Remember my super thrilling description of how I planned out my road trip with spreadsheets?

Well the trip was fantastic (more details to be shared later) and now that I’ve recovered, I went back through to see how my financial planning stacked up…

I had originally budgeted the following:

• Fuel $838.14
• Food $550.00
• Lodging $150
• Activities & Souvenirs $220

Here’s how it added up in the end:

• Fuel $895.92
• Food $384.97 (Just over $10/day per person – more on that here)
• Lodging $165.00
• Activities & Souvenirs $431.37 (YIKES – almost double)
• Pre-trip prep $249.77 (including my minivan-to-camper conversion and camping supplies)

Overall I think we did pretty well other than the big overage for activities & souvenirs but how could I pass up a metal armadillo sculpture and Ghirardelli chocolate? Some things are just worth blowing your budget…