More questions you might not be able to answer... Living costs/budgeting?

Dizzy

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#1
How much can a person live off?

Like, when travelling, how much are you looking at for cheap (but safe) overnight accommodation and how much can you feed yourself for on a daily basis?

Just trying to work out a ball park budget....

I've worked out how much I will need for car hire (approx) and fuel is SO VERY CHEAP in the US!!! So that's ok. Just need to work out what my day to day expenditure is going to be like.

Also, can you pay cash for things or will they want credit card?? For motels/hotels etc.
 

JessLough

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#2
For hotel/motel, you can pay cash, but they'll want credit for incidentals. Alternately, some will let you give a deposit (usually around $100) in cash for incidentals, and you can get away without credit. Depends on the chain.
 

Xandra

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#3
I'm not sure what a hotel for one runs but you can get a nice suite with kitchenette, a loft + separate bedroom, living room etc for like, 160 in Washington, I think?

You can eat at a cheap sit down restaurant for ~$10, but if course you must also leave a 15-20% tip and in most states there is tax. Otherwise you can usually find a fast food meal for a few bucks or deli/hotfoot from the grocery store for $5 USD. I'm pretty sure you'll find everything cheaper-substantially cheaper than what you're used to.

The wiki site should have info on lodging and food options and costs and is usuly oretty accurate. Expedia is good for finding hotels.
 

Dizzy

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#4
Right. I don't own a credit card, but I'm getting one to take. I have no intentions of using it if I don't have to, but I know car hire needs one (encountered this before and I needed to have a certain amount of cash in my account), and for emergencies.

I've been looking at cheap accommodation and it's working out between £40-£60 per night - is that average?? 66 - 99 dollars?

Or should I be aiming for cheaper still??
 

Dizzy

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I'm not sure what a hotel for one runs but you can get a nice suite with kitchenette, a loft + separate bedroom, living room etc for like, 160 in Washington, I think?

You can eat at a cheap sit down restaurant for ~$10, but if course you must also leave a 15-20% tip and in most states there is tax. Otherwise you can usually find a fast food meal for a few bucks or deli/hotfoot from the grocery store for $5 USD. I'm pretty sure you'll find everything cheaper-substantially cheaper than what you're used to.

The wiki site should have info on lodging and food options and costs and is usuly oretty accurate. Expedia is good for finding hotels.
Omg tipping. I don't tip, this is going to be a massive culture shock.

I think I need to work out the etiquettes :lol-sign:
 

Elrohwen

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#6
Hotel prices depend a lot on where you are. In the middle of nowhere, you should be able to get away with $60-100 a night. In NYC or anywhere within 60 miles of NYC, that would be hard to do. $150 a night might be a more reasonable assumption if going over budget would be a big deal. It's going to be hard to go cheaper than $60 a night, and if you do it will probably be a really shady place.

Most hotels want a credit card to hold the reservation, IME. I'm not sure what they would say if you said you only had cash.

Meals are also tricky because they can vary a lot by location. Do you plan to order alcohol? That will add up fast as most places charge ~$5-8 for a beer. Cheaper sit down restaurants and chains have entrees for maybe $10-15, and nicer places will be more. When I travel, I try to eat at the hotel for breakfast (many offer at least a very basic breakfast for free, or you can buy fruit and granola bars at a store cheaply). For lunch I eat some place cheap. Then for dinner I don't worry about spending a bit more. When I traveled for work we were given $60 a day for meals and that wasn't hard to meet by eating breakfast in the hotel, having a cheap lunch, and then a mid priced dinner. You could easily go cheaper if you wanted.
 

Dizzy

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#7
$60 a day works out at £34 a day, which is a lot! So I'd assume I'd spend a lot less than that.... Or food alone will be nearly £600 :yikes:

I will budget for $100 a night for rooms, but look for cheaper....

This is so complicated lol, my expenses are skyrocketing, so trying to keep everything low cost!! I have begun to wonder if hiring a van might be cheaper! But I think I'd feel isolated then.....
 

katielou

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#8
Motel 6 will be your friend. We get a room there from $40-60 a night on road trips.

Food depends on what you want to eat. Of you want to see something other than a burger or taco your looking at 10-15 a pop.
 

Romy

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#9
If you eat out it's going to be expensive. The best way to feed yourself while traveling on a budget is to get a box (or even a cooler) and stock up at grocery stores along the way.

Things like single serve yogurts are $0.50-$1 each. A loaf of bread is less than $5. You can get a jar of peanut butter and some jelly and make yourself sandwiches along the way. When I travel we like to buy pepperoni sticks or summer sausage, salami, etc. and snack on that with cheese in the car.

You can get big bags of trail mix for <$10 too. Boxes of granola bars, string cheese, fruit, etc. There are a lot of options for travel food.

Fast food is always around and most of the big chains have dollar menus. So those are cheap and handy for an occasional hot meal, but if that's all you eat on your trip you'll probably make yourself sick.
 

Dizzy

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#10
Well, a big attraction is food, but I don't want to eat junk every day. I think I will explore the shops and do the cool box thing if I can get a cool box and dump it again at the airport before I leave!! Or just shop every day for bits. I need to add a knife and fork to my packing list!! Never thought of things like that.

So far, my budgeting looks like this (I have OVER estimated costs, but please tell me if this is looking accurate.... Again, I've gone top end, I expect to spend a lot less, but worst case scenario maths):

Accommodation: £60/night = £1050 ($99/night = $1733)
Food: £30/day = £450 ($50/day = $742)
Car hire = £360 incl gps ($594)
Fuel = £200 ($330)


These are estimating for the full 15 days, which again is not accurate as I won't need accommodation as I'm staying with friends for 4 nights, plus car hire (which I won't need the full 15 days for the same reason).

