Single Mom budget travel FINISH THE PODCAST

 ** Lives my dream**

Interesting-  She lost her job. She got child support.

She always had 2-3 jobs lived in LA. Plan was to travel full time for a year.

She had no savings, she didn't know she was getting fired.  They were middle class.

Son was in private school, both parents paid for that.  Son said his friends lived in million dollar mansions.

They rented a condo. 

She had a part time job, already had for a decade. Dad paid child support. Both kept them afloat

while they were traveling. 

***We can pay her to do financial plan and travel plan***

where are we gonna go? how are we gonna get there? 

FIRST THING- DECIDING THAT YOU REALLY ARE GOING TO DO IT. 

instead of just a wish. Im doing this from the point of view of I pay for everything myself. 

I knew we wanted to do this. i really planned, I made a vision board. Cut out places I wanted to see.

I was so committed to it. got offered a gig hosting a festival, that was a big sum of cash.

I said ok, i'll do the gig then we'll leave in July. I had months to figure out what to do with my car, I had to break my lease.

I cleaned the apartment. I knew for us we thought we should do it for a year. 

I tried to save money, my sister let me keep the things we wanted to keep in her garage. I did not sell my car, i was halfway done selling it. I knew i had insurance payment and car payment but maybe needed when i got back.

We did not renew our health insurance because we were not gonna be there for a year. I bought a comprehensive travel insurance plan. It didnt cover dental but visits, emergency. Got it throught. It cost $600 and you put all the countries you are gonna go.

IMMUMIZATIONS

-countries that require that. for us, that cost us 1800. BRUTAL.

I had 20 grand to play with, to set us up and launch us into the travel. 

Knowing i had this job and the child support. 

If its you, less risk. when you are a parent, you are responsible for the safety of your child.

VIETNAM

-Iced coffee that almost killed me, I ended up in the ER

because of the health insurance I kept all my receipts. 

we did budgeting, enough in savings. we didnt want to put a lot in credit cards. I'm not a fan of that 

(agree).

establish great credit, god bless you. and do travel credit cards. i cannot rely on credit. 

THE EXPERIMENT

how do i do this without telling people to get a travel credit card and get points?

Her and her son sat down

$80 a day on accomodations. 

$60-70 a night in Europe. Hungary and Poland, Czech republic they were a little bit cheaper.  (around $30)

Places like Denmark, oh my gosh..Norway we stayed with friends. 

$10 in an account after getting the most basic coffee. 

GO WHERE THE DOLLAR IS STRONG.

i'm of the " you dont go to a country that your currency is worth less and have a arrogant, 

colonizer mind". that;s why i dont promote south east asia, even though we've been there and we love it.

And it is really affordable for most people.attitude of "i had lobster in thailand and its $2"

i think people end up spending more and being irresponsible in their budget. 

son- You start going to fancy restaurants. You just made this up. 

I'm like did you tip that person that give you that massage?

support the business. WE TRAVEL HACKED EUROPE. 

Because we were in the financial disadvantge.

son- London is very experience. Budget tip when traveling to London.

eurorail pass was 1600. but son's pass was totally free. premium pass was great. 

SON- LONG TERM. if you go to europe, euro rail is a must. if you take 20 trains,

mom- trains are expensive(and they end up that way with no planning). flixbus was great. another thing. 

PACK LIGHT #1 budget travel tip

-you have to check your bag they put it on the weight scale that's hundreds and hundreds of dollars.  

It doesnt really apply for checked back.

now we have it down to the science.

son- we bought travel packs. i think they are great, helpful. we'll do a whole episode on that. 

I see travel families, you have a whole bunch of shit. only thing i double up on is underwear. 

wash clothes in the sink and airdry. 

PRE PLANNING SAVES A LOT OF MONEY TIP #2

do a continent at a time, see how to get from one to the other.

we started in europe then we didnt dash down to Asia. 

We kind of 

son- we go into one specific areas. we take trains and buses around. 

New orleans, having a base is important or at least family or friends. if you run out of money or run into a problem. 

SEASONAL

-Go back home or just buy a coat. 

we have legs that we go to, then we go back to our home base, and we stay 3 weeks to a month.

or we home base in a country. from Buenos Aires, we went to Brazil and 

we settled there fora. little bit 

son- 

mom- when you are in Europe easy to then tackle Africa. less than an hour from europe to Morocco.

You can take a ferry from Spain to Morocco. 

British airways they have regular route into many African countries. Plan that do Europe first or middle east first.

TIP #3 PLAN FOR DISASTER.

As we were rolling along, Europe in the summer costs more than what you imagine. 

Disaster hit when work failed to pay me for like 12 weeks. They couldn't figure out this error. ran out of my savings at that point. kind of stranded. had to call favor from dad, mom, sister, friends. There was a lot of help that happened.

I'm not a believer in credit cards, I'm not a believer in that. If you think you want to charge and you think you can pay it off, YOU DO YOU.

I hope I'm talking to people that don't have a life like that. and don't want to get into credit card debt. 

Setting budget for yourself. $20 to $25 a day spending limit. for example. 

Living close to the margin but totally doable.

son- another little budget tip, if you are in tourist city, Paris or....

TRY TO FIND ACCOMODATIONS WHERE ITS NOT RIGHT IN THE CENTER OF THE MAYHEM

they will always charge more. places to eat will be more expensive.

Paris- we lived off 10 Euros a day. we take local public transport to tourist area and local grocery stores.

