Evolving Personal Finance » travel
Lifestyle Inflation: Ubering to the Airport
I realized last month that Uber has become my default mode of transit to and from the airport – to the point that it doesn’t even cross my mind that there are other possibilities! Confession: We spent $175.64 getting to and from the airport last month (4 rides), which is as much as we spent on one plane ticket! I can’t believe I’ve let my lifestyle inflate to this degree – I’m so embarrassed! This lifestyle … Read entire article »
Filed under: lifestyle creep, travel
How I Work on the Road
As a solopreneur who is also a bit of a homebody, I don’t have a typical off-site office from which I work. Most of the time, I work from my living room – at my standing desk, at our table, or on the couch. However, I also travel (fly) for work. I am a professional public speaker on the topic of personal finance for early-career PhDs, and delivering talks at universities almost always involves 2+ … Read entire article »
Filed under: self-employment, travel
A Frugal Business Trip
Last month I achieved something I’ve wanted for several months but never pulled off: a frugal trip for a speaking engagement. I minimized the costs both to me and to my host for various aspects of my travel. First, to back up to my previous speaking trips: they were surprisingly unfrugal, at least in comparison to my typical personal travel experiences. The costs I can’t do much about are the flight, which is a necessary large cost … Read entire article »
Filed under: travel
Seattle Staycation with Another Couple
Last week we had our first houseguests in our Seattle apartment! My sister and her boyfriend came to see us for a long weekend – they were here from Thursday morning to Monday morning. My sister said she wanted to spend “100%” of the whole long weekend with me, so I took Thursday and Friday off from work (and the weekend, too – I usually work quite a bit on Saturdays and sometimes on Sundays). … Read entire article »
Filed under: travel
Why Do You Travel and How Much Do You Spend?
I recently wrote a post for a higher education blog that gave an overview of how Kyle and I managed and used our money in our last year of grad school (2013-2014), which I consider to be our most (financially) optimized year. The commenters and some people on Twitter really did not care for the post and criticized various aspects of it. Most of the criticism was around the theme that our stipends were very … Read entire article »
Cross-Country Vacation Part 2
This post will detail the second half of our cross-country road trip, including the cost and pictures. In the first half, we drove from Durham, NC to Sundance, WY, with many stops along the way. In the second half, we made it to our destination of Seattle, WA, via Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. July 21, 2015 Our motel didn’t provide breakfast, so we stopped at a grocery store to pick up a few more supplied … Read entire article »
Filed under: travel
Cross-Country Vacation Part 1
Last month, Kyle and I moved from Durham, NC to Seattle, WA. We shipped all our stuff using a pod, and we moved ourselves and our car via a cross-country trip. I already shared with you the total cost of our trip, both the move and vacation portions, but this post with give you the breakdown of what we did each day, complete with cost and pictures. 🙂 Something important to note is that we barely … Read entire article »
Filed under: travel
Mini-Vacation Financials: Wedding in Kansas
Over Memorial Day Weekend, Kyle and I attended a wedding in Kansas City, Kansas. It was a very fun wedding and get-away weekend for us (just after our 5th wedding anniversary!), though we were not frugal about the trip. It’s amazing for me to contrast how little effort we put into taking this trip frugally in comparison to when we went to Chicago for another wedding three years ago. We definitely could have been more … Read entire article »
Filed under: travel
My First Trip on MegaBus
I recently took a MegaBus trip. It went very smoothly and I would do it again, though I’d like to get a lower fare next time. If you aren’t familiar with MegaBus, it is a long-distance bus transit service, serving the US, Canada, and Europe. It advertises that you can buy a fare for as low as $1 and that each bus has outlets and wifi available. The way you get the lowest fare is to … Read entire article »
Filed under: travel
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