The result? After some number crunching on our spreadsheet here is our conclusion. Over this entire time frame while in early retirement, we have spent an average of $75 per day. This includes ALL expenses! Not too bad considering we wanted our budget to be under $100 per day or less than $3000 per month. We were well under that projection.
What our tracking data showed us is that some days we spend more, some days less, but overall our daily average is below our intended projection. This is the reason for our goal of slow travel. Airfare is always a major expense. Therefore, if we can stay 90-180 days in one location, then the price of the airfare gets offset by the longer length of stay.
The same can be said for accommodations. If we stay for only a brief time in one place, hotel fees can add up. However, if we stay longer in one place we can usually negotiate a better price with a hotel, apartment rental or B&B.
This summer, our expenses in May started out higher on a daily basis due to the fact that we took a repositioning cruise from the US to Europe. We also spent a little time in England and Scotland, locations that are more expensive to visit. To offset these higher cost travel days, we took a house sitting job for the summer, so the overall average of the three months fell right in line with our planned expenditures, keeping us on track.
As each day, month, and year goes by, our daily spending average will adjust over time. Hopefully it will continue to decrease as we find other inexpensive places to travel.
Wonder where we may be heading next? Stay tuned for our next adventure and find out if this budget-friendly spending trend continues.