The new year is in full force, which means most people have already given up on those resolutions they created in their head when they were counting down. This year, more than ever, it’s imperative to keep up with them, because if the Mayans have anything to do with it, 2012 could be our last year on earth.

So instead of seeing resolutions as hinderances on life that force us all to give up and give away more than we’d like, use your resolutions as a means of giving something back to yourself. This year, why not focus your resolutions on taking that dream vacation or round-the world journey you’ve always dreamed of, something to give yourself light at the end of the tunnel.

The most common resolutions can actually be great ways to save up, here’s how. 

Lose weight

Photo courtesy of Amanda M.

This is the resolution that plagues women from 17-70 all over the world. So ladies, instead of signing ourselves up for expensive diet programs or buying heaps of low-calorie cook books, why don’t we all just do it the old fashion way and eat less.

Minimize portions at home and maybe instead of buying an appetizer and main meal in restaurants, just choose one of the two. All the money saved on buying less food, can go towards accommodation.

To add to the common weight loss campaign, people will resolute to start hitting the gym in January. The problem is that they’ll grow tired of this come February, which is a huge waste of money considering how much gym memberships cost and that they usually require a contract. Apart from the people who actually do visit gyms religiously, this year may be a good one to save that money towards travel and find other means of working out.

If a person finds the motivation to maintain a weekly work out plan come new year, he or she should be able to do this anywhere. How about working out in the great outdoors. Grass works just like a treadmill and lakes are the original pools.

In regards to travel, getting and staying in shape is unbelievably helpful. First of all, it makes the type of travel he or she can participate in limitless. Hello Mt. Everest! Second, it gives people who are saving up and can’t afford certain things a healthy hobby. Finally, being in shape makes people confident in all sectors of life.

Some may be putting off that trip to the Caribbean, because they can’t stand the sight of themselves in a bathing suit. If that’s what’s stopping you, then finally tackle it this year. Who knows, maybe you’ll find the courage to go nude on the beaches of France!

Quit smoking/drinking

Photo courtesy of Debbie Gonzalez.

These two things are probably the biggest waste of money anyone could ever take on in life. Based on money alone, these are two things we should all probably give up or do less of in 2012.

Consider this, a pack of cigarettes costs anywhere between $7 and $20 depending on brand and where in the world they’re being sold. People who smoke a pack a week could save between $364 and $1,040 a year. That’s roundtrip airfare money. People who smoke a pack a day are looking at saving $2,548 and $7,280 a year. That is an entire trip paid for.

Alcohol on the other hand, as a traveler and lover of all things food and wine, I can’t possibly advise everyone to completely give it up. (This of course does not apply to people with substance abuse problems. Honestly, all our lives are better without booze at the end of the day.)

But people should consider cutting down their alcohol intake substantially when saving for a trip abroad. A night out is extremely costly these days. Drinkers are looking at spending anywhere from $30-$100 just on booze at a bar. Maybe consider hosting dinner parties at home instead of going out for drinks. People could also go out just one night a weekend instead of two.

The final and most reasonable option is to just cut down your drinking whenever you do. Drinking too much is unnecessary and actually quite embarrassing a lot of times. Instead of getting sloshed, get tipsy. Bring out only enough money to get you to the happy point, then just enjoy the night.

Of course, your personal health is a much greater reason to give these two things up. In general it’s much harder for unhealthy people to travel, which is something to be mindful of if you’re interested in spending some or a lot of time abroad.

Take on a new hobby

Photography is a brilliant hobby to use while traveling. Photo courtesy of Emily Kendall.

When saving up, this is a huge must to fill the void of time you used going out to dinner, shopping or to the movies. A lot of people end up just watching loads of films and TV shows. (Don’t worry, I’m one of them.) But this time can also be used to do things you could never find the time to do before.

Let’s focus on travel-related hobbies since that’s the whole point anyway. You could try and learn a new language, start planning a trip or maybe even start a travel blog. These all take up time, are useful and are actually beneficial to someone interested in seeing the world.

