Lodging can be a really big killer, but I'm lucky to have a group of readers who are willing to put me up overnight. The crux of the trip is leveraging my social network. You know, like those dumb commercials for that ugly little cell phone? Except I'm not gonna get my internal organs harvested while I sleep...I hope. By not spending $50 a night on a hotel, I can save a massive percentage of my budget and use it for more necessary things.
There are three main costs that will come about because of this trip; Food, Gas and Repairs. If I don't take my own car (which is a fun-to-drive but fuel-inefficient Saab 900 convertible), I will have to rent a car which will immediately add $300-$500 to my budget. However, my car is 10+ years old, and while it has been maintained very well, I don't want to risk blowing my budget by an unexpected repair. That'll be tough to anticipate, but proper preparation can reduce the risk by a lot.
A few tips I've found so far:
- I'm going to aim for a stop every 2-4 hours (even if it's just for food, or something). I will limit my daily "long driving" time to 10 hours, so I don't get burnt out.
- I'm going to leave wherever I am early in the day, so I can make efficient use of my time in the area I arrive.
Let's think about food for a moment. There are two criteria, health and price. I want to eat extremely healthy, because as many of you know, I have been prioritizing health and fitness since about March of 2010. I don't want this to be a 2 week long Burger and Booze-fest (as much fun as that might be), because I want to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Refilling a gallon jug at each stop seems efficient. No reason to carry extra weight by packing spare water when it's cheap almost everywhere. WalMart has refill stations that are criminally cheap.
Since I will mostly be staying in homes with people, rather than hosteling or camping, I have a lot more options. I'm going to make a spreadsheet or some sort of reference document to determine caloric efficiency based on cost and figure out what the healthiest option is. Then I'll ignore my data and buy 30 pounds of Cheetohs, obviously. It'll be a fun opportunity to be healthy and make a point about saving money while still traveling.
My current spreadsheet has me budgeting $100 for groceries for two weeks. That's extremely aggressive, but by bringing a cooler, some basic cooking utensils, and some spices I already own, I can quickly cook pasta dishes, hamburgers, eat a lot of fruits and veggies (locally grown is best!), and by not drinking soda or any form of beverages, I can save a ton of money. Wal-Mart's crystal light knockoff can make a gallon of water taste a whole lot more tolerable.
1 comments:
I once traveled to Chicago and back, with a cooler, iced down, over a four day window. I would strongly recommend any meat product be of the precooked or small portioned variety - franks/dogs, prepackaged taco meat, canned tuna/chicken - as the window of safety for uncooked meat is both narrow and brief. This could possibly open up some savings as a package of generic dogs can be picked up for under a buck.
Post a Comment