The Numbers
My current situation
Above is my current financial situation. I am a student still being supported by my parents (thanks mom and dad!). However, I am in my senior year of undergrad, and plan on going to grad school. I will only be in grad school for one calendar year, and then be done with school! By that point, I will be an art teacher and will, presumably, get a job somewhere. So, for my projected income, that is what I am basing my numbers on. New teachers make about $30,000/ yr, which would be $2,500 per month. Below, I say that I will be making $2,000 per month, keeping in mind taxes.
What I will be making in two years as a new teacher
With my future salary, I should be able to live comfortably. I will be saving $100 every month (IRA account), and still have $250 extra. I plan on saving that extra for emergencies (car repairs, emergency plane tickets, etc) or vacations. Below I have my teacher salary planned with extra money-saving techniques.
My future salary with a money-saving strategy
As you can see, I will be able to save $385 per month to go towards my European vacation! After only 6 months, I will have saved $2,310. After a year, $4,620! I think I will save for a whole year so I can have the larger sum to use towards my vacation.
One week example of travel expenses - every day is a new city just for the sake of the example
Above is a one week example of a “budget” week of travel. Eeek!! It is a lot of money! The total for the week is $789. If I were to travel for just one month, that would be $3,156. However, this is a condensed version. In real life, I wouldn’t be traveling to a new city every day. I would probably spend a several days in the major cities, and possibly just 1 or 2 days in smaller places. However, if I really like a place, I would stay longer. All of my pricing is based on information found in travel books, to be cited later. I converted the prices listed in the books from euroes and pounds to US dollars.
Travel expenses- one week example. Expensive plan.
Just to have something to compare, I made this spreadsheet with a more expensive week plan. Instead of using prices for youth hostels and cheap cafes, I used prices for real hotels and nicer restaurants. Also, I allowed for a souvenir purchase in each city. With this more expensive plan, I would potentially spend $1,373 more than the cheaper plan in just one week! That would be $5,492 more in just a month! I am a thrifty person, so this plan does not appeal to me. I would much rather spend less and have more rough experiences.
Flights
I just found a great flight from LA to Dublin. It’s a one-way flight for $447, with only 1 stop in Chicago. It was the cheapest I could find with few stops. If I came back from Rome, the flight would be around $672 with two stops along the way. So, hypothetically, airfare to Europe and back would be $1,119.
Train
I researched and found a Eurail Global Pass Youth Flexi (for people ages 12-25) for $527. This pass includes travel on the 100,000 mile rail network connected 18 countries in Europe, so I would be covered.
Total Cost
If I were to go with my cheaper plan (seen above in spreadsheet), then I would spend a total of $3,156 on food/accomodations/travel within countries/souvenirs, plus $1,119 on flights to and from Europe, plus $527 for a Eurail pass for travel between the countries. Total cost of trip: $4,802. That is perfect because when I budgeted for this trip, I calculated that with a new teacher’s salary, I could save $4,620! So I would have $182 extra that I could use as a buffer.
