A Quick Family Road Trip on the $100 a Day Budget
Posted on Jul 19, 2011 | 10 comments
Let's face it. If we were all loaded with cash then these travel posts and Facebook conversations would be pretty pointless. Who needs to know how to travel when you have enough money to make all the mistakes you want? Thing is - WE DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY! And neither do most of you. So if we are going to travel the world, we need to figure out how to shrink the spending a bit.
Traveling on a budget is a challenge for our family, and we enjoy it. As we prepare to set out on an endless jaunt around the world, we are dead set on the idea that it is more than possible to travel comfortably, as a family of 4, on $100 a day.
Now I'm not saying it's easy, but it's possible, even probable.
We spent the last 6 days road tripping our way to Western Pennsylvania for a college camping reunion and we budgeted the whole affair. We just wanted to see how tough this $100 budget was going to be, but actually it wasn't tough at all. We ate well, traveled well, and had a great time. Maggie our daughter learned to swim like a champ and little Sam learned that "raccoons are the same as cats - only BIGGER!"
A good trip and a good budget.
Day 1: 220 Miles - $72.93
BOSTON, MA to LONG ISLAND, NY
Our travels start of with a budget bang. Go cheap while your fresh.
$20.43 Groceries for the Day!
$46.00 Full Tank of Gas
$6.50 Throgs Neck Bridge Toll NYC
FREE Stay with Family
BEST TRAVEL BUDGET MOVE: Buying a huge bottle of Fresh Juice Smoothie instead of dinner. The kids were hot and it worked perfect, plus it is way healthier than nearly anything we could buy. Only $6.99.
POTENTIAL TRAVEL BUDGET DISASTER: Nothing. This day was easy. A free stay always helps.
Day 2: 413 Miles - $230.15
LONG ISLAND, NY to HARRISVILLE, PA
Halfway through this day and Heidi and I give a look to each other that says our $100 a day travel budget is a load of crap.
Here comes the doubt. We will never do it.
Too much blacktop and too much to see for one day.
$6.50 Throgs Neck Bridge Toll NY - Tolls are brutal.
$39.97 Full Tank of Gas
$1.00 PA I-80 Toll
$21.06 Breakfast at Tom's Kitchen - Tom has been here since 1965 and so has everything else. GREAT!
$21.00 Camping
$2.84 Taco Bell for Kids - When in doubt and your son just lost his toenail and is wailing - RUN FOR THE BORDER!
$43.99 Full Tank of Gas
$4.59 Band Aids - Killer and Painful new sandals on Sam
$21.00 Beer
$64.00 Groceries
$4.00 Ice
BEST TRAVEL BUDGET MOVE: Hitting up Henry's Local Butcher Shop for probably the best homemade hot dogs ever and a selection of local meats at really cheap prices.
POTENTIAL TRAVEL BUDGET DISASTER: Well, I lied. We spent more on beer and other alcoholic novelties. But understand, normally, we would not. This special reunion was all about the beer. True enough, reunions will happen while we travel, but then we will make concessions. For now just know that spending $100 a week on alcohol, cigarettes, and other "vices" will crush, destroy, and completely shatter your dreams of budget travel.
Day 3: Travel Free and Easy $36.49
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
$31.00 Weekend Camping
$5.49 Ice and Chips
BEST TRAVEL BUDGET MOVE: A campsite with a swimming pool, hiking trails, free movies, the nicest showers you have ever seen at a campsite (seriously, floor-to-ceiling 12" tiles, in a campground?), and tons of free games and activities.
POTENTIAL TRAVEL BUDGET DISASTER: Going out for dinner in town.
DAY 4: Losing My Shirt $104.50
A great trip into town to hit up the local farmers market and grab a quick lunch. As night settled in Dad got a bit carried away and started placing bets on wandering raccoons.
It happens.
$3.00 Ceramic lesson for Maggie at the Camp
$31.00 Camping
$12.00 Farmers Market
$15.00 Lunch
$26.00 Groceries
$16.00 Gambling Debt
$1.50 Ice
BEST TRAVEL BUDGET MOVE: When you have chance for your kids to do a quick and cheap project. Take it.
POTENTIAL TRAVEL BUDGET DISASTER: What are you going to do? Cards, Beer, Racoons and Old College Friends. I got lucky.
Day 5: The Most Convient Convience Store Around $48.20
I was introduced to SHEETZ GAS STATIONS today. Never thought 10 years ago I would walk into a gas station and be able to order a sandwich from a computer, but . . .
