How to afford the adventures of your dreams
Last thing you want to do is return from vacation regretting all the money you spent and how broke you now are. You want your vacation to be nothing but a great memory, not the time you blew x amount of money and forced you to go into more debt.
All our Myers family adventures start out by adding up the miles our trip will be by using google maps. Should we fly or drive. We use fueleconomy.gov to see how much our vehicle or rental vehicle will get in gas mileage. Then we estimate gas prices by location on Gas Buddy. We usually drive because the math ends up better that way and we get to see and experience so much more along the route. A flight might get you to final destination but driving makes getting there an adventure. After adding up the miles, we add up gas prices around our destinations rounding up to ensure we budget enough for gas. We also add up for oil changes if the miles are enough to ensure our car is fully maintained.
Sometimes it is nice to splurge on a nice hotel for special occasions. We stayed at the Wynn Las Vegas for one of our anniversary trips.
After the transportation cost is added we start figuring the cost of where we stay. On a lengthy trip we usually find inexpensive hotels considering we are too busy exploring to waste time in the hotel. It is used for sleeping and getting ready only. We may stay at a “fancy” hotel a night or two for special occasions but generally stay at inexpensive hotels or motels. We also aim to stay with friends or family if we happen to have them in or around the areas we travel. Another great way to save more money is to camp a few nights in a tent on a campground. You get to stay in the great outdoors and save a ton of money at the same time.
Then comes the smaller expenses such as food, entertainment, and souvenirs. Normally we just slide over our regular grocery budget for our food travel budget. We save money by packing meals, or shopping in local grocery stores, but have some set aside for eating out a few times. We end up going to Rainforest Cafe it’s always fun no matter which one. As for entertainment and souvenirs it depends on where we are going but it is important not to overspend.
Having an emergency fund is a must in life, let alone in traveling, you never know what you may come across. You need to have enough money to cover vehicle maintenance, and extra for anything that may come up on the road. (We experienced some overheating issues in the desert before Vegas)
Budgeting is a must in life, it is important to sit down and plan with your significant other, make sure you both have an equal say.