Re:Tips for a Better Life
by PascLeRasc on Wednesday December 23, 2020 @11:36PM
(#25525088)
I agree with the end point you made but I think it's really unhealthy to think about any time not spent working as losing money.
I don't think parent means "every hour I'm not working I'm losing money", I think they mean "every day I spend on this vacation is a day I would normally be getting paid" so they need to make the opportunity cost assessment.
I'm not sure how $200-300 is "saving money" unless you're not enjoying your trip at all with a $50 restaurant.
Maybe your friend that spent $5 on pizza was on the trip for something other than food?
Also depending on destination, $200 / night on dinner is usually higher than my total daily incl amortized flights, and I don't really cut corners on anything (ie flights, hotel, activities, meals). Your friend with the $5 pizza could proportionally save a lot of money compared to me.
Of course, food poisoning is a pretty extreme example, doesn't make sense to order from anywhere if it seems undafe.
How do you factor in trips where being thrify - taking, for instance, public transport or staying in strange places or finding cheap back-street bars, are actually the way to have a far more genuine experience than throwing money at stuff? I've always found the trips I've taken when I've been broken to be the ones where I discover the most and immerse myself the most. When I've you're able to throw money at stuff you get lazy and don't get as much from it.
Understand what you are trying to say but maybe food isn't the best example. If i travel somewhere it's to enjoy a warm beach, the ski slope or something else unique i can't find at home. Not to eat. If i thrift on the food it means i can afford another day in slopes. (Assuming of course fancy restaurants is something that can be found at home and not a main unique attraction of the destination).
Often the cheap street food can also be the more unique local attraction when traveling somewhere!
For example, holidays: Every day that I'm overseas, I lose about $1,000 because I'm a contractor and I'm not getting paid, plus the base expenses of the flights and hotel rooms. If I'm not getting a thousand dollars worth of value from a day, that money is wasted. Spending $50 at a normal restaurant is not "saving money", it's actually a waste of a day! Once you've sunk days into flying somewhere, and dedicated weeks of not working, you may as well spend $200-$300 on a really fancy dinner.
For a contrast, a friend of mine came with us on a trip and tried to save money by buying the exact same $5 takeaway budget pizza that you can get here. He got food poisoning from it and spent several days of his trip in his room feeling miserable. He spent the same time on the trip and spent the same money on flights and accommodation.