The time has arrived! I head off to San Diego at 7am tomorrow morning (woof, early flight). I’m excited and a little nervous. I really want to enjoy my time away and with my besties but I also want to remain true to my budget. I only have $2,400 left on my loans and come hell or high water, I want them gone by the end of June. So while San Diego is definitely a vacation, I need to stay on track. Let’s take a look at my budget again.
I just don’t know how much this trip is going to cost me. We’ve rented a house and a car, so those two things alone are going to run me about $300. Then there’s food, fun, activities…it could easily get expensive really quickly.
I cashed in my coin jar this morning and I have got exactly $200 in cash to take with me. I have another $180 in my paypal account set aside specifically for this trip. I’m hoping that that can cover my housing, car and gas expenses and that I will only have to spend another $125 on food and fun.
There are 7 of us going which both helps and hurts in terms of pricing. We split things 7 ways but we need more of everything. My friends have all already thrown out some non-budget friendly ideas for fun: a bar crawl bike tour and breakfasts out. I mentioned to them back in January that I have to be super frugal but I’ll probably have to mention it again. Another instance where being the broke one sucks.
Still, we have a house on the beach, a group of 7 ladies I love dearly and a beautiful spot in the country to hang. I can’t wait. Even if I have to excuse myself from some of the more expensive activities, I have budgeted for this trip. I do have my credit card as an emergency back up. My friends all know and support my debt payoff plan and while I don’t look forward to being the one who always brings it back to money, I know they will be happy to support me. And hopefully, this will be the last time that I have to be this closefisted with my spending when I’m with friends.
Kara Perez is the original founder of From Frugal To Free. She is a money expert, speaker and founder of Bravely Go, a feminist financial education company. Her work has been featured on NPR, Business Insider, Forbes, and Elite Daily.