The fuel bill seems ridiculously tiny :yikes: I used a US fuel calculator and worked out what it would cost for a major fuel guzzling car (25mpg!!). Is that about accurate or am I way off the mark. Cost me nearly a lot more than that here!!!!!!!

All the help is really appreciated :D I'm going to start booking things soon once I get my finances worked out!!!!
 

Dizzy

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#12
good luck bringing a knife on board :)
Well, I can pack an ice axe or sabre if I wanted to according to the TSA site I'm sure a dinner knife in my luggage would be ok :rofl1:

And I wasn't actually planning on packing a knife and fork lol, omg, I need all my space for the junk I'm going to end up taking back with me!
 

crazedACD

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#13
Hotel prices depend a lot on where you are. In the middle of nowhere, you should be able to get away with $60-100 a night. In NYC or anywhere within 60 miles of NYC, that would be hard to do. $150 a night might be a more reasonable assumption if going over budget would be a big deal. It's going to be hard to go cheaper than $60 a night, and if you do it will probably be a really shady place.
Yeah...I mean, you can usually find a crappy motel right off the highway for $40-70 if you really want to cheap out. I usually bring my own blanket... :p

$60 a day works out at £34 a day, which is a lot! So I'd assume I'd spend a lot less than that.... Or food alone will be nearly £600 :yikes:
Definitely go to the grocery store and get some bread and peanut butter or whatever! I usually snack and don't stop for many meals if I'm driving a long way. You will probably want to grab some laundry detergent and wash your clothes a few times during your trip.

And I wasn't actually planning on packing a knife and fork lol, omg, I need all my space for the junk I'm going to end up taking back with me!
When I go on my work trips, I expect to bring a ton of stuff back...I bring one suitcase, one carry on tote bag, and I pack an empty duffel bag into my suitcase. Then on the way back I just pay for the second bag to be checked (actually work pays but yeah). You can even pack your clothes into the duffel bag and put anything fragile into the suitcase.
 

Saeleofu

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#14
and worked out what it would cost for a major fuel guzzling car (25mpg!!)
Um, that's not a major fuel guzzling car. That's about average. My jeep gets 9-10 mpg city, and up to 19 (yes, that's DOUBLE) on open roads. But it averages out to about 11mpg. My Caliber, which was newer and more fuel efficient, got an average of 22 mpg mixed driving, and up to 36 or so highway. 25 is NOT gas guzzling by a long shot, especially for city driving.
 

Saeleofu

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#15
As for lodging, I HIGHLY recommend Baymont Inn and Suites. The one I typically stay in in Tulsa (on Sizzle's recommendation) is about $65-$70 a night, with a 20% discount for staying 3 or more days. That makes it about the same price as Motel 6, except it's MUCH nicer with the most awesome pile of pillows EVER. And there's free GOOD breakfast - particularly fresh, as-you-make-them waffles plus fruit, cereal, muffins, etc. It's my absolute favorite place to stay. It's technically a hotel since the room entrances are inside instead of outside, but it's priced like a motel. And the service is spectacular, too. There's a loyalty program (Wyndham Rewards) where you can earn free nights, too, and if you're traveling for 2 weeks, that ought to earn you something.

http://www.baymontinns.com/
 

noludoru

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#16
Um, that's not a major fuel guzzling car. That's about average. My jeep gets 9-10 mpg city, and up to 19 (yes, that's DOUBLE) on open roads. But it averages out to about 11mpg. My Caliber, which was newer and more fuel efficient, got an average of 22 mpg mixed driving, and up to 36 or so highway. 25 is NOT gas guzzling by a long shot, especially for city driving.
For the UK it is. They have diesel passenger cars and lots and lots of compacts. And crazy high fuel prices, so fewer people care about V6/V8 and more go for four cylinders. Even fewer cylinders than that, actually.
 

GingerKid

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#17
Where in the US are you going? It is not as common in North America, but some cities have decent European-style hostels, especially the big tourist centers.

Definitely getting a cooler and doing food from a grocery store is a much more affordable (and healthier) option than eating out all the time. And if you go that route, you'll definitely want to stop at a Trader Joes for food/snacks. :hail:
 

Saeleofu

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#18
For the UK it is. They have diesel passenger cars and lots and lots of compacts. And crazy high fuel prices, so fewer people care about V6/V8 and more go for four cylinders. Even fewer cylinders than that, actually.
True, but she's not renting a car in Europe, she's renting one here.
 

Dizzy

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#19
25mpg is..... Good?!

My car is 50mpg, my boyfriends 2l ford estate gets nearly 40mpg!!! Grantee they're diesel but my last 2 petrol cars reached 36mpg in city driving. Crikey no wonder you need cheap fuel :D I'm looking at 80mpg for my next car!!!

Well, either way I assume that's a good estimate for fuel?

Another cost is hiring the GPS, silly. In gutted mine only has European maps boo. And too old to update it.
 
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#20
well our cars are twice as big and the distances we travel daily are easily twice as long as well.

I'm surprised that diesel hasn't caught on here more. It's trying. Audi and BMW have made a recent push into diesel sedans, VW has had a few models for a while now, but not really popular.

It's less refined, you get longer lasting engines because they don't combust at such high temperatures and you can get a lot better fuel economy. When we buy a new car, i'm looking very closely at the new lines of clean diesels, but historically people have viewed them as noisy, stinky engines for semi's and buses in this country.
 

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