Plus, they don’t have to cost money. Youtube is a great source for people interested in learning a language, almost all travel blogs and websites are free and very helpful in planning a trip and sites like WordPress, Tumblr and Blogger allow anyone to create their own blog at zero cost.

Improve relationships

Don't be like these owls. Photo courtesy of Bahman Farzad.

The most rewarding thing in life is our relationships with others and lucky for all human beings, this reward is absolutely free. If you’ve lost touch with a family member, take time to get to know them better. It won’t cost a dime.

If you’ve lost focus on a lover. Put the effort into getting it back. Not to go into details, but the things you can do with a spouse or significant other are the most blissful in the world. Of course, I’m referring to deep conversations and long walks on the beach…

The point is that the number one most important thing in our lives as human beings is the relationships we have with fellow human beings. This means friends, family, lovers and more. Yet it’s something a lot of us don’t put enough time or effort into and the best thing about it, is that it requires only two people.

So when you’re saving up for a trip and start moaning about what to do this weekend, how about just spending an entire day with someone special to you doing nothing but watching films in bed, walking around town and getting to know each other a little bit better.

Don’t see your resolutions this year as giving up, but saving up and getting ready for something really special.

The reward: maybe a few days in Fiji. Photo by Bobbi Lee Hitchon.

Banner photo by Julia Eve Hays.

Scams just come with Southeast Asian travel. In fact, two of the most common scams in general happen immediately after leaving the airport usually, over-priced taxis and taxis selling a particular hotel.

But don’t let scams stop or ruin your trip. Some of the scams you hear about don’t even exist and a lot don’t happen very often. The truth is that most scams only set Western travelers back a few dollars and a few actually make for a good story.

Nonetheless, it’s not a subject that should ever be taken lightly. Travelers should always make themselves aware of possible scams so they’re prepared to handle the situation if it happens. Rather than preparing you for scams I’ve heard of, but never seen in action, here are four I’ve run into and the best way I found to tackle them.

Made up services

The scam:

I’ve written about my adoration for the Philippines on several occasions. Part of the reason why I like the country so much is, because it’s off the tourist trail, a bit rugged and untouched. But with untouched also comes undeveloped tourist services. This is a great thing for intrepid travelers, but something that allows for a lot of scams.

Twice I’ve seen random people actually write down a price on a piece of cardboard, expecting an arriving crowd of tourist to start dishing out cash. Once was for a fight that was actually free, but a random guy started telling everyone it costs 20php. Next was for a ferry service, which just needed to be negotiated for a more reasonable price. Both these experiences added a lot of character to my journey

What I did:

Basically I just said no. With the fight it just seemed ridiculous. It literally looked like a guy straight off the street jumped into an old collection box. Unfortunately, all the Filipinos at the arena started to get in on it too and urged us to pay. Okay, when have you ever been to a sporting event where fans were actually forcing other fans to pay?

In the case of the over-priced ferry service, well I have Lonely Planet to thank for that. In Southeast Asia on a Shoestring, LP authors wrote about this exact scam in the exact place it happened to me. They wrote to only accept a certain rate. So that’s what I and a band of five or six travelers did. In the end, the cargo boat took our offer.

The moral of this story is to ask around, read up on the area, stand your ground and don’t be foolish.

Recommended accommodation by taxi drivers

The scam:

Taxi drivers are honestly the biggest scammers EVER. Not all drivers are caniving, but in pretty much every corner of the world a taxi driver has and will take advantage of tourists in more ways than one.

A taxi scam method I noticed a lot in Southeast Asia was drivers recommending or even forcing accommodation on their passengers. I wrote about this happening to me on my first day in Southeast Asia. It happened even more forcibly in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

After a day of driving from 4,000 Islands in Laos to Siem Reap, Ric, my boyfriend and I arrived at the bus junction in our destination city exhausted. On the bus journey there we met a woman who owned a hostel and arranged to stay with her. That may or may not have been a scam of its own, but we promised to go with her anyway.

