Miscalculated on budgeting

[ncbyrne]

DH and I just got back last week from a 10 night stay. I tried to budget the trip ahead of time using information I gleaned from these boards. Resorts, rental car, airfare and passes are a known factor and easily budgeted. But the unknowns, like food and incidentals are hard to know what to expect. On this trip I kept a daily record of every single dime we spent in a small notepad. One thing I did not budget enough for was gratuities. We spent just under $200 on mousekeeping, porters, drivers, waiters, etc! And I also underbudgeted on food which cost us a total of $966.05 for meals and snacks, NOT including the tips. Before we left I had purchased 2 gift certificates at restaurant.com, plus we had other 2/1 coupons which I thought would have saved us more.
I overbudgeted our purchases on "stuff" like souvenirs, gifts, etc. which totaled $320.

 

[mad4themouse]

Thanks for the reminder about those forgotten things that are real budget busters! They can be a real shocker!

I'm in the process of getting tip envelopes together now for skycaps, bellhops, mousekeeping and so on. Doing them ahead of time helps but I always make sure that I bring extra $1's so that I'm not caught short.

Taxes and tips on food can add another 22% to 27% to the cost of a meal. That's a mighty huge chunk of change to be reckoned with when you're dining out almost every meal!

Just out of curiosity, where did you eat (both with the 2-for-1 coupons and the restaurant.com GCs)? Did you like the food? atmosphere? service? Would you recommend those place? Did you think that the food was worth the price?

I hope that you had a great time, budget surprises not withstanding.

 

[ncbyrne]

The biggest surprise was Baskervilles in the Grosvenor. Even though we had stayed at this hotel years ago, we never ate there. I had a 50% off restaurant.com certificate that I won for $2 on eBay! We really enjoyed the atmosphere and the nice buffet meal with lots of delicious food! The waitstaff was pleasant and very helpful. I had the certificate on the table, the waitress picked it up with just a mention and there were no problems at all. We flew into MCO late afternoon, and ate there before heading to DD on our first night. We also had Entertainment coupons, but nothing worth a bother again. (I wish Entertainment would convince Maya Grill to particapte again!)

 

[patsal]

ncbyrne,
I was wondering ablut Baskervilles, I picked one of those certificates up when restaurant.com was having its sale a few weeks ago. It is nice to know that I won't have any difficulty with it.

 

[HenDuck]

It is easy to forget little things like tax, tip, snacks, etc.

I usually overbudget to account for tax on the hotel room. I also budget out tips separately, and leave extra $$ for the overage.

What I always forget to budget in is the cost of film and film developing charges. And this last trip, I had no idea we would spen $100 on those professional pictures they take of you at the parks! ack! Although the pictures were all worth every penny, it added up to an additional $200 when all was said and done.

Good thing we're all budget-conscious folks to begin with or we'd be in beeeg trouble!

Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[jgates]

Yeah I know - as much stuff as I already have taken care of I just calculated the other night and I am shy about $2400. (15 day trip). Can't wait so long next time.

 

[zippehsmom]

I've gone over my budget over and over again. I have tried to include all of those tips, etc.. I went to the bank last week and picked up $135 in singles for just valet tipping, mousekeeping, etc... I hope that will be enough.

On our last trip we nearly broke the bank on medicine. It seems everyone got sick, a toothache, something. So this time not only will I bring all those medicines (ambesol, Robitussin, Tylenol cold, etc.) with us, I have a miscellaneous budget. I have been doing like others on this board and have started filling my envelopes. Now I'm down to the home stretch.

Can't Wait



zippehsmom

 

[MermaidsMom]

Yes it's amazing how fast a budget can be blown when someone gets a cold or flu when there. I always try to remember to bring tylenol, rolaids, cough syrup, bug spray and bugbite relief stick, etc. in a big ziploc bag. When we have the giant bottle of tylenol from Sam's Club here at home it really hurts to pay $3-4 for an itty-bitty bottle when traveling!

 

[wdwstar]

we stay in dvc resorts, so i buy or bring easy breakfast things and for each day i budget $150 for the four of us, and i buy q & c vouchers, so if we use q & c vouchers for lunch , and spend 100.00 for dinner well, then i am ahead 50.00 already..... yeppi