What is a Realistic Budget for Traveling?
Posted by business | travelling | Posted on May 15th, 2010
One you can afford – seriously.
Look at how much you earn. What can you put aside for a trip? What are you prepared to sacrifice to make your trip a reality? Maybe you’ve been saving for a while and have a few thousand dollars in the bank. You do? Great. Well that’s your realistic budget. If you want to fly to Europe tomorrow and you only have ten dollars in the bank then you are not being realistic. But it might be enough to get you in to the local museum for a few hours escape.
When you are setting your budget, be practical. Everyone has different needs for their travel experience and if your travel plans include overseas flights, you will need to budget accordingly. Sure you can find great deals and get there cheaper than you might have expected, but make sure you have enough money in your budget to not only get you there but to travel around, find a place to sleep, oh and have enough money to be able to eat!
So how do you go about setting a budget? Following these steps might help:
1. Draw up a table with two columns.
2. Column A is for Expense Items. Column B is for Approximate Costs.
3. In column A write down all the things you can think of that will cost you money while traveling. These might include: air flights, car hire/fuel allowance, travel passes, sight-seeing tours, accommodation, food, insurance, immunizations, and souvenirs.
4. In column B write an estimate of how much you think these things will cost while on your trip. You can research your travel costs quite easily on the Internet. Food allowance might be a bit more difficult. If you are traveling alone, as a couple or in a family you will need to budget food costs accordingly.
5. Now add up the costs. This will give you an estimate of how much your trip will cost. Can you afford it? Yes – then this is a realistic budget for you. If not, then you may have to rethink your destination and the type of travel experience you want.
Remember that this table will only be an estimate of your travel costs. You must also budget for incidentals and prepare yourself for things to not go to plan. For example, have you got enough money in your budget to buy new clothes if your luggage goes missing? A realistic travel budget will have extra built in to it to cover emergencies. Setting yourself a budget of about sixty-five dollars a day, if traveling alone, is a reasonable amount. If you are traveling as a family or in a group, this number will be vastly different.
Also consider if you will be traveling and working. If this is the case, then you may not need as much to start with, just enough money to get you to your destination and a place to live while you look for work. (And enough money to buy you food until you begin earning a wage.)
Start making your travel plans with your budget in mind. Don’t exceed your budget, always keep a little in reserve so you can buy that fantastic Italian leather handbag or go jet-skiing in Hawaii if the desire takes you!
This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru
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new york is a VERY expensive place to live. especially for someone right out of university. i guess it depends how much money you have right now. you'll need to have enough money for food, rent and transportation for the first couple months while you get settled with a new job. Also, those places you listed in where you want to live are some of the most expensive in NYC.
what you have here is pretty much the suburban teen dream life. i think it will take you a lot more time to make enough money to be able to do activities in NYC and to travel. even if your not staying in luxurious hotels, air fair to these places will be KILLER.
unless you have a lot of money right now to start you off or will be making a ton of money in this job that you want, i think your going to have to lower your standards and quite a bit.
my brothers friend moved to NYC to go to one of the universities there and even though he still has a job that pays well, he is having a very difficult time there. ha had the same type of plan as you and today he finds himself in a cheap, bad part of the city barley getting by (and hes already paid all of his university tuition!).
maybe it'll be different for you since you'll be looking for a full time job, but i think you will probably have to start out in a cheaper area in NYC for a while.
good luck anyways
des viideo ist echt der hamma und er hat einfach ne hamma geile stimme
great done
I think $2000 each is a bit steep for a flight into Rome. I recently booked an emergency ticket from Norway to the US, and even though it was bought 2 days before travel it cost $1200. One-ways can be expensive, but they're generally not that expensive. Try a Euro flight comparison site like Momondo for better prices:
http://momondo.com
Having lived in Scotland, I can say I much prefer Edinburgh over Glasgow.
Bed and breakfasts/guesthouses are an inexpensive alternative to hosteling, and some of them can be quite nice. They generally cost £20-30 per person (or the equivalent in €) for a double room, which totals $60-80 at the current exchange. They are usually owned by a family or a couple, and have many personal touches that chain hotels and budget hostels do not. Breakfast is often included, and you get a chance to speak to the locals.
