Friday, January 11, 2019

The $7,400 vacation

So my estimation was off by almost 50%.  How did that happen?

Well, for one, as my partner pointed out, I had forgotten to feed the kids, and they ate a lot.  Between groceries, meals and ice cream, that accounted for $1,200.  Most meals were homemade or picnic lunches; I think we only ate out four times with the kids.  (Once the kids were gone and we moved to the hotel, that was a different story.  Fully one-third of our restaurant spend was just the two of us!)

Transportation was fully twice what I expected.  The bus, uber and shuttle costs simply added up, plus I added a car for the day to go to Lyttleton.  (I was planning on taking the bus but we got a late start and for $50 I decided it was worth the time saved.)

The cost of the Lime scooters was never anticipated although, to be fair, $22 of  that $39 is labelled "temp hold" which I'm assuming Lime will refund to me at some point.

The "other" costs included shopping and gifts, which isn't too bad.

And lastly, the Airbnb was $100 more than expected, which I think was just dyscalculia (or possibly wishful thinking) -- I wrote down $1230 when in fact it was $1320.   


EstimateActual
Top 10 membership4040
Ferry281281
Train386386
Accommodation20112101
Car/taxi/shuttle234467
Experiences18432202
Flight194194
Lime scooters39
Shopping228
Groceries466
Food736
Other259
Total49877397

In the end, I calculated we spent $168 per person, per day.  That's $113 USD or £89 GBP.  Whilst I'm not expecting any awards for frugality, I don't think I was being profligate*, either.  As the last family holiday we may ever have, I wanted it to be memorable, and I hope I achieved that.

* I always thought "spendthrift" meant someone who was tight with their money, but it actually means the opposite.

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