This is not a blog about money, by any means. To be clear, I certainly don’t make a ton of the green stuff, and so that has led me to be somewhat money savvy about travel—at least I like to think so. On my meager salary, I’ve been able to do tons of fun travel stuff, including a trip to Hawaii, a ski trip to Banff, a toilet-of-the-sea cruise to the Bahamas, Christmas and New Years in Australia, and an up-and-coming trip to Italy with my sister this year, and Oktoberfest with a friend in September.
To be fair, every single one of those trips (with the exception of the Bahamas), I was able to do without needing to book a place to stay because I had friends/family in those locals.
Yes, I know, how can I brag about being so money savvy about travel when I didn’t have to book a hotel, which saved me hundreds? I still say, what with living in New York city and not making a ton of cash, it was equally as important for me to be careful with how much money I was spending when I traveled, even when staying with friends and family. In Hawaii, I coaxed my friend into going grocery shopping so we cooked a lot of meals at home and didn’t go out to eat quite as much. Our tickets to Australia, which were purchased at the peak of their summer (and therefore the peak of the airfare ticket pricing, as well), ended up being around $3,000 for the both of us, which isn’t that bad for that time. Getting that decent price was a combination of luck and dogged tracking of sites like Kayak and Bing every day for the lowest fairs.
Then, there’s also those two months a year that I look forward to. It’s the two months a year when I get paid THREE times in one month, instead of two. While money bloggers might encourage you to invest said extra money in something for your future—stocks, chip away at credit card debt, or just into a plain ole’ savings account—I say, where’s the fun in that?!
And so, again this year, when those two months roll around, I will be socking away a little extra padding for Italy and Germany. And any extra money the tax man gives me? Yup, you can guess where that’s going as well.
So, until next time, think money thoughts, my friends, and bis bald…see you soon!