$1,500??? Carnival is EXPENSIVE!!!

By Dolla Thug, on March 3rd, 2011



By the time you read this post, I should be on a flight to Trinidad for Carnival this weekend!!!  Wooo-hooo!!!

HOW MUCH CAN AN ISLAND PARTY POSSIBLY COST???
Now you would think a trip to a Caribbean island where you’re staying with a friend (with no hotel costs) would be pretty cheap…but this mess has run me up a good $1,500!!!

I know what you’re thinking…why on earth would Dolla Thug spend so much on an island vacation……that’s not Hawaii or Fiji???

I’ve been asking myself the same question!!

But alas, Carnival weekend is supposedly the best weekend EVER each year in Trinidad and I’ve been told by NUMEROUS people that it is very expensive BUT totally worth the money…riiiiiight…

I truly, truly hope so…but just so you have an idea of how everything added up (in case you ever decide to embark upon such madness), here’s my list of expenses:

Flight (purchased via cheapoair.com):

$530

(I used $200 worth of rewards miles to bring my flight costs down from $730, and this purchase was over SIX months in advance!…if I tried to purchase the exact same ticket a few days ago, it would run me $1400-1500!!!  Carnival IS that serious, guys!)

Carnival itself:

$632
 (includes costume and 2-day celebration of all-you-can-eat food and all-you-can-drink liquor, Monday and Tuesday.  And yes, I spent this much money on some damn glitter, sequins, and feathers…I didn’t know what happened until my friend sent us the receipt for the purchases she made on our behalf and was like, so the total in USD for Ana is $632…I stared at my computer screen for a good 7 minutes…)

$632 worth of sequins, glitter and feathers..........wait 'til you see my gut in this!

Fetes (pre-Carnival weekend parties):

$291
Beach party (again, unlimited food & liquor):  $133
Some Cultural Thing:  $50
Another beach party (more unlimited food & liquor):  $108

TOTAL (not including souvenirs, daytime food, jet-skiing):  $1,453

WORTH THE COST?
And in all reality, there’s no way I could ever consume $1000 worth of liquor and food in one week.  Even if each drink was $25 and each meal was $25.  And my friend has made it clear that the food is really cheap in Trinidad…so it really doesn’t make any damn sense…but capitalism is REAL!  And I’ve allowed myself to be a victim…

MAKING YOUR BUDGET KNOWN
When it came to paying for “fetes”, I seriously had to be like – hey guys, put me down for one or two fetes.  Anything above that, you guys can go without me – I’ll chill at the crib or on the beach and relax for the night, that’s what vacations are for anyway.  I had to stop the bleeding!  It was seriously getting out of control.  Just because everybody else is spending $2,000 does NOT mean you have to spend $2,000.  You have to know your budget, know your limit, and if that means sacrificing one island party that you’ll probably barely remember from all the unlimited liquor you’ll be consuming anyway – then so be it!

HOW DID I PAY FOR THIS?
Well, I’ve been using a “compartmentalizing method” where I have part of my paychecks split between two different accounts.  One account (where most of my money goes), I use for monthly expenses like rent, utilities, food, etc.  And the other account (where I have $200 per paycheck deposited) I use as a method for saving up for large expenses that I plan for months in advance, like Christmas gifts, travel expenses, or gadget purchases.  This method works for me and allows me to pay cash for the large purchases when I have enough saved up so I don’t have that debt on my credit cards (costing interest month after month as I try to pay it down!).

AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT’S A ONCE IN A LIFETIME WEEKEND
But TRUST – I know this is a one-time thing – no matter HOW much fun I have this weekend (and I better have $2,000 worth of fun to make my return on investment worth it), I will surely not be doing this again!  So I’m gonna make the most of it!  Wish me luck and see you when I get back!!!

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College Saving Tips – LESS is MORE!

By Dolla Thug, on September 8th, 2010



Dearest Readers,
As of today, I’m competing in an “Education and Wealth” blog competition on GoBankingRates.com and it would be really wonderful if I could win so…do me a huge favor and VOTE FOR ME, PLEEEASE! All you have to do is go to the site and comment with my article #: “19″. That’s IT! SO easy. You should also check out the other articles, they’re pretty good. :) Below is the article I submitted which I think is a decent read for anyone in school (undergrad, grad, or other). Thanks for your support!!!:

For many, it’s that time of year again – time to head back to school! After sharing my own college credit card debt disaster story, a reader asked me what I would have done differently back in college.

Courtesy of cbc.ca

I decided to make my response into a whole new post so here are my top money saving tips [in no particular order] for higher education budgeting (those I followed and those I wish I’d followed!). Comment with any other tips that I missed!:

1) This first one is pretty obvious, but…apply for as much financial aid, grants, and scholarships as humanly possible. FAFSA and www.fastweb.com are the best sites to start with. Every little bit helps and it costs nothing to apply (except your time, but that’s irrelevant :) ).

2) (if you can help it) DO NOT BUY BOOKS NEW! Get them used or BORROW them whenever possible. The college text book market is one of the biggest rip off scams known to man (right up there with infamous infomercials). Chances are you’ll probably only spend about 5 hours of your entire life with any of your text books – so why spend $300 on each! There are plenty of online markets for trading and bartering for college text books, amazon and google are your friends.

3) To be a true college student, use Megabus, Bolt Bus, or Chinatown bus service whenever possible! Amtrak is just not worth the money when you can use much cheaper means for much better savings.

4) You’ll be surrounded by fellow peers spending (their parents’) money all around you. Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses! It’s not worth it – trust! Keep it cheap – shop at forever21, H&M, other less costly stores (and don’t sleep on Target). Because let’s face it – out of everything I bought during college, I probably only know where 5% of those clothes are today – stuffed in some storage bin in my closet!

5) If you can be an RA and live “room and board”-free – DO IT! I never took advantage of this (too busy being a bad example by having parties in my own dorm room), but if you decide to be a Resident Advisor for your dorm, this can save a lot of college housing costs during your latter years of college. Good deal if you ask me…
Continue reading College Saving Tips – LESS is MORE!

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