Vacation on a Budget

Some of you may have picked up that I recently went on two trips. One to Kauai and another to Las Vegas. Only a few of you know that I am working to get out of debt by living on a budget and cutting things out of my lifestyle. Now there's probably a question in your head. How did you manage to go on two trips within the span of one month while on a budget?

Good question, I'll explain.

The first trip to Kauai was for a friend's wedding. As soon as the wedding was announced I immediately adjusted my budget to save up for it. That's the short answer. What I really did was figure out how much it would cost me to go and do the things I wanted to do there. Now for me, traveling from Oahu to Kauai isn't too difficult because my family lives there. No need for a hotel, no need to rent a car. Makes things a little easier. I do have to get there though so I went online and found how much the flight would cost. Luckily, I discovered I had enough reward points (aka Hawaiian Miles) to get some complimentary plane tickets. So far it would cost $0. A great start!

I'm not going to Kauai and sit around for a couple days, especially since it was my girlfriend's first time to the island. We gotta get out and see the island, do some things, eat some food, and all that good stuff. I thought of some things we could do: go to the beach, ride a zip line, snorkel, hike, go on a boat tour, maybe a helicopter tour. I found out how much those things cost and immediately ruled out boat and helicopter tours (really expensive...and I get seasick). I really wanted to do a zip line although it was a little pricey but I included it in the plan anyway. The other things are pretty cheap so that wasn't a problem. Then I budgeted for food. I thought of a few places we could eat and figured how much it would cost. About $25 at one place, $30 at another, and so on. I added everything up and figured it would cost about $350 to do everything, which includes getting a wedding gift.

There was 6 months until the wedding, I would need to save about $59 a month. Not bad, right? Then I looked at my monthly budget. There was no room for $59. I can't neglect feeding myself, paying bills, and paying down my debt. A quick note here, saving for vacation does not come before paying down debt. So what did I do? I spent less on groceries, I spent less on fun things like movies and happy hour, and I decided not to put money away to get new clothes and shoes later on. Sounds like I cut back a lot, but my budget is really tight and I was only able to free up $40 a month. Not enough to do everything I wanted to do, so I had to take zip lining out of the plan. I stuck to my budget and took $240 with me to Kauai. It was enough to go to a few beaches, get a wedding gift, and eat out without worrying about the bill. It was an awesome trip.

Now with my budget being so tight you may be asking something. How did you have any $$ to go to Vegas just a few weeks later?

Excellent question, and the honest answer is a bit of a cheat because I didn't have any money. What I do have is a wonderful girlfriend who paid for most of it. She got some very good deals that made the trip really cheap and she wanted me to go with her. Who am I to say no? I still had to bring some money for myself so here's what I did. Any time there was money left at the of the month, it got saved for Vegas. After the Kauai trip I adjusted my monthly budget so that everything I was saving for Kauai now went toward Vegas. What I usually budget for entertainment all went toward Vegas. I also managed to lower my car insurance bill and put the difference toward Vegas. In all I scraped up $300 for Vegas. I used it to buy gifts, gamble, and eat a few things. Again, note that I didn't pay any less toward my debt during this time.

In a nutshell, I was only able to go on two trips because of support from my family and girlfriend. They're really awesome like that and I'm very grateful for them. Now there may be another question in your head. That's really great for you but why does that matter to me?

Good question, here's the point. You see, I didn't ask for their help but they all know I live on a budget and they support me for it. That made them more inclined to help me out. When you stick to something and the people around you support you, they will offer their help. Whether you live by a certain principle or you're working toward achieving a goal, let people know. Those who care will naturally want to help you out.