A Note About the Budget

The stats-geeks have gotten picky about my budget and savings numbers, questioning why, exactly, the daily food budget has been different and why the Priceline savings do not match the sum of the differences between the hotel cost and the hotel budget.  Stats-geeks have too much time on their hands.

So to explain:

The food budget is $50 / day and I’ve chosen to make it cumulative for the trip.  Unlike government budgets, or the per-diem of certain libertarian think-tanks,  my budget is not use-it-or-lose-it.  So the food budget for a given day is $50 plus whatever has accumulated from previous days.

The hotel budget, unlike the food budget, is daily, not cumulative. 

With the Priceline savings figure, I have chosen to represent the savings from what I would have paid for that room, not what I had budgeted.  This is to represent the non-tangible benefit of the hotel upgrade.  If my budget was $50, because I priced a Motel 6 in the area before leaving, but I get a Courtyard for $47, then I’ve saved three real dollars – but I also have the intangible of staying in a nicer room, with more amenities.  This is represented by the Priceline savings.