$21.00 Camping
$1.95 Coffee
$7.00 Local Homemade Ice Cream
$3.75 Groceries
$15.00 Firewood
BEST TRAVEL BUDGET MOVE: Ice cream is always the best move.
POTENTIAL TRAVEL BUDGET DISASTER: SHEETZ GAS STATIONS. I honestly was being pressured to try everything. Peer ressure does not go away after high school kids.
Day 6: Heading Home - 558 Miles - $89.02
HARRISVILLE, PA to BOSTON, MA
Who knew that a place called QUAKER STEAK AND LUBE could be a restaurant. We had to give it a try. Not Bad. Sensory overload and you really need to like cars.
A driving tip: Get an arrival time out of your head and just enjoy the journey. So much less stressful.
$13.10 Gas - Top it off when it's cheap.
$ .75 Candy
$1.75 Coffee
$28.32 Lunch/Dinner - Quaker Steak and Lube
$41.00 Gas
$1.35 Coffee
$2.75 MA Tolls
BEST TRAVEL BUDGET MOVE: Cooking all our leftover sausages and eggs over the fire before we left for the big trip.
POTENTIAL TRAVEL BUDGET DISASTER: 558 Miles in a day. It is too much! Quaker State almost got us as well with their endless chicken wings.
TRIP TOTALS:
Our Pre-Trip Budget: $600
Our Actual Budget: $581.29
That puts us at $18.71 under budget.
Gas: $184.46 or 32% of spent budget
Food: $194.65 or 34%
Lodging: $104.00 or 18%
Now I realize that leaves very little room for error. Plus we were camping, had a few free stays - This can't happen all the time.
But imagine if we had traveled the 1209 miles over 2 weeks. We would have saved an extra $200. And also remember, traveling on $100 a day is really only feasible long-term. You have to spread yourself out. Budget the high priced events with the rock bottom lodging. Stay in the US and average $130 a day, then head down to Mexico and spend $70 a day for a few months. Anyway you cut it, if you get creative, traveling on $100 a day is possible anywhere in the world. Even with kids!
All The Best in Your Adventures!
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Sounds like a great time!
Rebeca recently posted..Monkeous Boy
It is certainly not my definition of ideal travel, but very fun. And to have so much fun in a pricey country and stay under budget! Nice!
i'm still a bit skeptical, but' i've got to hand it to you, you did a great job stying under budget overall. raccoon gambling always causes trouble, though.
I must admit. I am a bit skeptical myself. But this long weekend summary is true. What happens when we we need clothes, car repairs and other - that remains to be seen.
i guess you can just hope for the best and maybe have a rainy day fund for this unexpected vehicle maintenance and other occasions. good luck!
Mack Reynolds recently posted..Situated amid the historic buildings, lapping coastline and pools of Southern charm is Bluegreen’s Charleston, South Carolina resort, The Lodge Alley Inn.
Sounds like you had a great time Justin, and I'm still laughing about the raccoons.
But I'll swap you the raccoons for the mice plague we're nearing the end of. Do you know what the next plague to hit is? The mice are slowly decreasing...because the rats are coming! If these rodents keep getting bigger, I'm going to have to go overseas to get away from them.
Don't come here. Raccoons rule the world here!
$100/day?!?! You don't seriously think you'd have trouble staying under that do you?
We are a family of four who traveled for three years (well, four if you count our 'warm-up' journey around the USA and Mexico) for around $50/day. Our basic day-to-day expenses were covered by that and we had another $500/month set aside for other expenses - we wouldn't use that for many months and then *bang* we'd spend five months' worth in a day!
So, by my reckonings, we were totaling $67/day.
Of course, we were on bikes so didn't have to pay gas and we camped out a lot so we didn't have to pay hotels and... OK - maybe your $100/day budget is more realistic if you're not out there pedaling your way around the world.
Yeah, your right Nancy. Look at my gas!
Cut out the car and we are golden.
Our goal is to travel the world, anywhere, under $100 a day on average. So if we exceed it in Europe, Aussie, States, we are OK if we make up for it in Mexico and SE Asia.
I want to pedal Europe. I think we will burn out the KIa driving south and hitch a cruise to Europe and pick up some bikes. But that counts as well right?? BIkes, insurance, everything, $100 a day? We will see.
Gotta love recooking all the leftovers sausages with eggs!!! Hhmmmmmm!!! Great stuff!!!!! Some toasted bread to go with it and you officially got paradise!!!! Great article!
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