So many variables it’s staggering. Linds and I decided to take next year and travel to the world a bit and we’re now in the saving mode. We’ve cut all the fat from our budget and are trying to squeeze every possible penny into our savings account. We’re going to need it. We probably won’t be able to sell our condo or rent it out for what we pay on it each month. So we’ll need some extra cash to back it up and keep travelling.
To meet our savings goals (around 18K each), we’ll have to really work and sacrifice. We’ve already taken the following measures:
1. Limit eating out. We pretty much cook every night. We get groceries twice a month (100$ per trip) and a few times between to replenish perishables like veggies and fruits.
2. Quit the gym membership. Our gym, Lifetime Fitness, cost us 100$ a month. Between now and the departure date, June 15th, that would be like 900$. Not bad.
3. Shave the mobile plan. We’ll be limiting our plan to just talk minutes. This means no more Bberry internet and frivolous texts. Savings: 25$/month.
4. Random bank offers. We just took advantage of two Chase bank coupons for 100 and 125 dollars. Hopefully we can get some other free monies before we go.
5. Odd jobs. We sometimes paint and babysit to supplement our income. So far we’ve gotten 3 jobs for a total of around 200$. Keep ‘em coming!
To meet the savings goals we each have to put 1100$ into our piggy bank every month (as GA teachers, we get paid 2600 per month and spend around 1400 each on living expenses) from now until we stop getting paid and generate some thousands of additional dollars each. Also, we’ll both be selling our cars in the summer before we go.
That’s a lot of noodles and beans. Yum!
