ONE DAY SOON, I WILL BE LIVING IT LARGE LIKE BEN SCHLAPPIG, SIPPING THE COMPLEMENTARY CHAMPAGNE, AND LAZING BESDIES THE INFINITY POOL. For now, I have to make do with sharing bathrooms, and getting awoken by noisy drunks.
Like Schlappig, however, I am playing the points game. By booking hotels on Hotels.com, I get a free night with every 10 nights. They also have numerous specials which it is worth taking advantage of, and benefits for higher tiers of membership. Hosts on AirBNB sometimes give discounts for extended stays, and can be hustled, as my old CSU buddy Garnet Mae has demonstrated to me from time to time.
I expect that accommodation will comprise 50% of my expenses. As my income (or rather wealth) rises, I will allow myself to upgrade both my choice of accommodation, as well as outlay on shopping and other things. I could move to a bigger room in the same hotel, or change to a more expensive hotel. At the same time, my fees on iTalki will be increasing accordingly.
Sometimes it might not be possible to find accommodation at the appropriate cost. I might have to spend a month in a cheaper than budgeted hotel, in which case my average accommodation expenses (below) would drop. Alternatively, the only place in town might be out of price range. Staying at such an establishment would push up my Cumulative Shortfall, and need to be repaid one day.
Places I Have Stayed Already
Bridge View Hotel, Gorokan .......... $125/night * 2; $130/night *1.
Beachcomber Resort, Toukley .......... $100/night * 3.
Sea'n'Sun Motel, Noraville .......... $120/night.
Central Coast Motel, Watanobbi .......... $120/night.
Beachcomber Resort, Toukley... $110/night.
Grand Hotel, Wyong ......... $99.50/night * 5.
Hibiscus Lakeside Motel, Budgewoi ......... $80/night * 2.
Lakes Hotel, The Entrance... $67.85/night.
AirBNB, Killarney Vale .......... $0/night.
Waldorf Nesuto Apartments... $111/night *5.
Waldorf Nesuto Apartments... $98.88/night * 3.
Sea'n'Sun (AirBNB), Noraville .......... $0/night.
Hotel Gosford ......... $57.19/night * 1.
Hotel Gosford ......... $59.91/night * 7.
Hotel Gosford ......... $53.95/night * 14.
Hotel Gosford ......... $76.94/night * 28.
Bayview Hotel, Woy Woy ......... $74.15/night.
Bayview Hotel, Woy Woy ......... $68.48 * 14.
Nightcap at Ocean Beach Hotel, Umina Beach ......... $100.17 * 14.
Toronto Hotel ......... $771 (5 nights).
Angler's Rest, Brooklyn ......... $560 (7 nights).
Places I Have Heard Of
Waterview Swansea Heads (AirBNB)
Ocean View Hotel, Urunga... $50 per night (shared bathroom).
Aspley Acres Caravan Park, Gympie... $19 per night (shared bathroom, rough neighbourhood!)
Glenferrie Lodge, Kirribilli .......... $75 per night (close to the Maes!)
Gateshead Tavern and Motel .......... $90 per night (on Booking.com).
COMPOSITE AVERAGE
Triple weighting provided to Places I Have Already Stayed.
CURRENT STAGE OF WEALTH: Stage 2 ($2500 per month)
WIFI SPEEDS
FREE WIFI will help me to cover the cost of doing lessons on iTalki. Unfortunately, speeds at hotels can be patchy. I usually just end up using my phone as a hotspot.
Beachcomber Resort: N/A (except in the bar downstairs).
Grand Hotel, Wyong: N/A.
Grand Hotel, Wyong (2): 23Mbps.
Hibiscus Lakeview Motel: 7.93Mbps (download), 3.92Mpbs (upload).
Waldorf Apartments: 1GB free for guests. 7.2Mbps (download), 6.5Mbps (upload)… Using my Optus dongle!
TOTAL: 5.75Mbps.
WIFI COSTS
MARCH 2018: $660 (Optus pre-paid). Wifi Dongle: $70.
JANUARY 2018: $480 (Optus pre-paid). Wifi Dongle: $70.
DECEMBER 2018: $540 (Optus pre-paid).
STRATEGIC BOOKING
STRATEGIC BOOKING can reduce costs in a number of ways. Accommodation is a game just like dating or the markets, and it pays to learn the tricks of the trade. To begin with, booking on the app is often cheaper than doing so on the website. I have no idea why that is so, but it presents me my first opportunity for optimization. It is worth pointing out that I would (probably) not be able to get CashRewards stacked on top of the app savings, but it might pay better in certain circumstances. In fact, I can see a 20% discount on Hotel Gosford right now!
Diving down deeper, there are strange quirks to be encountered when researching and booking a property online.
During my recent monthstay at this hotel, I was forced to shell out for a double room after the single room became unavailable a few weeks prior to my stay. The cheaper room might have been booked just one night of the month I spent there, but because of that, it became unavailable to me, and upgrading set me back $10 per night extra. Perhaps if I located those particular nights which were jamming my reservation, I could have split my stay into multiple bookings, with an overall reduction in expense.
A few months ago, while I was searching for accommodation at the Bayview Hotel in Woy Woy, the cheapest room I could find was $105/night. Alarmingly, the property had disappeared from the Hotels.com website, and could only be located at Booking.com. I would rather pool my benefits, rather than dissipate them, and the rewards at Booking.com don't seem to be as generous. It was my discontent with this issue, along with the collapse of the cryptomarket, that led me to again postpose the Escape from Oz in mid 2022.
I had to endure another flood, at Robin's Nest. Just as I was starting to lose hope once again that the Vagabondist dream would ever materialize, I noticed that the Bayview was back on Hotels.com. Now it was only $80/night (on a weeknight). Schlappig has a boyfriend who is a travel agent who can get him cheaper deals. I don't have that privilege, but I can use my skills instead to get me the concessions.
Nonetheless, ... and even a 1% average gain would add up over the years!
Latest Confirmation Number: 4621229166.
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