Friday, April 24, 2009

Saving for the trip


To start, here's a random picture.

So as many, if any of you know, I'm planning on taking a trip with my girlfriend to tour the world, or at least a large part of it.

We're thinking at least India, the Phillipines, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.

The biggest thing is of course saving money. How can I possible afford such a grandiose trip, especially when my plan is to have $10,000 for the trip AFTER all the primary expenses are covered.

Well, the obvious advantage I have is that I have a steady stream of income thanks to education and a willingness to go out of my way to get that. (I'm not being holier-than-thou, the fact is its better on the money saving scale to get that income close to home so you can walk to work.)

The first thing I've done is almost completely reduce my discretionary spending. Prior to my decision to save, I literraly had nothing to show for being here, other then, a growing stack of newspapers I'd produced. I've cut out drinking, going out for dinner, and just general spending on stuff like snacks and whatnot.

On food, the system is to just make enough food at dinner for lunch. Simple, and it saves me at least $10 a day if you think about it.

Also quitting smoking has probably saved me hundreds of dollars. I quit about Feb. 16 ish. To say I've quit is a stretch I'll admit, considering I smoked for... 8 or 9 years. But regardless it's a huge way of saving money.

The main reason I'm doing this is to go on that trip. You can really decide you want to save for anything, but the end result will be the same: you'll get something you really want. A car, a house, a trip, a dirtbike, a camera, you'll get it if you stop spending money on the petty things.

Anyway, I've talked about this a hald dozen times. I just thought I'd remind people.

I'm still too far away from the trip to tell you about it, so right now the focus shall remain on how I'm saving the money.

The next stage of the plan is: super repair my car, then buy a bike.

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