I spent five days and four nights in Atlanta, Georgia for a personal finance conference called FinCon. I’ll share exactly how much I spent, plus five tips on how you can save on flights, hotels, food, and event tickets when you travel.
I believe in spending money on what you value. A budget isn’t restraining, but instead it puts a dollar-sign to your to-do list. With a budget you can do more of the things you love.
I love traveling plus all things money related, for me this was money well-spent.
This was a finance conference with the best personal finance podcasters, Youtubers, Finfluencers, writers, and speakers. I met some of my favorite people in the space like George Kamel (A Dave Ramsey personality). And last year, this was the conference I connected with the senior money reporter at CNBC!
How Much I Spent on a Five-Day Trip to Atlanta
Conference Ticket: $0
The conference ticket is usually a few hundred to attend, but because I was a speaker, my ticket to attend was completely free.
Tip 1: Get free tickets
Believe it or not, but when traveling for conferences, retreats, festivals, etc. you can often get your entry fee complimentary when you volunteer or help with the event itself.
Flight: $231.45
This was low considering I had non-stop flights, at regular times (versus red-eyes). I ended up with flights from two different carriers with the lowest prices.
Tip 2: Price shop all airlines
My favorite site to find low-cost flights is Kayak. It compares all airlines, and you can even see which days are cheaper to fly, plus setup price alerts!
Hotel: $359.88
I stayed at a four-start hotel in downtown Atlanta for four nights.
Tip 3: Share a room
Reduce how much you spend in accommodations by getting one or even two roommates. For this conference there was a roommate finder spreadsheet to see other attendees who were looking for a roommate too. Getting a room by myself alone would be almost $1,000!
Meals: $34
For five days, I only spent $34 on food and drinks total! This was the total for fifteen meals.
Tip 4: Pack food, split meals, and eat for free when possible
I packed snacks beforehand: Cheese Its, grapes, bagels, and granola bars. I also took advantage of all the free and included food. The hotel provided free breakfast, and the conference had happy hours with free drinks and heavy appetizers.
I ended up only buying three meals! One of the meals I even split with someone. When you eat out, especially on a trip, split meals with friends or family. The portions are so large anyways.
Entertainment: $59.34
Since this was a conference, I mainly attended speaker sessions, but I did want to explore the city. This was for tickets the famous Georgia Aquarium.
Parking/Ubers: $79.27
This trip I decided to drive and pay for the economy parking at the airport. It was a little pricey ($60!), but less than an Uber there and back. When I arrived to Atlanta I took the public train directly to the hotel, this was $3.50 each way. I ended up only getting one Uber for $12.27 during the trip.
Tip 5: Research public transportation in advance
When traveling, large cities have trains and are significantly less expense than Ubers. Try it out! Some big travel destinations are also walkable. Ubers can add up fast! I walked as much as possible too. For example, the aquarium was a 12-minute walk from my hotel.
Total Spending: $763.94
All-in-all for five days I spent under $800! If you have a trip coming up, then try these five tips to save.
As always, remember you only live once. Be smart with your money now.
❤️ Carly
P.S. Know of friends, family, or coworkers who geek out over money? Share Best Money Class Ever with them.