Then we arrived at the bus junction to dozens of determined drivers. We tried our hardest to stick with our girl. We came so close too. She stuck us on a tuk tuk, instructed him to go to the place that was mapped out on her business card. However, as the tuk tuk drove away from her, the guy in the cart with us started talking about some place different. “It has a pool” he said. “Close to town,” he told us. We kept saying no, but  we really didn’t have any choice.

What I did:

We were exhausted and knew nothing of the town. So Ric just yelled, “Take us wherever, but we’re not paying for this ride.”

We didn’t pay and luckily the guest house they delivered us to was amazing and cheap. It even had a great pool.

The moral of this story is that when drivers recommend accommodation, it’s not because they’re being nice. It’s because they’re receiving commission. If you have reservations already booked, talk with the driver about where it is and what their price for the ride is prior to getting into the car. That said, sometimes it is literally impossible to get out of this situation, but hey, it might work out for the best.

Tuk Tuks in Thailand

Our tuk tuk in Bangkok brought us to a tailor en route to our destination. Photo by Bobbi Lee Hitchon

The scam:

This is probably the most-talked-about scam in Southeast Asia. There’s a reason why so many tuk tuks are just hanging out rather than driving people places in Bangkok. They are a guaranteed scam. That said, this scam is actually an experience.

I read and heard about the tuk tuk scam long before I arrived in Thailand. Passengers board a tuk tuk giving the driver their destination. Driver says sure. Halfway through the drive, during which he’s absolutely lovely and personable, he says, “I know a really great shop where you can buy one-of-a-kind Thai gifts.” Enthusiastic traveler thinks, “Amazing, take me there now.”

However good or whatever this shop turns out to be, the driver only took his or her passengers there, because he’s getting a commission.

What I did:

Since I knew this, but wanted to go for a tuk tuk ride just once in Bangkok, I planned to board one when I had nowhere to be. My boyfriend, a friend and I were straight with the driver and said, “We know you’re going to take us wherever, this is all we’re willing to pay to get to our final destination and we most likely won’t buy anything from wherever you take us.” He asked us to just look around the tailors he would take us, so we promised to do so.

Great ride, great conversation, then we arrive at said tailors. The salesmen inside were all over Ric. “You buy suit? We have nice suits. You like this suit?” My friend and I just laughed and looked around on our own. One saleman astray spotted us and started asking us to buy ties for our boyfriends back home. I said mine is right there, so I don’t need to.

He looked at my friend and asked her. Before she could answer I said, “That’s her boyfriend too. We share him.” It either really offended them or they just realized we were wasting their time, but either way they kicked us out of the store and we actually made it home sooner than expected.

SE Asian travelers, you’ve been warned about tuk tuks yet again. Basically, expect a detour if you ride one. Enjoy it instead of getting annoyed.

Price inflation in general

The scam:

Money, money, money. That is the entire reason why any of these scams even exist. That’s why the most basic of SE Asian scams is adding a few or a lot of dollars onto the real price of a service or item.

To be blunt, haggle on everything in SE Asia. This means clothes, food, massages, but especially all forms of transportation. Travelers should never accept the first price a driver gives them unless they’ve read that’s the going rate or it was set up by someone trusted.

This isn’t just for private travel either. I’ve been charged twice the locals on public buses before.

My favorite price inflation came in a taxi in Bangkok. We picked up the ride at Khaosan Road, which was our first mistake. We needed a ride to Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. I tried the learn a few phrases in Thai every day I was there and the phrases that day just happened to be: “How much? (Tao-rai?)” and “Very expensive! (Phaeng Mark)”.

We boarded the car and gave the driver our destination. He didn’t turn his meter on, so I asked him to do so. He said, “No it will be a lot cheaper if I just give you a general price.” I replied, “Nah, I want the meter on.” He priced the ride at 500baht, which I knew was absurd considering our taxi from the airport to the city was less than that.

