Broke but not Broken

Fear of a depleted bank account deterred me from online banking…for a couple weeks.  It finally came to the point of having to give in. I’m nearing the junction of Broke Boulevard and Homeward Highway. My bank account hasn’t been this low, since college. I’ve emptied out the travel account and tapped into the savings to its bare minimum; less than a grand to my name (a little less than $900 to be exact) and I’ve got exactly three weeks left in Asia. Normally, I wouldn’t disclose such personal information (actually, I really don’t care) but going broke is bound to happen when the steady flow of income comes to a halt and traveling mode kicks in. “Travel til broke” seems to be the motto for most, and I’ve had no problem making it mine.

This is doable. Time to budget.

If I have $900 (including the money I currently have in my wallet), I’ll keep $300 in the savings, which gives me $600 for the three weeks I have left. Well not really, I don’t want to go home with nothing in my Checking account; a hundred will do. So, really, I have $500 to play with. 21 days, $500. It comes outs to $166 a week, $23.80 a day.

Here's the conversion:

Malaysia (two weeks): 491 Ringgit per week, 70 Ringgit per day

Thailand (one week): 4,958 Baht per week, 711 Baht per day

And, I’m back in the game.

There’s no way, I’ll be spending that much money in a day. If I continue to spend about 2-5 ringgit a meal, 2 meals a day it should give me enough for transportation, accommodation, and budgeted sightseeing. Plus, this calculation, assumes that I'll be spending just as much in Thailand as I do in Malaysia. Nope. Thailand is significantly cheaper even if I stay at the poshest hostel in Bangkok. Honestly, I’ve never really had to budget before but I refuse to ask for help—this is partially due to pride but mostly because I want to accomplish this on my own. I know I can do this on my own. I will do this on my own. 

This is doable.  
This is doable.  
This has to be doable. 

I’ll see how it goes. Expect updates. 

I’m almost broke, but couldn’t be happier.

Cheers to enjoying the simpler things in life.