Has it really been six months already? Time seems to pass much more slowly when you are saving money than when you are spending it!
March was a good month for us financially because we paid for the Antarctica cruise out of a separate fund (we talked about this before). The first 8 days of the month were still on the boat. We also spent the last 11 days of the month on the boat as well, taking the M/S Expedition repositioning cruise from Ushuaia, Argentina over to Falmouth, England.
We had a little splurge in between there, though, and that was a week at a nice hotel called Terrazas del Beagle at $65/night. Nothing is cheap at the end of the world, and this was the most we have spent for lodging on our entire trip. We had some time between leaving our Antarctica cruise and waiting to board for the repositioning cruise, and we justified this expense because we had some website work that needed to be done. It is not always easy to work in a hostel dorm room with the noise, lack of privacy, and fluctuating Internet strength.
You all probably know about our Gap Adventures repositioning cruise by now. We are making our way across the ocean for a very minimal fee while the crew polishes up the ship in time for the Arctic tour season. This was an unexpected turn in our journey, but a good one both for the experience and the savings.
Let’s get to the numbers
Total spending through March 2011: $10,147.31
Total spending for March 2011: $1,622.00
Daily average for March: $52.33
Overall daily average: $55.75
Expense Breakdown:
Lessons Learned
- Look for unconventional ways to travel. It can both save you money and add to your adventure. Find out how this trip to England all came about here.
- When splurging, look for ways to economize. We stayed in the nice hotel for a week, but we bought sandwich food, fruit, and wine to make our own meals. In addition, we booked a hotel 4 km out of town so we would not be tempted to hang out in coffee shops all day or be tempted to buy unnecessary things (easy to do when you are in *wait* mode). When we did go to town we walked, which gave us some good exercise and saved on cab fare. Take advantage of beautiful surroundings to picnic, walk, and enjoy nature for free.
- Make plans with other travelers. When we got off the ship we stayed for a couple of nights at a hostel with friends from the trip. We went hiking and camping with them, and by pooling our money for food and transportation costs we were able to all have a good time for very little cash. This is a really fun way to see new things as well as save money. Don’t be shy about asking new travel friends and acquaintances to cook together or share cab fares and other expenses.
We are still far under our budget of $100/day and $36,500 per year, but we begin traveling in Europe next and that will be a big challenge to our budget. We have already looked at hostels in England and realize we won’t be getting the same great deals as we did in South America. Will we invest in a tent and camp more? Take on a house-sitting job? Go crazy and camp out at a 5-star hotel? Stay tuned to find out.
For more information on how we’ve spent our money so far, check out all of our monthly expense reports by clicking here.
About Warren
I think this definitely new ways to look at travel. Especially for someone like me who keeps a budget whenever my wife and I travel, I think this is less stressful when we are finding mroe ways to save money. My wife and I can get a little crazy with speding money and going over our travel budget. Especially with us going to London next year to visit some friends, we will take in account the different ways to save money. Thanks for the great information.
Walter, glad you enjoyed the tips. Keeping to a budget is never going to be extremely exciting, but when you have a dream and a plan it makes it so much easier. Good luck with your saving and have a wonderful time in London. We will raise a pint to you next month while we are there.
Damn, you guys are impressive. Bar charts? Spreadsheets? Pie charts? Expenses tracked over eight different categories then averaged by day? I think I just ovulated over here.
Seriously, if I ever get to the point where I am able to be half as organized as the two of you, I might actually manage to possibly think about starting to maybe make something of myself.
You reaction was #7 on my list of hopeful responses. Obviously I assumed that ovulation was directly tied to spreadsheets and detailed reporting of expenses. I just hope this post can be read by a broad enough audience to ensure the continuation of the species. Not passing this on should be considered birth-control.
Whatever happens Warren’s post SHOULD NOT be read by Catholics, Mormons and the drought and famine stricken countries of Africa; there will be a population explosion of epic proportions!
Well now I’m dying to know what numbers 1 through 6 are.
And yes, it was the detailed reporting of expenses that did me in. Talk data to me, baby.
Katherine, what a coincidence; I just ovulated ….. uh ….. too! (Hey, if Oprah can have “The Worlds first Pregnant Man*” on her show …. I can ovulate … er …. can’t I?)
* BTW, if you are a woman and you have a sex-change to become a man …. but then you get pregnant …… doesn’t that by definition actually mean you’re STILL A WOMAN, for cryin’ out loud! lol!!!!! (Damn! that’s off the subject of saving money traveling, isn’t it!)
Tranque, with every comment I am convinced we have to get together and share a beer. Oh the crazy conversations we will have. I think it will take a month just to get over the pain in my side from all the laughter.
Looking forward to it!
Have you thought about woofing?
Hey Rob, absolutely. We had looked into it when we were in South America and were planning to do it in Argentina before our plans changed. As we head to Europe we absolutely want to do this for a few weeks or more. It would be great to work on a farm and learn about what it takes.
Have you done? Any advice?
Woofing? Isn’t that what Elmer Fudd did you put himself through cowwege? He worked part-time as a woofer for a woofing company. They put woofs on houses and businesses. Sometimes it would get verwy verwy hot on those woofs so Elmer made sure he hydwated by drinking lots of water. huhuhuhuhuhuhuhu! (<= supposed to be an Elmer Fudd laugh. Not sure how you'd actually write a Fudd laugh.)
Hi Warren, it seems like a good way to get 3 hots and a cot in exchange for a bit of work. I know you have your eye on the budget. I looked into it but I think I left things a bit too late as most places had booked helpers quite early, but Im sure you are a bit more organised than me:)
this is actually very impressive. I don’t know if i would get to the point of creating pie charts, spreadsheets, and all that. I mean it does keep your budget organized and everything but i feel that a lot of time has to go to that. I appreciate the tips. These days, traveling is very expensive and i am always looking for ways i am able to save a buck here an dthere