Budget Review
Flights
Budgeted: $1,200
Actual: $1,037.47
No problem.
Accommodation
Budgeted: $606.19
Actual: $718.84
The reason this went over was solely extra stuff which wasn't accounted for at all:
- Use of pay TV: 3,000円
- Use of washing machine and drier: 900円
- Phone call to the bank: 3,650円
Concert Tickets
Budgeted: $250
Actual: $553.01
What can I say? We originally assumed we could win the lotteries, and we didn't win one of them so the second ticket budget was a failure from the start.
From here on in, the rest will solely be done in yen just because that's more convenient.
Transport
Budgeted:
- NEX: 5,880円
- Suica within Tokyo: 4,160円
Actual:
- Suica NEX: 5,500円
- Replacement Suica: 2,000円
This turns out not to have been so bad. The Suica NEX comes with some free credit, which I nearly spent all of before I had to buy the replacement Suica after losing the main one. I imagine the costs would have been 1000円 lower had I not lost it (the balance was around 500円 and it was 500円 for the new card.)
Food and Drink
Budgeted: 16,000円
Actual: 28,231円
This was a complete blowout. To see why, we just have to subdivide the expenses further.
- Eating out: 12,215円
- From vending machines: 1,190円
- From konbini: 10,926円
- From konbini (sake): 3,900円
As you can see, the original budget of around 2,000円 per day safely covers the cost of konbinis and vending machines even if sake is included. The mistake was not budgeting for eating out, which included curry joints, maid cafes and bars, the latter two of which are of course significantly more expensive.
Cos-Cha came to just over 2,500円 each visit. Ria-uta was 1,500円 and we only had one drink. Had we been doing it right, we would have been paying an additional 600円 per drink and per song we had the staff sing, but we didn't do either. Next time it will be worth budgeting more on this sort of thing so that we can blow money on that without thinking about cash so much.
PC Games
Budgeted: 156,000円
Actual: 82,095円 (-3,150円 for items picked up for others)
This is safely under, mainly because I wasn't able to find a lot of the things I was looking for.
Console Games
Budgeted:
- Hardware: 57,930円
- Store credit: 120,000円
- Software: 27,946円
- Guide books: 20,290円
- TOTAL: 226,166円
Actual:
- Hardware: 90,165円 (-15,000円 for items picked up for others)
- Accessories: 3,800円
- Store credit: 89,360円
- Software: 45,288円 (-6,180円 for items picked up for others)
- Guide books: 20,035円
- TOTAL: 227,468円
This is amazingly close to the mark, mostly because I got less store credit than I initially planned, probably because when I went shopping for points, I had less cash than I expected due to the other spending. Game hardware was higher than expected because I spent an additional 10,000円 or so upgrading the 360 to a 250GB model instead of a 4GB model. Accessories weren't accounted for in the initial budget, but didn't pose any significant issue.
Card Games
Budgeted: 37,175円
Actual: 27,841円 (+262円 for dice, which is sort of a similar category)
I got the two decks of cards I was specifically aiming for and found a few more interesting ones on the way without going over budget. Success!
Music CDs
Budgeted: 24,036円
Actual: 35,124円
This happens every time lately. I find the things I budget for but the number of interesting things I find outweighs the number of things I couldn't find which were on the list.
Goods
Budgeted: ... oops
Actual:
- Apparel: 19,595円
- Toys: 6,520円
- Misc moé goods: 7,432円
- Misc non-moé goods: 11,544円
- TOTAL: 38,571円
Totally forgot about this, but I'm not sure why. At least I'll know for next time.
Postage
Budgeted: ... oops
Actual: 36,650円
A stinger that you should never forget to budget for. Essentially budget 20,000円 per large box and it will be difficult (but not impossible, if you buy a lot of books) to go over.
Souvenirs
Budgeted: 2,000円
Actual: 2,430円
A little over. I'll just budget 3,000円 next time.
Miscellaneous
Budgeted: ... oops
Actual: 9,513円
This category is a bit of a bastard. The cyalume probably could have been budgeted for but everything else was a bit random. Umbrellas were needed (one was bought on arrival but then got lost at some point.) Then there was the UV torch which I will just have to consider as replacing the cheaper keychain-style one I bought before the trip which broke.
Overall
Budgeted: $7,478.08
Actual: $8.722.60
Initially it seemed like I completely blew the budget, but what really happened is that the spreadsheet I was using to track things had an error on the first page which didn't show some of the totals from the other pages.
The end result is that I am still just over a grand and a half over the budget. Next time the forgotten categories will be accounted for and things should be better.
Time to start saving more money. :)