A nice but inexpensive hotel in Paris is Hotel de la Porte Dorée. One of the owners is American (so no language barrier), and they are extremely helpful with recommendations and directions. If you're interested, I recommend emailing them and asking about specific rooms (they're all different, and some of them are nicer). It's located in a cozy residential area a bit east of the city centre, across the street from a fantastic bakery. Anywhere you stay right in the centre will cost more than $110 per night, and probably not be as nice. The elevator is tiny though.
http://www.hoteldelaportedoree.com/
For food, I recommend budgeting at least €60/$75 each per day (not including drinks). It's easy to eat cheaper than that, but this will keep your options open and give you the chance to try some nicer (but not extravagant) restaurants.
I honestly think you can do the trip for about half the cost you've budgeted, plus spending money.
its not our solar system but have you looked at eve online?
Cool das er trotzdem Musik macht!
No not really but is possible. 1000baht is about 20 pounds or 30 dollars. The cheap rooms can go as cheap as 300 baht but there are not many. Food: Ok eating from street stalls can be less than 100 -300 a day. depending on your hunger.. Drink. Beer is really expensive but san tip thai whiskey is cheap. Bangkok is dear but can be done cheaply but outside the City centers things are cheaper. I spend 10 thousand baht a day minimum.but I like to party………..check out budget travel via The Kao San Rd backpacker websites. Good Luck. Oh 'company' is your main expense. If you can live without that or get it for free that saves a lot of money.
I'll go with the flux capacitor.
the rule of thumb used to be in the 8 to 12% of your total budget for the "better things in life"
a possibly more sound rule of thumb is the 1/3 principal.
Use 1/3 of your extra monies to re-pay what you've brought in the past and still owe for — paying off 12 to 21 % credit card bills ( and eliminating the interest expenses ) is better than getting 5.50% interest in a CD certificate ( and paying Uncle Sam a part of that, as income ).
the second 1/3 is for your current expenses — home auto and all the insurances and utilities and the "monthly" bills you mentioned.
final 1/3 goes to savings, investments and 401(k) type — For the Future — and then don't touch them……people are finding they would have more money at retirement if they started earlier.
there was a story of twin sisters — aged 25
#1 sister started putting money aside each month and did it until her 35th birthday and stopped…and never put another dime in the account ( apying into it for only 10 years)
#2 sister started at age 35, when she heard what #1 sister had done and started an identical savings account & continued paying into the fund until age 55…( or into it for twenty years)
the accounts for both grew at the same rates all through their lives; but at retirement ( age 55 in this case ) since the #1 sister started earlier, due to compounding, her nest egg was over 3 times more than #2 sister's….just because of the ways of compounding and her earlier start. It is the early years that made a difference in their funds at retirement.
Benny!!!!!! <3
Schade dass er nich gewonnen hat! Er wär auf jedenfall erfolgreicher geworden als Daniel Schuhmacher!
Aber wahrscheinlich wird Benny auch so berühmt!
Ich glaub an ihn!!! <333
Der Lipgloss ist ein bisschen viel
Aber das ist eben Beeeeenny 
i believe from Punta cana to santo domingo is 2 hours (one way)
lol :->
I've been in the RV Business, most of it spent in the Rental side of it, since 1981. Your trip sounds great, but you didn't mention what your actual goal is…is it to actually visit and enjoy where you're going, or is it to just drive through 44 states to say you were in 44 states? To me, parts of your trip are not realistic.
Your total listed budget for a 60 day trip comes down to $84 a day to feed 2 persons, pay for the RV, campgrounds, fuel…and that's before you have any suprises (breakdowns, repairs, etc.) on the road.
First, if you're going to try and hit 44 states over about 60 days, that means you're going to cover around 8-10,000 miles…no matter how much you plan ahead. This means you need to drive 134 – 167 miles per day and there's not a gasoline motorhome made today…or in the last 50 years, that with a $15/day fuel budget, that will get you over 25 mpg (based on $3/gallon gas). A very small Class C gasoline motorhome might get you 12-ish, driving 50-55 mph. Even some of the old small Winniebago diesel models won't meet your fuel budget & they offer some very scary over-the-road service obstacles.
