One thing I’ve noticed that I have in common with most other college students is that most of us do not like spending money, and most of us do not have a lot of money to spend. This, however, has never stopped me from finding ways to do what I want.

Last weekend a group of friends and I packed into two cars to go to Kentucky for an Umphrey’s McGee concert. When I first decided I was going to go, I told my friends I needed this to be a “less than $100 trip,” which I completely thought was possible. I proved myself wrong, but it was still a less than $150 trip. And compared to other weekend vacations I’ve been on, that’s relatively inexpensive.

You might notice I haven’t included concert tickets in my breakdown. I did this because I bought my concert tickets in advance, meaning they were budgeted in another month/pay period. That’s one of the best things about concerts: tickets are bought in advance so you have time to make more money for the actual trip.

Here is my breakdown:

• Hotel Room: $42 – This was the total for two nights. We split the cost between four people, making it cheaper.
• Gas: $25 – We also split this between four people, making everyone’s share about the same.
• Food: approximately $35 – This is mostly fast food and one ordered pizza split two ways. We only went out to eat at a normal “sit-down” place once, and that was because the hotel gave us a coupon.
• Anything else: $45

Tips for making your trip cheaper than mine:

• Fill each car to its maximum; you’re giving up some comfort but you are saving some cash on gas and the hotel room.
• Put everyone you bring into one hotel room instead of splitting it up into two comfortable rooms.
• Buy food in advance, and bring a cooler. Buying sandwich meat and snacks at Walmart will be much cheaper than eating out anywhere. If you do go to the fast food places, dollar menu it up!
• Don’t spend money in the “anything else” category. This might mean not indulging in alcohol or not buying any merchandise at the show, but it will save you a huge amount of money (it would have kept me under $100).
• Make it a one-night trip instead of a weekend trip. Drive up, see the show, sleep in the hotel room and then head home. We spent more money because we decided to explore Louisville on Saturday and drive home Sunday.

Concerts within driving distance in July:

• Saturday, July 9 and Sunday, July 10 at Philips Arena in Atlanta: Taylor Swift
• Wednesday, July 13 at the KFC YUM! Center in Louisville: R. Kelly
• Thursday, July 14 at The Wharf in Gulf Shores: Jason Aldean with Chris Young and Thompson Square
• Sunday, July 17 at Philips Arena in Atlanta: Britney Spears
• Saturday, July 23 at The Wharf in Gulf Shores: Miranda Lambert with Gary Allen
• Tuesday, July 26 at The Wharf in Gulf Shores: Kings of Leon with Band of Horses
• Thursday, July 7 at The Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Fl: Bob Dylan