Where Do We Begin?

"Saving" has become our middle names over the past couple years.

When we reconnected over cheap beers one 2013 October night in Warren, Rhode Island, we were drawn to each other by our mutual, burning desire to set out in any direction we could- to move out west, backpack Europe, play on the playas of South America, surf in Costa Rica... anywhere and everywhere we wanted to explore! 

Now that we're one month away from our first of many adventures, we're faced with the daunting task of figuring out how exactly to do all of this. Where do we even begin?

Here's where we're at: 

• Using SkyScanner, we found and bought cheap one-way tickets to Iceland, departing October 1, 2015 ($315 for both of us!).
• We've budgeted $7,000 per person, which should last us just under 3 months abroad.
• We have our gear/backpacks/clothes to bring

We've been trying to dedicate at least one night per week to researching places in Europe that we want to visit, average costs of hostels, AirBnB, modes of transportation, etc. Based on our budget, we have allotted ourselves $130/day (combined), which, based on our frugal way of living, is generous. 

Our greatest challenge, thus far, is deciding which Eurail pass we should purchase, or if we should merely buy transportation tickets along the way (planes, trains, buses, etc). We plan on visiting lots of outdoorsy locations, while also seeing the meccas that have become tourist destinations for historic and beautiful reasons. We don't want to break our budget by purchasing more than we'll need, but at the same time, we don't want to over-pay once we are over there. 

We welcome and encourage any tips you guys might have!

Cheers!
Mike and Em

Free + For Sale

Spoiler: We aren't giving away or selling anything.. (sorry)

After buying Loretta (our used 2005 Subaru Outback), it was time to make up for our financial losses. We invested in our adventure mobile and didn't have any regrets, but we hoped to have a little more money before even thinking about planning two life-changing adventures (a EuroTrip followed by a cross-country road trip to our new home in Bend, Oregon).

I graduated from college in May 2015 and was very fortunate to be gifted a solid chunk of change from my generous family members. So, while we may be in a better financial situation post-Loretta than we had initially imagined, we are still extremely mindful of our budget and spending. Every morning I wake up and open my calculator app to add up how much money Em and I should have by the time we leave. 

To help add to our savings (because, com'on, who doesn't like a little extra cash in their pocket?) we teamed up with Em's parents to have an early June yard sale. We did an insane purge: clothes, camping gear, miscellaneous trinkets, etc.- anything that we hadn't used in the past few months/year was donated or set aside for the yard sale. We were very mindful of how many of our things we'd be able to fit in Loretta when we eventually set out on our cross-country road trip to Bend, Oregon. 

We may not have made a significant amount of money from the yard sale (and then post-yard sale Craig's list sales) but every dollar counts. Every couple dollars we make is another croissant in Paris we get to enjoy (a joke Em and I share when we're trying to justify our frugal way of life while we save/budget). 

Don't be afraid to get rid of your stuff. We were actually extremely relieved when we got rid of a lot of the extraneous THINGS that were just laying around our room. When we stopped thinking "we might need this at some point" and realized that we didn't use it in any of our daily situations within the past year (i.e. through each of the seasons), it was clear it wasn't a necessity. 

So go and purge and sell! Make a few extra dollars off of the things that you don't need. Make room for the new trinkets and memories you're going to invest in. Craig's List profiles are crazy-easy to set up and sell things on. So do yourself a favor and make some extra money this weekend. 

Cheers, Mike

Buy an Adventure Mobile: Check!

Meet Loretta! Our new (previously owned) 2005 Outback! She's got a good chunk of miles on her, but she runs like a youngin' and we're so psyched to have a car to call our own.

We knew it was time to spend money on a car when Mike's 1999 Audi's wheel fell off in the middle of the road (exaggeration? not totally..) and my 1999 VW Passat wagon had every light on the dash illuminated and blinking. We've been car-pooling to work together for a few months, which is really great financially when you're budgeting, so we realized we only need one car for now. As June crept closer and closer, meaning our inspection sticker also grew closer and closer to expiring, we knew we had to do something.

After 1 scam, 2 "we just sold it"'s, and 3 weeks of looking on Craig's list for a Subaru within our $4,000 budget and in descent condition, we found Loretta. Her smooth ride, moon roof, tight steering, and CarFax dating back to 90 miles sold us. $3,800 later (plus $500 for insurance, registration, and a pain in the ass- Mike's new slogan for the DMV is "Good Luck") we have an adventure mobile to take us far and wide!

(( *Things people fail to mention when giving advice on buying your first car:* ))

• If you plan on registering your adventure mobile under your own name, you need your own insurance. Nope, being on your parents insurance doesn't work. Joke's on us!
  • Unless you want your parents to own the car and to forever be indebted to them, buy your own car and drivers insurance. Check out some online quotes, but get an insurance agent. We met with Barb at AAA and she was great at helping us settle on American Commerce insurance ($120/month for both of us, $60 each monthly). Plus Barb and the ladies at AAA thought we were adorable for being clueless- so you might make some new friends!
• When you register the car, make sure your license is clear. If you have any boo-boos on your license there may be additional fees to settle at the DMV ("Good Luck"). 
• If the owner of the car won't be present at the DMV when registering it (i.e. Loretta is under Emily's name and couldn't take time off from work to go to the DMV, so Mike had to go alone) make sure your paperwork is notarized. We got ours notarized at TDBank, but you can go to the town hall, or call your bank to check if they have a notary on staff. 

Dream Road Trip:

Buying Loretta made dreaming about where we want to live next (Bend, OR) feel so much closer and more attainable. We wanted to make sure that after spending this chunk of change on a car, and potentially traveling before moving that we would have enough money to get out West. Using RoadTrippers we mapped out our Providence, Rhode Island to Bend, Oregon path and expenses. It estimates that we'll spend roughly $700 on gas, and then I'm estimating an extra $300 for accommodation and food?

Let us know if you've ever planned a road trip! How far? How much? What tips?

Cheers!
Em and Mike