Most of us have been there, in a foreign country during travels, looking for a job. With a positive attitude, you start handing out resumes. After a week or so you still haven’t heard back from any potential jobs. So you hand out more resumes. A week of hearing nothing turns into two, maybe even three and you’re short on money and so desperate you just take anything you find.
Job hunting is something everyone goes through at various points in their lives. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out the way you want it to. This might be because you arrived in a bad season, because you just don’t have the right experience or it could be just plain bad luck.
Don’t worry, be happy! Maybe a little less crazy happy though!
Here are some tips to still save money while looking for a job!
This post in mainly focussed on backpackers/travellers on a WHV in Australia, but you could apply most of these tips anywhere!
Work for accommodation!
Working for accommodation is a great way to save up money! If you think about it, staying in a hostel can easily cost you 20 AUD a day, which is 140 AUD a week! Not having to pay that amount gives you so much more breathing room! Usually, you’re in for an hour or 2 work per day, so more than enough time for job hunting.
Another pro to hostels: Always new friends to make!
When Joachim was looking for a job in Cairns, he started working for accommodation. This saved him from running out of money while job hunting. When he eventually found a job, he could even combine the two, which gave him a great opportunity to save up.
Shop at local markets and supermarkets around closing time!
A good tip for everyone! Around closing time, everyone starts pricing off their products. Meaning you can get the stuff for 70 percent off. Our former housemates were professionals at this! While they were looking for a job, they only ate food they bought with at least 70 percent discount. Every evening they came home really proud showing off their finds for the day!!
Happy findings! Sweet pineapples!
Secondly, smaller local markets might have even better prices than the bigger stores and you also give back to the community. Try to go the last day of the market because everything will be better priced. Ok, all the premium stuff is gone but as a backpacker looking for a job, we don’t have the money anyway to buy premium stuff.
For example, Rusty’s market in Cairns is open from Friday until Sunday. Sunday and at 1 0’clock, the market closes at 2, you will see vendors starting to lower the price of their wares. That is the best time to get the best buys!
All this fresh fruit for only 12 AUD, healthy and cheap!
Online opportunities
It may sound ridiculous and it doesn’t pay well. But it can help you out when you are low on cash. There are several options such as: translating, spell checking, surveys or if you have creative skills even web design. I chose to do surveys and use Myopinions which is a survey site from Australia. It rewards you in vouchers for Woolworths and Coles. It pays really bad as in 10-20 cents per minute approximately but once you do a couple of surveys, you get an extra percentage on those for being a senior member! The first week I put a lot of time in there but from then starting on, an hour a day would pay for my groceries and I wasn’t living off just noodles!
Working online you van make any place with Wi-Fi your little office!
Use your register ticket from Coles or Woolworths for buying drinks!
When shopping at Woolworths or Coles, your receipt on the bottom will have a discount for liquor at the liquor store. Ok, this is not for the best stuff, as Belgians, we don’t see Heineken as beer. But when you are broke, it isn’t really the time to be picky, right?
Cook at home and in bulk!
Instead of getting a sandwich at a sandwich bar every day, make your own lunch at home! You will save heaps of money and even get to know some new people while being in the kitchen of your hostel! Same goes for coffee, We bought a European style coffee maker to put on a stove and coffee grind. Every coffee costs us 30 cents so after drinking coffee at home five times instead of out, we got the price of the coffeemaker back! If you then heat up your own milk on the stove, you have coffee that tastes as good as most coffee shops! Also when cooking, find some people and cook together! Cooking in bulk will always cost less than for one or two! Any leftovers you can freeze for later on!
Coffee is life and life is coffee!
Do free things
Not everything fun has to cost a lot! Go and explore the city and hunt for street art. Have a relaxing day at the beach. Do a nature hike through one of the closest forests or botanical gardens. Look up which museums are free and have a cultural day. There are so many activities that don’t have to cost anything but still make it a well spent day! Here’s a post to get you started on this one!
A fun day swimming in lagoons doesn’t have to cost you anything!
I hope these tips will help you out! Whenever you are hunting for jobs, don’t lose hope! Stay positive and stay active in looking for it! Eventually, something will pop up and with these tips, your budget won’t be completely chewed up!
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