Paris For Less Than €40 A Day (per person)

One of the reasons we wanted to move to Scotland was its proximity to the European continent.  We believed that if we lived in Europe we would be able to see more of Europe and in less time than had we stayed in the U.S. where vacation time and funds are limited.  However, the reality is that Desi is earning much less than what she had been earning in Seattle and during our planning we had not taken that possibility into account.  Diminished funds coupled with more vacation time required some creativity but we resolved early on that travel was a priority so we have adjusted all other aspects of our life to make sure we don't waste this opportunity of proximity.

We were able to do everything we wanted to do on our first big holiday as European residents which we find especially satisfying because we did it all under such tight financial constraints.  Our final budget came to €38.24 for expenses per day and €36.67 per night for accommodations creating an overall budget of €37.45 per person for the 25 day holiday.  We're quite pleased with ourselves.

Our final budget breakdown is outlined below.  Upon review we could've spent a bit less on food but Desi does enjoy the eating and the drinking.  We'll try to manage that part of the budget a bit better in the future.

€880 spent on accommodations. We rented a 19 sq meter studio in the 17e for 24 nights for €880.  We were conveniently located on a corner next to a Metro stop so we were able to maneuver throughout Paris quite easily.  However, if we were to do it again we would look for something in the 1e-6e arrondissements because we found ourselves there most often and we could've saved some money on the Metro, not to mention our poor feet, had we been located in that area.

view from our flat

€678 spent on dining out and groceries.  We spent €439 on dining out, a lot of which can be traced back to our many €3 vins chauds enjoyed at the Christmas markets.  We started spending €1-2 on bottles of wine and making the vins chauds at home, which helped the budget a bit after the first week.  We spent €239 on groceries (including wine).  Our dining out expenses also include the many trips to the boulangeries and patisseries.  Our most expensive meal was €50 at Brasserie Lipp where we enjoyed the choucroute.  For the most part though we stuck to cafes and salons de thé.

proper vins chauds at Le Petit Pont

€131 spent on entertainment.  Museum admission costs for both of us were as follows: €16 at Musee d'Orsay, €24 at Centre Pompidou, and €20 at the Louvre. Versailles was only €18 because Mike was free due to his status as an art school student.  We went to three free museums: Palais de Tokyo, Petit Palais, and Victor Hugo's House.  The Menagerie at the Jardin des Plantes cost €17, the catacombs cost €16 and the Bateaux Mouches was €20.

€114 spent on transportation.  We spent €30 on our cab ride into Paris from Charles de Gaulle airport.  We had budgeted €18 for the train but because we arrived too late due to weather we wound up missing the last train into Paris.  Luckily, we shared our cab with another couple saving €30 off the €60 fare.  We purchased 6 carnets of 10 Metro tickets, costing €12 per carnet or €1.20 per ticket.  It cost €12 for two return tickets to Versailles.  We also managed to get a free train ride back to the airport at the end of our journey, so we saved €18 there.

€33 spent on miscellaneous items. We spent €5 on mittens from a street vendor when Desi's gloves developed a hole, €12 on postcards and postage, and €16 at the laundromat because the clothes washer in our flat was broken which was an unexpected expense.

Our next holiday is in April and we hope to spend it on a beach.  Our budget will be even further diminished but we will make it work.  We always make it work and have a great time doing it.