Mom- airbnbs are best value. We are backpacking right, we hav ealso stayed at hotels and stayed at laundromats. the real budget buster is to RENT A CAR. DON'T DO IT. 

We've been to 40 countries and we've never rented a car. 

You don't need rental car. I do laundry in the airbnb. or hotel and go to local laundromart. 

TIP #4 TRY TO USE PUBLIC TRANSIT

TIP #5 HAVE A MONTHLY, WEEKLY AND DAILY. BUDGET.

Son- we do daily budget together. 

before we enter another leg of a trip where we be gone for a couple of months, we set a goal for how much we are going to spend and we give ourselves a little breathing room. 

mom-

We spend $100 one day. We write it out in a notebook and Excel spreadsheet. 

WE USE THE MONEY  THAT I HAVE IN MY ACCOUNT. WE PLAN FOR THE DATES THAT WE GET PAID. 

son- With a calculator and my mathematical genius. We are able to do budgeting. At the very end, when we are leaving to the home base. 

Do we meet the requirements? we have $50 left we do find ways to make it cheaper. 

Mom- before we go, BUDGETING ON THE GO DOES NOT WORK. If you are on a fixed income, 

Budgeting ahead of time makes you feel more secure and certain.

Tip #7  HAVE BACK UP FUNDS

Have friend to lend money or have a credit card with at least a 1,000  or 2k on it. just as a back up.

I wanted to be a balance of not being stressed about money but i also included you in it. 

How do you feel about it?

SON- I learned through traveling and budgeting, how to do it. 

I learned how to live paycheck to paycheck and its really helped me. one of my critiques with school in America is that i'm entering high school and still don't know/ haven't learned anything about finance. 

This has helped me understand money and how to pay bills and how to budget. 

If you are traveling with your child and they can handle doing this type of stuff. BUDGET WITH THEM.

Its bonding experience, it tests their math skills, and it makes them have an understanding. 

MOM- makes them appreciate of the expeirence. i am so honored, and i'm so lucky that YOU ARE MOST APPRECIATIVE KID. when you get badget and fresh butter from Paris and it costs us an Euro, you act like its a brand new car. 

If I had done one thing right, (combination of us doing things right and you being who you are) but you are so apprecative of the little thing.

SON- im also appreciative when we go over, splurge.

Mom- what do you splurge on? FOOD.

Son- you don't need everyday an experience where you have to pay for everything. 

One of the biggest joys of traveling is walking around. and IT'S FREE. 

Mom- Some parents think 'well my kid will be bored and being constantly coming up with activities for their children. We live in this world now that kids need to be 

being bored is a gift to give your kid. bringing them on a walk, experience things in a new surrounding.

instead of taking them on a theme park, don't have to be a museum everyday. 

TIP #8: Look for the free stuff. google free things to do. 

there's a million thing. what is free? free museums. parks are free.

Son- what we do unless really hot or cold. if anything is... if a walk to get to a certain place is less than an hour, we walk it. and maybe we will take the public transportation. 

Mom- there is so much to see. little street art. 

son- no better 

a baget that cost 1 Euro in france. 

TIP #9: MAKE USE OF THE FREE FACILITIES 

mom- make use of the free facilities. plan ahead. Make your budget. Figure out what is your income and savings that you can spend that month. where are you gonna be? how much is your currency worth there? what you want to spend per night on accomodations. What you can spend on food for the day? what can you spend on experiences,

You can google what the average groceries cost in that country. Bring a water bottle with you, its reusable. 

TIP #10: pack lightly. 

think about what kind of traveler you are. if you are budgie and you need a lot, you are going to need a lot of money. IF YOU ARE BUDGE-TIE LIKE US, 

Son- even though your job didn't pay you for couple of weeks, we still had the best time. WE were broke and had to get street food that was street food that turned out to be so good. 

so much fun. 

Mom- we were broke and had no money. We had arrived at Ireland. 

we had one night we used my sister's hotel points. Only place we could use this points was this resort in Ireland, the fanciest resort that it was a castle and 

bus driver, said what you are staying at that hotel? we looked not rich at all. backpacks on. he said, okay, usually there is a car that gets you to that place. 

You have to walk down a mile that's the closest that you will get from this town.

we were so vulnerable. 

SON- we couldnt get free dinner so we ordered from the kids menu. 

mom- they looked at us, i told them we had a reservation. they updated us to the best suite because she had so many points

They came to fluff your pillow at night. Tom Cruise had stayed there. 

I was like can I wash my underwear in the sink?there are things you can do to travel hack.

Son- pack lightly, price/cost, do your own budget.

Mom- price alert. use sky scanner. If you leave from a certain city is cheaper but the cheapest flight is out of Berlin and you are in Italy, take train from Italy to Berlin than it is to fly from Rome. Travel hack, do the research.

Son- FINALLY, WALK AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE PUBLIC TRANSIT. 

Mom- Do you see it as a game/ a challenge?

Son- our biggest bonding we've had in our travel is in our budget..

Mom- use like hotels.com where you do 10 nights and get 1 night free. I USE THAT A LOT.

I don't promote getting into credit card debt. 

TIP #10: BE A KIND TRAVELER.

Tip your waitresses. your housekeeping staff. the guy that opens the door. 

the local street performer. Don't haggle.

You are tacky if you haggle. Makes me angry. Be generous even if you are on a budget. 

FINISHED THE PODCAST,  PUT NOTES IN MY NOTES