Second, if you could find a motorhome for $2,000, I can promise you that you'll spend more than that amount for repairs during your trip. There's a very big difference buying an old junker to go to the local road track, stadium or hunting camp, than to try a trip of this type. You might, and this is a very big might, be able to find a Travel Trailer owner that is in finanical hard times that will sell you one very cheap, but even in this market, $2,000 won't buy you a lot at all…and with a Travel Trailer, you'd need a vehicle that can tow it. An older Pop-Up Camper is much more a realistic possibility for your $2,000 budget. Also, if you have the ability to sell whatever vehicle you buy, after your trip, that is not cheaper than just abandoning it. If you have the ability to keep it, why not start "rebuilding/fixing" it up for next summer's trip?
If your $650 grocery budget is your total food budget, I have no idea how you'll be able to feed 2 persons, 3 meals a day on a $10.83 daily average (over 60 days)…especially if you're going to be eating out most days.
The Camp-site amounts are realistic if you're staying in State and/or National Parks, Army Corp of Engineer Parks, etc. Not if you plan to go into any type of KOA, Good Sam's or similar campgrounds.
You mentioned flights, but if you can remove the flight cost, then that can be added to any other part of the budget which could be a big help.
Let me give you some realistic ideas:
One, cut down on the amount of states you want to cover. Your trip idea is great, but maybe if you concentrated on one section of the country…Sourthest, Northeast, Southwest or Northwest, you'll spend less time driving…have more quality time to actually see & experience where you're at…and you'll get ideas on how to improve your next trip to the next section you plan to visit. Less driving also means less gasoline expense.
Second, if either of you have a good car that can make the trip, take it, maybe get a deal on a older Pop-Up camper (they can usually be pulled by almost any size car or even mini-van). An older Pop-Up is something that you can probably sell when you return for as much as you paid for it…(would/could your parents front you the money for the Pop-Up if they know you're going to sell it when you get back)…and thus you'd be able to pay them back pretty quickly. Pop-Ups are also very cheap to insure. Whatever you decide on buying, start looking now. Anything you do buy is going to need repairs. The sooner you start on those, the better off you'll be and will be cheaper to do locally than having over-the-road service repairs. As we move into the fall and winter months (moving out of the RV selling season…especially in the Northern states), you might find a dealer with an older vehicle that will be glad to dump it…or even a similar type of deal from an individual seller…check out your local "RV Trader" magazine or "RV Trader On-Line" for individual sellers.
Third, even if you car only gets 15 mpg, if you're paying $3/gallon for gasoline, that's 75 miles per day or 4,500 miles over 60 days…If you stick to one region of the country, you won't drive anywhere near this amount. Again less driving means less gasoline & more $$ for other parts of your budget.
Fourth, to me, when my family goes out, even though we eat a number of meals in the RV or cooking on the grill at the campground, part of the fun of a vacation or even just a weekend away, is finding a nice little place for great local food. Again, if your grocery budget of $650 is your only food budget, this really needs to be around $75-80/day.
Go to http://www.rvworldofgeorgia.com and then click on "Rentals". Once there, go to "RV Travel Links" in the menu on the left. There you'll find a great list of fun & helpful links to make any
Eig mag ich so ne Art Video überhaupt nich und die Art Tanz auch nich…aber bei Benny kommt das einfach gut…ich weiß nich wie er das macht, aber dass was bei vielen blöd aussehen würde wirkt bei ihm einfach geil (Y)
Mach weiter so, Benny!!! <3
ey geil das er trotzdem weitermacht mit seiner musik und sich nich aufgibt
ich glaube an ihn
nice voice
Congratulations on your wedding! It sounds cheesy, but we went to Vegas for our honeymoon and had a blast for under $1000. We were in the same boat, looking for something cheap, but fun for a getaway and we went to a travel agent and they suggested Vegas. Neither of us really gambles or drinks or any of the stuff that we thought of when we thought of Vegas, but we had the best time and we both keep saying that we would love to go back.
The hotels are so neat with all of their different themes and you can spend a whole day or more just wandering through them. They have a ton of different kinds of restaurants from really low budget to really fancy. There are tons of shows that you can see and if you are willing to take a chance you can go for half price if you go to the ticket booth on the day of the show and take whatever isn't sold out. Plus, the surrounding desert is really beautiful and if you can get a package with a car you can go to some of the nat'l parks and see the sights.
We did gamble, but only a tiny bit just to try it out while we were there. We probably spent less than $100 between the two of us on gambling. Everything else we spent on other activities. Our wedding was 3 years ago so I can't be sure of the prices now, but we were able to get 6 days, 5 nights, airfare and our fun money while we were there all for $1000. So it is something to consider.