How do you spend your vacation dollars? This is my breakdown of vacation expenses for my family of six (not including boring stuff like gas):
Attractions: $729 Disneyland two days, $329 Universal Studios, $570 Wicked = $1,200
Bang for the buck: Lots of fun, family bonding time, and memories—PRICELESS
Souvenirs: $28 Wicked CD, $40 t-shirts = $68
Bang for the buck: Memories, fun singalongs on the way home, and something to wear
Food: Room service/hotel restaurant breakfast ($60) + 2 in-park junk-food meals daily ($120) + $4 Mickey ice cream snack per person ($24) + fast food for driving days ($120) = $936
Bang for the buck: Weight gain, regret, loss of energy, constipation, misery
Ha, fooled ya. Here’s our real food expenditures:
Food: Live, whole plant food we brought for 2 meals and snacks daily ($80 total), 3 Souplantation dinners and 2 Subway dinners ($180) = $260
Bang for the buck: Not much more than we’d spend at home anyway, lots of energy
The food cost savings of $776 don’t tell the whole story, because we also didn’t feel horrible and sleep 10 hours at night to recover from a day of trans fats, chemicals, food dyes, and sugar. Our digestive function didn’t shut down, we didn’t struggle with blood sugar lows and resulting crabbiness. All in all, we may have enjoyed our vacation much more, in addition to saving a boatload of money compared to what we saw others doing.
Tips: One, Mapquest Souplantation / Sweet Tomatoes into your driving schedule. They’re everywhere. We love that place! Two, don’t drink your calories, even with juice (still lots of sugar). Subway is cheap at $5 for a footlong right now at most locations, so just don’t add chips and a drink there or at other restaurants. You’ll save money and fill up on veggies instead of sugar.
