Guest post: Traveling while single and on a budget
Hi, I’m Renée, a finance and business journalist, writer, and content strategist. The Budgette is a chill newsletter about single finances and is published twice a month to more than 2,000 subscribers, some paid - thank you. I prefer to write when I have something to say and it gives me time to speak to financial, legal, and other experts. When I’m not here, I work on content strategy and execution for Canadian and U.S. publications and brands. If you want to work together, message me or you can find me on LinkedIn.
This week, we have a guest post from a subscriber, Jo. We know that travel, especially the international kind is going to remain expensive. Jo loves a road trip and also loves to do it on a budget.
Vacationing single on a budget
I was finally able to road trip to Prince Edward Island this year for nine nights and ten days. The past two Decembers, my plans got derailed as first was the advent of Omicron and the Atlantic provinces shutting down tourism, and then last year was the big blizzard that shut down all roads for days. I was looking forward to this post-pandemic getaway!
I also managed to save up about $1300 for the great trip. I often go into debt for trips, so I am turning over a new leaf on this front! I was going to be staying with a friend for four nights on the Island, but I had to shell out for either motels or Airbnbs en route there and back. I overnighted twice on the way, and three times on the way home, as I wanted to do some sightseeing and not drive in the dark, which is challenging when the sun sets at 4 pm. in the winter months. My idea of sightseeing is snapping pictures at National Parks, geocaching, or popping into various thrift stores as I’m road tripping, that’s my thing, and I did spend probably $100 in total on thrift store finds, including a brand new winter coat for $32! The geocaching and picture-taking were essentially free. I have so many far-flung friends! I visited several, both on the island and in New York State, and that’s free, too.
I drove, so I had to budget for gas and an oil change. Typically, I get about 5-6 hours of driving on a tank of gas, and PEI is an 18-hour drive from Hamilton, Ontario. I used less than a tank tooting around the island, so in total, eight tanks of gas, most of which I bought in the US as I decided to drive that way, to avoid Quebec. My conversational French is poor, and quite frankly, it scares me having to use it. Gas totaled $390, as I drive a small car which is pretty good on gas. I’m a hypermiler, so I use driving techniques to maximize gas mileage, plus, gas in the US is about 25% cheaper, even with the atrocious exchange rate. I got an oil change right before I left which cost $70, so I included that in the trip budget.
I did have to pay tolls in the US, as I opted to take the I90, so that added quite a bit to the budget. Since the exchange rate between the US and Canadian dollars is atrocious, so I had to factor that in. Also, the Confederation Bridge toll from PEI back to the mainland is $50.25. In all, tolls totaled $97 for the whole trip.
What sucks about traveling solo is that you don’t split the costs of things like gas and hotels. I had to shoulder all that alone, so I was looking for *very* inexpensive accommodation. I used Airbnb for the first time, and it was great. I was able to secure rooms for three nights, each $65-$75 which was not bad considering how expensive motels have gotten. They were perfect, I had privacy, a fridge and a microwave. On the way home, I stayed in two motels, one was $110 and the other was $80. I got these relatively low prices by using online apps instead of hoping a roadside motel was in my price range as it got to be dusk. I planned the day where I’d be staying that night. The total for accommodations was $395.
Food in the US was shockingly expensive. I crossborder shop a lot for groceries, so I’d seen it creep up, but maybe it was the Massachusetts/Maine prices. Things like a loaf of bread was $4 US which is like $5.80 Canadian, and a Burger King combo at the rest stop in New York state was $17 US/$24 Canadian. I also took out $100 at a gas station ATM and it gave me a 1.47 exchange rate, despite it being 1.34 everywhere else. So the US portion of my trip was much more expensive than I thought it would be.
Here’s my bank statement for taking out $100 US at that ATM. With service charges, it wound up being $150!!! The $45 was gas, the average for a fill-up for my car. I used that $100 towards food, snacks, and thrifting as I traveled. I would have been better off using my credit or debit cards at the point of sale instead of getting cash.
The good news is I tend to snack versus eating big meals, and I brought a lot of food from home. I drink a protein shake every morning, and I brought those with me. I would munch on apples, grapes and peanut butter sandwiches (brought my own from home), granola bars or grab an extra yogurt and bagel with cream cheese from the hotel continental breakfast and eat that for lunch. I live on cheese and crackers (I’m a vegetarian). Twice when I ate restaurant food, it was a large part of the budget, $25 for the Burger King and $40 (conversion from the US) for a pizza delivered to my hotel room. YIKES! Food is as big a part of your budget as you want it to be, and I kept mine down to a dull roar. My friend fed me when I stayed with her. Food: $300
Note: Not all American point-of-sale units take Canadian debit cards. Mine worked about half the time. It was very frustrating, as I was forced to use a credit card at those times.
The following graphic is for EZPass American tolls (all in US dollars), plus I paid $6.50 to cross back into Canada which was on my Nexus card, not EZpass. The Confederation Bridge toll was $50.25, not on this transponder.
So drum roll please… the total for this vacation:
Accommodations: $395
Gas: $390
Tolls: $97
Thrift stores: $100
Food/snacks: $300
Oil Change: $70
Total: $1352
More or less on budget! I’m so proud of myself, and I had a wonderful time. It was still expensive, but not bad considering. I was leaning towards going to Las Vegas with a friend, but she couldn’t make it, so PEI it was. I probably would have spent much more in Vegas!!
*** All numbers are in Canadian dollars unless mentioned.
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This week’s readings:
So this isn’t about money but it does capture the current argument between the generations, also I find it funny. (Australian Lamb ad, 2024)
Wealthsimple banking on payments moves to strengthen ties with customers (The Logic, paywall)
By me. A financial plan can cost you thousands. Here's how to get one on the cheap if money is tight (Toronto Star)
Amazing what a good shout at a massive company can do sometimes. Loblaws will no longer offer 50% discount on food nearing best-before date (CBC)
No new advice here but it’s the time of year. 5 easy ways to make extra money this month (Forbes)
Hamilton to become 1st Ontario city with bylaw to stop 'bad faith' renovictions (CBC)
CEOs continued their villain origins at this year’s Davos thing and shared what they though were the biggest risks for 2024. (Yes, yes) (Yahoo Finance)
Me, all the time. The 'loud budgeting' trend is taking over. What it is and how to hold on to your friendships while at it (Toronto Star)
Majority of Canadians now have more debt than savings, StatCan says. Here’s why the wealth gap is widening (Toronto Star)