Budgeting, Italian Style

There are only three more days until I leave for Europe!!!! EEEEEE! I'm really freaking out!! This is going to be so awesome. :-) I'm so excited that I just have to share the master plan with you, complete with a budget and Euro-US Dollar conversions! Haha.

First, I'm spending a week in Marburg, Germany visiting a friend. I used to live here, so I can't wait to go back. It's my favorite place that I've ever lived! Plus I haven't seen her since September. :-) My budget for that week is one lump sum: 285 euro. That includes all of our various planned activities-- train tickets, World Cup games in Frankfurt, going to the zoo and a drive along the Rhein, + food for each day and buying some stuff for the boy. I should probably be under budget here, but just in case.

Then, I'm taking a night train from Germany to Rome (already paid for), and we've got Italy for six weeks!! The first week will be spent in Rome (except for Saturday when we are moving in in Reggio), so I have 100 euro allotted for fun & free spending money, and 55 euro for food once we move into our apartments. These are hiiiiigh estimates, since all of our activities are paid for by the program. I probably won't use it all but rather more than not enough, right?

After we get all settled in in Reggio, my budget goes to 35 euro a week for groceries and 65 euro a week for free spending money. I think these will be just fine... I'll have more than enough to go out for dinners or to the clubs, and enough for food during our weekend trips.

Also, I budgeted some money for one weekend trip to Palermo, which is 170 euro. With the program, we go on a ton of pre-paid trips around the area, but we also have 2 free weekends. I have always wanted to go to Palermo, so I'm going to take one weekend and do it. It's only about 3 hours away by train and ferry!

So, the rough totals once the euros are converted:
Food: $285 (230 E - 35/wk + 55 for week 1)
Spending: $525 (425 E - 65/wk + 100 for wk 1)
Souvenirs: $35 (25 E)
Palermo Trip: $210 (170 E)
Week in Marburg: $350 (285 E)
TOTAL: $1,405

Side Note: Going out to dinner is always budgeted in fun money for me... it's easier for me to mentally keep it separate that way. :)