How much I spent in a Month
I have been keeping a meticulous record of my expenses for thirty days in Sri Lanka. Let us call that a month. I wanted to see exactly where I spent my money. I started off recording on a pad, but graduated to a spreadsheet. My thirty days started in Mirissa, then Kalamatiya, Bundala National Park, Tissa/Yala, Ella, Nuwara Eliya, Colombo, Kandy, Arugam Bay, Kalkudah, Uppuveli, and Jaffna.
The totals in Rupees and USD , then daily Average, were as follows.
| |
Rupees |
USD |
Daily Av. |
| Transport |
11225 |
US$74.83 |
US$02.49 |
| Food |
34397 |
US$229.31 |
US$07.64 |
| Tips |
2135 |
US$14.23 |
US$00.47 |
| Food |
34397 |
US$229.31 |
US$07.64 |
| Hotel |
56450 |
US$376.33 |
US$12.54 |
| Food |
34397 |
US$229.31 |
US$07.64 |
| Tours |
29000 |
US$193.33 |
US$06.44 |
| Food |
34397 |
US$229.31 |
US$07.64 |
| Other |
3200 |
US$21.33 |
US$00.71 |
| Food |
34397 |
US$229.31 |
US$07.64 |
The Grand Total in Rupees is 136407 .
The Grand Total is USD is US$909.38.
Making a Daily Average of US$30.31 and 4546 Rupees.
So, a good idea would be to keep to a budget of 4000 rupees per day. Put that in a separate money wallet and that is your money for that day. Try and only spend that money for the day and not go over it. If you have any left over, put it back in the kitty and give yourself another 4000 rupees for tomorrow.
Looking back over the expenses, the biggest ones were Hotel and Food. If you can keep those two down, then you will be going a long way to having a much lower budget. I stayed mainly in single rooms and ate at the hotels quite a bit. You can save heaps of money if you are a couple or three people. And stay in dormitories.
You can also save lots of money by eating what the locals do. Rice and curry, Vegetable roti, roti and dahl, kottu, etc. Tourist restaurants are a rip-off.
I also spent quite a lot on jeep safaris to Kalamatiya Bird Sanctuary, Bundala National Park, Yala , Kithulgala, and Kumana National Park. They cost heaps but mostly they were worth it, because I photographed heaps of birds and animals and I was very happy with the results.
I tip quite a bit in Sri Lanka. I give waiters and bus conductors 20 rupees most of the time. It is not much but they seem to appreciate it. I also tipped some of the wildlife guides/drivers if they were good, but gave nothing if they were crap. The guides at Yala harassed an elephant so I did not give them a cent. They were lucky I did not report them.
Other is personal items like soap, razors, ear plugs, medicine, O.R.S. , skin cream, sunburn lotion, etc.
Transport is very cheap in Sri Lanka. It is not really an issue. Do not worry about it at all. Buses and Trains are very cheap. Tuk-tuks are where the transport costs can escalate. Pay them about 100 rupees per kilometer. The locals pay about 50 rupees per kilometer. Haggle them down if you are a major tight-arse but remember petrol costs a lot and they have to pay for their tuk-tuks which are quite expensive relatively speaking. So try and be fair and not too mean. I usually walk away from an obviously ridiculous price and if they quote a reasonable price, I usually give them an extra 50 or 100 rupees at the destination.