What I did:

So I did what any logical person would do and yelled, “Phaeng mark mark.” He looked at me and said, “Nooo! Took mark mark!” A Thai phrase I learned at that moment, which means “too cheap”. We went on like this until he started to bargain with me. I got him down to 150baht and actually had him laughing by the end of the ride.

I have to reiterate how important it is to haggle in SE Asia. It’s necessary and actually quite fun. Other than that, look at what the locals are paying, always ask taxi driver to run their meter and negotiate before entering a cab. If the driver won’t budge, there are a million other cabs around to choose from most of the time. One of them will.

Other good reads to prepare travelers for scams:

• 8 Popular Scams in Southeast Asia
• 10 Travel Scams to Avoid in South East Asia
• Don’t Ride the Thai Scam Bus

A surprise to some, and lifeline to others, a nice end to any working-holiday year or two spent in Australia is receiving tax back and superannuation.

In a country where wages are high, these two things can accumulate to a large chunk of change. But in a country where living expenses are also extremely high, that large chunk of change may be needed just to book a flight home.

Depending on how much you spent on your working holiday abroad and how desperately you need money, there are three options to getting your tax back. However, your superannuation may be a bit more complex.

I have spare money so I’ll do my tax back whenever.

A year in one of the wildest countries in the world, in nature and party, and you’ve still managed to be thoughtful with the money you’ve earned. Good on ya!

If there’s no need to receive your Tax Back now, then do it on your own through the Australian Tax Office (ATO). This process probably takes the longest to complete depending on your knowledge of tax forms etc.

Don’t be too daunted by the process. It’s actually quite simple and the ATO website goes through the process with you.

When can I file my tax return?

The fiscal year starts on July 1 and ends on June 30, if you want to file for a tax return this way, you should wait until the June 30 following your year of work. This may mean filing twice for your tax return depending on when you worked in Australia.

What do I need?

Be prepared with personal information including your Tax File Number (TFN) as well as payment summaries from all employers in Australia. These are available at the end of each fiscal year.

How can I lodge my Tax Return this way?

The ATO website gives directions for lodging tax returns online or by mail. Go through their e-tax demonstration to learn about the process online. You may find most of the information needed to lodge your return is already available on their website. For people still in Australia at the end of the fiscal year, most news agents offer paper tax back guides and forms for free.

When do I receive my tax back?

For the basic working holiday maker, the process usually isn’t too complex. Though any tax office works at its own pace. Most people can expect Tax back anywhere from two weeks on. I received my tax back about a month after it was lodged. After six weeks, I would recommend a call or email asking for an update.

I’m traveling, so I would like the money soon, but don’t have time for paperwork.

If your adventure in Australia ends with the beginning of another adventure in some place new (tax back goes far in southeast Asia), then you most likely will have some money to spare, but won’t have the time or resources to lodge a tax return yourself. The best option is to see a tax agent.

When can I file my return with an agent?

Whenever you want. Even if your tax back with an agent includes work after July 1, but it is not yet June 30 of that same year, they can get your full return with an early tax assessment. Foreign residents applying individually can do this as well, but it gets a bit more complicated, so it’s better to leave it to the experts.

Try to meet with a tax agent while in Australia. They’ll talk you through the process, give you some paper work and let you know about any loose ends that need to be tied up before leaving the country. After leaving, just follow whatever they tell you to do post-departure.

What do I need?

Information needed on the application from a tax agent includes personal details such as your TFN, employment details (it can be as simple as the name of places you worked, they’ll research the rest, but the more information given, the quicker the process and sometimes the cheaper) and bank account information.

If you can keep the Australian bank account you were paid into open, then do. It makes the process easier for payment of funds and tracking how much you’ve earned.

You must also sign a power of attorney allowing the tax agency to complete this work.

Once all this information is returned to a tax agent, your work is done.

How much does it costs?

Some agents charge a percentage of your tax return, others charge a flat fee. Look into how much you’ve earned to pick which option is best for you, but usually it’s easier just to go for a flat fee. Make sure to go through an agency with a policy of only charging after your refund is complete.

When do I receive my refund?

