Spending money on vacation is easy to do. It’s one of the weirdest money phenomenons I’ve noticed. People spend way outside their normal limits while on vacation. It’s as if we enter a casino where money has no value because everything is clay chips.
Vacation money is crazy money. With millions of people itching to travel after the pandemic is over, revenge spending is all the rage! But you can stay financially disciplined while still having a great time.
During the first week of our two week European business trip, we stayed at reasonably priced 4-star hotels. We figured, let’s focus on hotels in the best locations since we’d only be visiting each country for 2-3 days.
For dinner, we budgeted 50 € ($60) or less for two. This amount was reasonable as boiled beef and potatoes didn’t cost too much, nor did pizza, pastas, and salads. A buffet breakfast was always included in our hotel stay so we never spent very much on lunch if anything at all.
Like with everything, we spent well within our means because we’re frugal that way. After all, it’s very hard to achieve FIRE without aggressively controlling your spending.
When we arrived at our hotel in Paris from Budapest it was about 7:15pm. We were given a tour of all the facilities. This is where our money discipline began to unravel. Spending money on vacation within a budget can be challenging even for the most frugal of us. The thrill of new experiences abounds.
