cost analysis

below is a chart that shows my best estimate as to the costs for the car so far. our initial expected cost was $500 for a vehicle, so buying morris at 200 gave us roughly 300 for repairs. i included the cost of paint in this even though technically it wasnt needed to get the car in a reliable driving state but its on the chart because everyone agrees racing paint makes the car faster.

as you can see we have currently used roughly $545 dollars to date to get the car in the position it's in. subtracting the paint we are at $505, very close to our budgeted amount. further breaking this down we get to roughly $465 by subtracting the cost of oil, and subtracting $40 for the cost of some tools, putty, cleaners and bits of pipe gives us $425- the cost at which the car was perfectly drivable.

how do our costs so far compare to our self-set challenge of simply flying south? let's take a look:

rundown of costs from air canada. click for big.

we can see a return trip for 2 adults lands us at $1,546 simply for air fare! so then, we are now left approximately $1,000 to drive us to mexico and back before it is more economical to fly. this money will have to be used to gas, food and shelter along the road. it may also be used for more repairs, it's really up to us. what i wont include in the final tally is the extra days it takes to drive that need to be taken off work, because i think that is just getting too silly. after all, i think myself and mitch both consider the time on the road to be part of the vacation as well. so sure by flying you get more prime time in mexico, but if you enjoy it just as much travelling there by car then that shouldn't be considered an addition expense in the form of time taken.

and yes i'm aware there are the usual travel packages people can buy, say about $799 for a week at an all inclusive mexican resort somewhere. i think i could argue this fairly strongly into my favour but would you believe with the outbreak of swine flu i can't find a single resource around town that is stocking a mexican travel package?

but regardless, considering the journey part of the adventure is what swings things to heavily in our favour in my opinion. added benefit of the ability to sell the car upon return further reduces total cost.

mind you it might not make it....

-steve