It depends on how long it takes the agency to lodge your tax return as well as the tax return process by ATO. Good tax agents are very educated in tax law and usually sort out information and file it pretty quickly. I used this option and received my tax refund about two months after mailing in my application with no payment summaries.

How do I find a reliable tax agent?

A lot of travel agencies in Australia also offer tax back. If not they can recommend places to you. You can also find registered tax agents on the government website.

I don’t even have the money for a flight out of Oz. I need cash now!

Yes it’s possible to get your tax refund within a week or less, but it’ll cost you.

I’ve heard twice of people receiving up-front tax back payments. This means an agency does the usual estimate on the amount of tax back you will receive, pays that amount to you out of their own pocket and actually collects the tax back for themselves later.

You’ll go through the same application process as with a tax agent. Only difference is they must complete an identity check first to give the money up front.

Expect to pay at least 9% of your tax back. Backpacker Buddy offers what they call a 12-hour refund. They charge 19.8% of your tax back with a minimum fee of $250. This means no matter what your tax back estimate is, you’ll pay at least $250, but possibly more.

(Note: This is NOT and endorsement for Backpacker Buddy. I’ve never used them personally. I only mention their name, because they are one of the few agencies I’ve heard of that refund this way.)

Yipee, you’ve gotten some money back from your time in Australia. Now it’s time to get more. While superannuation refunds can be slightly more confusing, money is money, and all temporary workers who have left Australia for good are entitled to these funds. Click here to find out how.

Superannuation is a retirement fund set up in Australia for people who earn more than $450 per month. Your employer is obligated to put 9% of your earnings into a super fund once you reach this threshold.

You can create your own super fund, but most just have one set up with the company they are working with. This means it is possible to have more than one super fund account.

The money is entered into the share market, so how much you receive back depends on the market at the time.

Tax agents can also lodge your super refund, but in more cases than with tax refunds it’s not worth it to go through an agent as their fees, plus an automatic 35% tax by the government on any super at withdrawal, will leave you without much.

Luckily, the process of actually applying to receive your superannuation on your own is not as detailed as the tax refund process. You can withdraw your superannuation either through the company it’s invested with or through the government ATO website.

Either way, you must fill out a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP) form. You will have to fill out more than one of these forms if you have a superfund set up with more than one company.

At the start of your work with a company, they should give you forms regarding your superannuation that include all its details. If you no longer have these forms, contact previous employers to find out who the fund is with, then contact those companies to find out details such as your account number with that superannuation fund.

Now comes the most difficult part, whether you apply for your super refund with an agent or on your own, proving your identity and that your work visa has expired.

Since superannuation is set up as a retirement fund, in most cases only temporary workers can withdraw from it before retiring. Your temporary work visa must be expired to apply to receive your superfund.

If your visa has not expired but you want to claim your super, you must cancel your visa, which can be done by contacting immigration with your full name and date of birth, the passport number you had when you visited Australia, subclass of the visa you wish to have canceled (usually either 462 or 417 work holiday visas), current residential address and the date you departed Australia. Note, make sure you leave Australia or get a new visa before canceling your work visa.

Now back to receiving your super refund. To prove your identity, visa and its expiration and that you have departed the country you must make photocopies of the following:

• your passport photo page
• your arrival and departure stamps from Australia
•  your visa (stamp or email)
•  a second form of ID, such as a drivers license or two debit/credit cards from different banks

All these photo copies must be certified by someone qualified to do so such as a police officer, doctor, judge, etc. Whomever is certifying the document must write out, “I certify this to be a true and correct copy of the original document,” as well as sign and print their name, write their qualifications, their address, business hours, telephone number, registration number, date the document and stamp with an official stamp.

This all must be written or translated in English, making an already complicated task close to impossible when doing so in places like Hong Kong or the Philippines.

Once all this is complete, send all these forms and your application either to the government or individual super fund companies. Expect to wait at least 28 days to receive the payment.

Was this article helpful to the process of getting your superannuation back? Visit tomorrow to learn how to get your tax back from Australia.