Location: Thessaloniki [Greece]
February is here, and so is another week of expenses….
Transportation
On Sunday, I was out with friends and we didn’t feel like walking up the hill to the hostel so we caught a taxi: $3.99.
Accommodation
I finally got off my lazy ass and paid for two weeks of staying at a hostel. It turned out to be $15.46 per night.
On Wednesday, I moved into an AirBnB apartment with someone I met at the hostel I was staying at. We got a huge discount (35%) for booking a whole month. If we take the straight-up price divided by two for 28 days (February), the price comes out to $12.54 per night. However, I used my Chase Sapphire Reserve to book the place and they applied my $300 travel credit (the card’s already paying off). If I take my half minus the credit, it comes out to $1.83 per night! That’s insane. The lesson here is use travel credit cards if you can.
Food
I went a little crazy with food this week. Maybe all the money I saved on accommodation has gone to my head…. Actually, it’s more like I’ve been spending a lot of time with people in ‘vacation’ mode. They tend to go out a lot and spend more money than long term travelers. I think that’ll calm down now that I’m in an apartment, and have made a couple grocery runs. We’ll see what next week’s food bill looks like.
Other
Travel insurance: $5.57 per day.
VPN service: $0.26 per day.
Amazon Prime: $0.33 per day.
This blog: $0.31 per day.
Skype: $0.08 per day.
Chase Sapphire Reserve: actually $0.41 per day now that my credit’s been used.
On Tuesday, I refilled the data plan on my travel SIM: $20.00.
Summary
| Week 54 | ||||||||
| Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Total | |
| Travel | 0 | 0 | 3.99 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.99 |
| Lodging | 15.46 | 15.46 | 15.46 | 15.46 | 15.46 | 1.83 | 1.83 | 80.96 |
| Food | 20.31 | 2.28 | 28.52 | 12.55 | 17.11 | 3.42 | 24.48 | 108.67 |
| Other | 6.96 | 6.96 | 6.96 | 6.96 | 26.96 | 6.96 | 6.96 | 68.72 |
| Total | 42.73 | 24.7 | 54.93 | 34.97 | 59.53 | 12.21 | 33.27 | 262.34 |
So, it’s pretty clear I’m not in Georgia any more. This is still far less than I’d spend on the US. Plus, my quality of life is significantly higher now that I’m not in ‘the West’. See you all next week….
