Italy Trip Budget Report

A few weeks before our trip to Italy, I wrote an article about our preparations for the trip and talked about our budget. Since following through and reviewing the budget is a vital step in the process, it would be hypocritical of us not to follow up on our budget, being a personal finance/travel blog and all… So, this week we are issuing our “Italy Trip Budget Report” and discussing the results and some of the lessons we learned from it!

Final Budget-to-actual

Our original budget for the trip was $2,591.60 and we ended up landing at $2,652.46. I will note, however, that this amount is our best approximation of what we actually spent and is not 100% accurate. One thing that made it difficult is that quite often, we would get to a restaurant and one of us would pay for the group with cash, then for the next meal the other couple paid for us on the card to make up for it. This pattern continued the whole trip, so it was pretty difficult to track what the exact dollar amount was for food between all the cash and the cards. So keep that in mind as I continue.

Looking at results above, one of the biggest reasons we came in at about $61 over budget was due to a tourist tax we had kind of heard about before the trip, but did not take into account completely while budgeting. That was a rookie mistake on our part, but for future travelers to Rome, keep in mind that AirBnB’s will charge you a tourist tax that the city imposes on travelers for accommodations.  That was kind of a bummer, but luckily it didn’t set us back much.

Another reason was due to us being a little to optimistic about the cost of the AirBnB in Rome and the hotel in Newark. We could’ve gone cheaper if we wanted, but we would’ve sacrificed some benefits that ended up being more convenient and time-freeing than other options. Which we’re OK with, considering time and convenience are worth a lot on vacation.

Glancing at the rest of the bugdet-to-actual, a lot of the budget surpluses and deficits cancelled each other out. These items were things that generally occurred due to changes to our plans while in Italy (e.g. not paying to visit certain Duomo sites because they were fully booked and we couldn’t do it; or not needing a sim card after all because we found other ways of making it work, etc.)

Judge us how you will, but overall I’m pretty happy about where we landed. Sure, we spent more than we budgeted, but considering some of the things that came up and our overly-optimistic views of some expenses, the final result of a $61 deficit is something we can live with. But stopping there would not be a great budget review. Whenever my wife and I budget, we like to not only see what we did well on and what we could improve, but we also like to talk about what we learned that we can apply going forward. So let’s talk about the lessons we learned!

Lesson 1: Build flexibility into the budget

Anyone who has ever budgeted knows that it is pretty difficult to always be 100% accurate and on-target with a budget. This trip was no exception. It’s hard to know and plan for every little expense that comes up. You never know how much you will use public transportation while you are traveling, or how much the food will actually cost. In our case, we rarely used public transportation in Florence like expected cause the city was much more walkable than we expected. Also, most restaurants had a cover charge that we didn’t really know about ahead of time. Little things like that can throw your budget off really quick, and assuredly will.

This trip was just another testament that it is important to build in some kind of flexibility into your budget. You can do this by either over-estimating on expenses or creating a “flex account” for your budget. My wife and I try and do this for our personal budget so that way unplanned or unforeseen expenses don’t throw us off in any way.

Lesson 2: Be willing to pay for extra time and convenience

When we first planned for the trip, we were all about cutting costs and finding the cheapest available options. After some planning and especially after the trip, we realized that sometimes it’s worth it to pay more if it means freeing up time on your trip. When you only have a week or two on vacation, you want to be able to use every second you can doing the things you actually want to do. This means that you might want to pay a few extra bucks to get a train that goes from Rome to Florence without stopping instead of a cheaper option that has multiple stops. Or it might mean paying more for one AirBnB/hotel because it is closer to public transportation or the sites you want to see. Flights can be included in this conversation as well, but for us, we are trying to find a balance between traveling cheap and traveling conveniently. One day, we hope the cost won’t be an issue and we can spend more on flights. But until then, we are all about traveling on a budget!

Lesson 3: Budget first, then forget about it

This lesson applies more to vacations than it does for regular budgeting, but it is super important to budget before you leave on your trip, then once you arrive at your destination, FORGET ABOUT IT AND ENJOY YOUR TRIP! Now, I’m not saying to throw your plans out the window and go crazy with your spending, but don’t just sit there and worry about your budget. You are supposed to be on vacation after all! If you make a solid plan ahead of time, then you’ll know what things you should and shouldn’t do with your money on your trip. Flexibility, as already mentioned, is also important on the trip. For example, we had some nights when we splurged on dinner, and others when we found cheaper options. In the end, we knew it would all average out and it did, and we were pretty close to our estimate. If you have a plan, it is easier to know when to make concessions with your spending, and when to be more frugal without having to think about it too much.

Going forward, I think these 3 lessons will help us in our future budgets, particularly with our vacation splurges. We are so excited to start planning for the next trip! Hopefully, we can continue to find ways to save money while still making the most of our trips! We would love to hear from our readers about any ways you are able to strike a balance between being frugal and enjoying your trips. Comment below and share any ideas, thoughts, and experiences you have had! We are all learning together 🙂