As I had mentioned previously, I am going on vacation to Hawaii. As far as vacations go, this has the potential to be an expensive one. We are using the timeshare, so it feels like we are not really paying for a hotel, but we essentially are. The flight was a lot cheaper than expected since we moved from Boston to San Francisco. Still, I have to think that things are going to be expensive simply because so much has to imported.
It occurred to me that I really should have some kind of budget set. I don’t. I’ve never been one to figure things out to the exact dollar. Other personal finance bloggers are probably rolling their eyes at me, but I simply ask “Do I need this?” when I make a purchase and everything else falls into place. Perhaps it’s just a gift I have, I don’t know. In the back of my head, I am almost always doing mental calculations for any kind of purchase and this trip will be no different.
In the end, I think I’m going to go to the grocery store and make breakfasts and lunches most days. Dinner will more often be out at a restaurant. There might be a snorkeling trip, surfing lessons, and maybe the occasional swim-up bar drink. I’ll be reporting on all those and more – provided I have a good Internet connection.
A vague budget is budget enough, in my opinion. When we went to NYC, we budgeted $2200-2500, not including airfare, and hit right in there. You can generally get a feel for what you’re going to spend anywhere before you spend it, and we could have easily spent six times as much for a week in NYC.
Fish is relatively much cheaper in Hawaii than other food. Our “default” meal ended up being sushi while we were there, since it was cheap, good, and highly available.
Have a good time in Hawaii! Do you save a certain amount for vacations like this? Or do you just use your regular cash savings?
Thanks Stingy. I should trick myself into some kind of savings by setting up a separate account. As long as I ask myself if I really need something, it’s really all the budgeting that I need.
So I guess you convinced yourself that you needed to go to Hawaii? ;)