How Much I Spent On My 10 Day Vacation
Plus money saving tips that helped me stay on-budget
At the start of fall, my boyfriend and I went on a 10-day road trip down the Oregon coast to a charming Northern California coastal town, knocking off a few national parks along the way.
The title of this newsletter might be a bit misleading since, personally, I didn’t spend much on this trip. It was a belated birthday gift from my boyfriend and our first real vacation just for the sake of vacationing.
Even though this trip was a gift, I kept a meticulous log in my notes app of everything we spent, gathering data to help us better plan and budget for future trips.
Planning our budget
When we sat down to plan this trip, we set a goal budget of $1,500 with a max allowance of $2,000.
Knowing this, we brainstormed ways to cut the two biggest vacation expenses: transportation and lodging. Our ideas ranged from Austin, Texas, to San Diego, California, and even Hawaii... as you can imagine, the latter was quickly eliminated given our budget.
Since we’re still new to the PNW, we agreed to trade flight costs for gas and make it a road trip through neighboring states. We love the freedom of driving, and we have the added benefit of a hybrid vehicle!
For accommodations, I had recently discovered TrustedHousesitters, so I set up an account and paid the membership fee.
If you aren’t familiar, TrustedHousesitters lets you stay in a stranger’s home for free in exchange for pet care. The application process is simple and costs $149 a year for the basic membership, which I’ve included in my expenses for this trip.
Pro Tip: There are usually $20-off coupons available online!
Once registered, we applied for stays throughout Oregon and Northern California, letting TrustedHousesitters determine part of our route. We booked two house stays, covering 7 nights, which left us needing hotel rooms for the remaining 3 nights.
Vacation spending priorities
My boyfriend and I usually cook at home, so we wanted a large part of our budget to go toward trying new restaurants and revisiting old favorites guilt-free.
We also planned a few excursions and left room for spontaneous stops, knowing these might take a good chunk of the budget. We also planned to do a bit of shopping.
~ Budget Breakdown ~
Accommodations: $339
Trusted Housesitters Application: $129
4 nights in various hotels/motels: $360
We were reimbursed $150 by our TrustedHousesitter host for a one-night hotel stay when she unexpectedly had to return home early.
Gas: $120
We tried to refill only at Costco to take advantage of the member discount whenever possible. Gas prices varied wildly from state to state, soaring over $5 in California and dropping to $3 in Oregon.
Excursions: $260
Kayaking tour: $160
Botanical Gardens: $40
Trees of Mystery in Redwoods National Park: $60
Visiting the Redwoods and Crater Lake was covered by our National Parks annual pass, which has now officially paid for itself: free admission!
Shopping: $148
Binoculars: $120
Bookstore: $28
Stickers: $6
Scratch off tickets (we won!): +$6
Groceries: $171.24
Whole Foods road trip snacks: $46.24
Two trips to local (overpriced) grocery store: $94
Costco: $8
Trader Joes: $23
Coffee shops: $41
This trip ignited a new obsession with Dutch Bros.
If you ever find yourself in Mendocino, California, you MUST stop by GoodLife Cafe & Bakery. We went twice for breakfast, and I regret not going again for lunch. Best homemade gluten free bread I have ever had!
Eating at restaurants: $488.18
Pick up / Ordering delivery: $122
Eating at the restaurant: $366.18
On this trip, we created new UberEats and DoorDash accounts to take advantage of the discounts and promos offered to first-time users. This ended up saving us $40, not including BOGO food deals we used at two separate restaurants. We also tried to book motels that offered free breakfast to save on the first meal of the day.
Total Cost: $1,567.42
Our final total came out to a little over $1,500, or about $150 a day—just above our target budget.
There were days on our trip when it felt like we might blow this budget out of the water. Eating at restaurants for multiple meals a day, unexpected shopping, and unplanned stops made the total climb quickly. But all in all, we managed to stay on the lower end of our planned spending.
We kept the budget in check on such a long trip by reducing the two largest vacation expenses: flights and hotels. Fortunately, we live in a part of the country where breathtaking views and quaint little towns are within a day’s drive, and I’m so glad we chose to stay closer to home.
How much did you spend on your last vacation? Do you have any tips or tricks for saving big on a long trip?