that I did not have the foresight to check before I went out drinking until 2am one night. When I got to the station, I realised I missed the last train, didn’t want to shell out taxi money, and slept in front of the sliding doors.

In retrospect, it’s incredible I got through these trips unharmed and unkidnapped. Can’t say I recommend.

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Ass-saving advice in collaboration with UNiDAYS. No matter where you are, UNiDAYS saves students heaps on all the essentials, so you can live your best life.

(Lead image: Akio Takemoto/Flickr CC)