How Can Three Weeks Overseas Help You Spend Less?
I’m overseas right now, and will be for two more weeks. My company has me here on a special project. I was able to bring my wife, so it’s been sort of a vacation for us. Luckily, my company picks up our hotel, my flight, and my meals. While my wife’s airfare was expensive, and were spending plenty of money on shopping and a few activities, I can’t help but look at the flip side and think of all the things we’re not spending money on back home. Here’s a quick list:
Summer Electric Bills - We set our automatic thermostats to 80 degrees so that our a/c wouldn’t kick in. We live in Texas, and so June is a very warm month. Just by us not being there and using the a/c we’re looking to not spend around $100 (I know…we have low energy bills…very efficient house).
Other Utility Bills - Not using our water and gas for three weeks will probably keep us from spending around $50 for this month.
Auto Fuel - June is peak travel time in the US. Gas prices are really high now…around $3/gallon where we live. Not getting to drive our cars means not having to fill the tank. Very nice! I estimate this is around $150 we’re not spending.
Dining Out - At home, we normally eat out about 3 or 4 times a week. We usually split meals, but still probably average $150 a week on dining out of the house (Yes, I know that’s a lot!). While here, we still have to pay for my wife’s meals (or at least the portion we don’t split) so we’ll end up spending around $50/week on dining out here. So, for the three weeks we will not have to spend $300 on dining out ($150-50 x 3 weeks).
Groceries - I estimate this is another $300 we’re not spending, as we usually spend somewhere around $400/month.
I think that’s about it. Did I miss anything?
Wow! That adds up to $900. I really didn’t realize it was so much that we were not having to spend. Considering my wife’s airfare was just a bit over this amount, this is quickly becoming the least expensive vacation we’ve every had. In fact, the longer we stay, the more we’ll actually not have to spend.
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