Budget Travel in Japan... IT IS POSSIBLE!

Everyone loves Denny's!? Their special this day was $10 entree with soup or salad...
Isn't Denny's supposed to be cheap??? Not in Japan!

So I am sure you have heard through the grapevine how expensive Japan is... and this was not a lie! I found a pretty cool website called Numbeo.com where you can calculate the average cost of living in your town compared to another town, HERE is my comparison with Tokyo and Charlotte, NC. There were a few things that costed more in Charlotte... but sadly only one or two. Big cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto (especially tourist locations) are more expensive then small towns in places like Chiba. 

The goal of this post it to let you know a secret. A big problem with Japan is that it is a very expensive trip, and although so many people wish to visit, there is one problem MONEY. I am here to tell you, I CAN MAKE IT CHEAP. Trust me, I have been a struggling college kid, and believe it or not mommy and daddy did not flip the bill for my previous or future Japan trips. My first Japan trip was $6000 for 2 months including transportation, school, meals, spending money... EVERYTHING. I was 16 and went through and amazing program called LABO, you have to be 18 or under and it is worth it! My first trip I also went a little crazy with spending money, I didn't know how to properly budget myself (gimme a break I was 16) and ended up buying unnecessary things. My second trip was $2000 for a month. I do get my trips a lot cheaper since I stay with friends, so that $2000 only included a $1300 airfare ticket and food and travel. To save money I discovered some easy tricks to enjoy the experience but to also avoid spending unnecessary money. 

Tokyo... Clothes and food and pretty much everything is ridiculously overpriced, and being all foreign and touristy we want to get sucked into cool looking restaurants and expensive stores. AVOID THIS. I love to sight-see around Tokyo and visit some awesome stores, but I avoid actually buying things in Tokyo. To save money on food I will eat cheap meals at the 7/11 or little convenience stores, the food is cheap and surprisingly delicious! I could eat a lunch for about $3 and be completely full. For clothes shopping I would recommend traveling outside of Tokyo and looking at department stores, or in my case some thrift stores (which are still not too cheap). Harajuku can be considered the only exception to buying cheap clothes in Tokyo... but I tend to hate Harajuku for various reasons. The clothes are reasonably prices, with many stores offering generous discounts, but the clothes tend to be cheaply made. I bought a dress and a few shirts, and the dress was falling apart after wearing it once, and thankfully my Japanese host mother can sew! 

For lodging my recommendation is HOSTELS. Now I know what you are thinking, I thought the same, I thought that they were tiny nasty dorm rooms where you all slept in one big room together and shared a bathroom with strangers. Doesn't sound very appealing right? No. I personally have not stayed in a hostel, but a good friend of mine recently traveled all over Japan (on a strict budget) before a trip to Australia, He stayed at a few Hostels and LOVED IT. He said every single one was amazingly clean, the staff was extremely friendly, and he made some amazing friends from all over the world. I did some research, since I am planning on doing some major traveling while I am in Japan for a year, and fell in love with some hostels! They are incredibly cheap and some even include breakfast and some include dinner with a small fee! You are given the option for a private room for a little extra (usually with a shared bathroom only) and the prices range from $10-50 a night, with $50 being the most expensive I saw. There was even a hostel in Nikko (that I 100% plan to visit and stay at) that used to be a ryokan with onsen (hot springs) and that with $20 a night you get to stay at the hostel AND use the onsens... this is an amazing deal! Ryokans with onsens are typically $100-150 a night, and to be able to stay for a measly $20 blows my mind. Anyways, hostels are an incredibly cheap option, and with the hotel prices in Japan, can save you an enormous amount of money. HERE is the site to find hostels. 

Another option is a homestay. Although this option usually appeals to a younger age group (usually high school or college) it is for all ages. HERE is the link to find homestays. I had an amazing experience with my homestay, and these homestay families I have looked at seem to have just as amazing reviews, plus they are cheap and allow better insight into the Japanese style of living and culture. 

These are just a few quick tips to budget travel, I would estimate with A LOT of traveling (I mean you would be in Japan so you gotta see all you can!) and budgeting food to at most $10 a meal... you can look at $700-800 for cheap private room at a hostel (not the cheapest option), high travel costs, and spending money of about $150 for the week added in. Airfare not included. Honestly that is not bad rates, and you can cut the costs down by just exploring Tokyo and its surrounding areas! I truly believe that anyone can afford to travel to Japan if they want to badly enough. Work hard and start saving those pennies as soon as you can! It is achievable and it really is such a fantastic place to visit, I absolutely love it there (hence why this will be my 3rd time). 

Here is my summary for cheap budgeting tips: 

• Eat at 7/11's and convenience stores or cheaper restaurants
• Stay in Hostels instead of hotels and save hundreds of dollars, if you are a student youth hostels are a great option to (you must have valid student ID or be a certain age)
• Don't buy clothes in Japan, shop in surrounding areas like Chiba at department stores and thrift stores
•  Homestays are a good budget travel, and breakfast us usually included, and a home cooked Japanese meal is offered with an additional charge (usually $5)