Let me begin this post by saying I’m never one to talk about money. However, in this situation and with this experiment I think it’s vital and helpful. I want traveldeeper.co to be the How and the Who of travel not just the What and the Where like you see everywhere else.
I don’t see a lot of blogs out there that actually talk about how they’re getting by and paying for their adventures. Somehow people just can travel around the world and never mention anything about how much stuff costs and how they fund it. I’m sure a lot of people just say thanks Mom & Dad for the funds. Maybe that’s why I don’t see many people in their mid-20s traveling around the world. Its usually middle-aged “life changing” people, which isn’t a shot at them it just is what it is. They’re the ones who have money saved up to travel and the ones who are usually burned out from the day-to-day grind.
I’m going to show you exactly what it takes for me to live here and what I need to do to stay here. Hopefully I can get some ideas from other people who’ve been in this position before and help others who want to do the something similar in the future.
Starting Dollar Amount
So I know I said I was going to start out with U$S 5k at the beginning of the trip. But in reality it worked out to be about U$S 3,500 after all the travel & preparation expenses. In order to continue on my goal without moving around any other accounts, dipping into savings or anything like that I need to formulate a plan. As of this post, I have about U$S 500 bucks left in the Tourist2townie.com budgeted bank account. That will pretty much be gone after this months rent.
Conversion Rate
The first 2 months were great when I had US dollars to spend. The exchange is almost 4 pesos to every 1 dollar and that can stretch a long way here. I can get an amazing steak and bottle of wine for under U$S 20bucks. And I can spend a night out on the town for under U$S 60.
However, now I’m making pesos and that doesn’t convert well as all my bills back home are in dollars. Many people say that Argentina is a great place to spend money and not so great for making it. I’m beginning to understand what they mean.
My Spending Habits
I think it’s important to note how I spend my money so you can compare your own spending habits against mine to adjust your own game plan.
I’m not the cheapest person you’ll ever meet. I will never go to the bathroom when its my turn to buy a round of drinks and I almost always pay for everything on a date. I tip a little better than average but, I don’t throw money around either.
I do consider myself a froogle spender when it comes to most things. I don’t spend money on much other than food and travel. I don’t spend money on clothes. I don’t make many impulse purchases (other than samurai swords and dragon paintings). I like to eat well. I’ll always make sure to get in at least one good meal a day. I don’t drink coffee or smoke cigarettes but I have an addiction to fruit so, that gets a little expensive at times. Because of this whole experience, I also like trying new restaurants and night spots at least once a week.
SIDE NOTE: When money is real tight I have a few go-to foods:
- Cereal
- Eggs
- Tuna Sandwiches (Try cutting up an apple and an onion and add dijon mustard) I hate Mayo.
- Crunchy Peanut Butter & Jam (My love for PB is strengthened with the low supply in BA)
- Frozen Veggies & Pasta (thaw and cook first)
- Apples & Bananas
MY EXPENSES
- Rent: U$S 400/month
- Credit Card Bill: U$S 170/month (I blame ex-girlfriends)
- Student Loans: U$S 185/month (I blame my basketball skills for not getting me a full-ride somewhere)
- Sub Total: $170 + $185 + $400 = U$S 755 x 3.85 = $2,907 Argentine Pesos
- Food: AR$800/month
- Entertainment: AR$500/month
- Cell Phone: AR$40/month
- Transportation: AR$150/month
- Misc: AR$200/month
- Travel: ????
- BILLS (fixed): AR$ 2,907
- EXPENSES (variable): AR$ 1,690
TOTAL: AR $4,597/month
MY INCOME
Buller is really my only source of income at the moment. At the bar I average a little more than AR$100/night (roughly U$S 30) and I work 5 nights a week. So, 100 x 5 x 4 = 2,000 a month.
TOTAL: AR $2,000/month
MY OPTIONS
As you see my income doesn’t add up to my expenses, not even close actually. So, it’s time to put the creative cap on and bust out my entrepreneurial boots and come up with some ideas on how to keep this dream alive. I have to figure out a way to keep traveling long term.
Here are some options I came up with so far:
Cut back on expenses – This is something that I always try to do with the help of Mint.com. And in the season of New Years Resolutions it’s fitting to start here. For me it is cutting back on the small stuff like taking buses over taxis. And limiting unnecessary food & entertainment, like buying the cheaper brands of Champagne to spray in nightclubs.
Monetizing the website – I don’t think this site is ready to start making money just yet and that’s really not why I created it.. The only thing that makes money on the site right now is the Gear Page because I get percentage of purchases via Amazon Associates. As site traffic continues to increase and new opportunities come along I will re-evaluate accordingly.
Advertising – This comes down to site traffic and website layout. My personal opinion with Google ads is that they look cheap and rarely do bloggers get enough traffic to their site to justify sacrificing the look. My site isn’t ready for advertisements. Although I’ve been getting a decent amount of emails regarding advertising I don’t think it’s ready. The traffic is growing everyday so if I do turn to advertisements I want them to focused around what I am trying to accomplish. Don’t quote me on all this though, I might get desperate in a few months and just start throwing adult banner ads all over the site.
Another option is to come up with an alternative advertising method on the site likeTheMillionDollarHomepage.com or iwearyourshirt.com.
Donations – Many bloggers have an area on their site where people can donate money. My buddy suggested this awhile back but I really can’t justify having people donate money for me to travel. I know a lot more people in a lot tougher situations than mine that I could use the money a lot more than me. So, donations will not be a direction I take. “Investments” on the other hand are a completely different story.
Get another job – This comes down to time. I don’t know how that would be possible between the bar and wanting to start taking classes. If I took classes they would be from 9am to 5pm and then I work from 7pm to 3-5am.I don’t know how I could physically manage this. Perhaps, a more flexible option in terms in time would be to do some other online projects or more marketing consulting.
Imports & Exports – I am working on a list of things that I think would do well here from the states or visa versa (i.e. Electronics, Shoes, Books, Household Goods, Peanut Butter).
Sell my stuff – I could sell my computer and digital camera and send hand written letters home to my mom along with disposable camera pictures to have her keep the site going.
Sell my body – Dancers here are good so it could competitive. I would have to take more tango & salsa lessons and cut back on my empanada consumption.
Anyway, this is what i’ve came up with so far. This post is just the start of a lot more brainstorming I need to do over the next few weeks.
If you have any suggestions, you’ve been through this before or if you’d just like to leave a random comment, please let me know.
For those traveling more this is a great post by Two Guys Around the World about their money troubles and tips.
To help with your Financial New Year’s Resolutions start using MINT, it’s really awesome.
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