Budgeting for India

Deciding on a daily budget for my trip to India was more difficult than expected. The inconsistency in information found on the web didn't help; some were saying you could no longer travel India on less than $60/day while others reported traveling on less then $10/day. The range in travel costs seems to be from the regional variance in prices along with personal standards of living. Looking at Mumbai, which is where I will be flying in and out of, prices are similar, if not higher for accommodation, then seen in north american cities.

Not having any sort of itinerary planned out has made the task of picking an average daily budget that much more difficult. I ended up taking the middle ground of the many recommendations found on the internet and in guidebooks, settling on $30/day. I have nothing against spending a couple nights in places that others may consider 'unacceptable', for living conditions, if it's necessary to balance the budget part way through the trip. Overall, I plan on staying in decently clean low end non-air conditioned hostels/hotels with a small private room and eating where the locals eat.

I hope that tracking the details of my expenses while abroad and publishing them online will help others who are traveling to India in the future.

Note: I included 15-20% 'surplus fund' in my savings plan in case I run into problems in India and need the cash. If it's not needed during the trip it will stay in my bank account and be used as a cushion for the first couple weeks when I arrive back home.

Saving money to travel for three months

When summer started I wasn't sure if I would be able to save enough money by September to travel for three months. As I mentioned in the previous post, halfway though May I still only had a few hundred dollars in my bank account. I wanted to save enough for the trip solely from my summer employment yet I also didn't want to have to cut out my social life.

For those of you who know me, I like spending money. Actually, I love spending money. I tend to buy a lot of 'things' and spend exorbitant amounts on festivals, food, and other events. So how did I save enough money? First, I stopped going window shopping which always ended up with me buying things I didn't need followed by eating food I really didn't enjoy. I also cut down on the bar scene and replaced it with more personal house parties and barbeques. Funny thing is I have enjoyed doing what I had to do to save money more than what I did when I spent wildly. I am still able to go out quite often and get more quality time in with family and friends rather than focusing on external material goods.

Here is my savings schedule, directly from my google docs budgeting sheet. You'll notice the amount I'm saving increases each month, this is mostly a result from getting use to the non-spending attitude I've slowly been developing.


You can now find the most up-to-date budget and saving schedule at:Budget and Savings

The savings schedule is broken down into bi-weekly segments to follow my paycheck periods. I opened a second bank account and transfer the funds over as soon as the paycheck gets deposited into my bank account. Any amount remaining in my 'spending' account is what I have to live off for the next two weeks. I never allowed myself to withdraw anything from my trip savings account. If I am running low on spending money it just forces me to get more creative!

Only 20 days till departure.