Money in, money out

This is still a draft as some values may change (and I hope you'd put a bit more to the pot before we finish).

The main objective of CyclingDevs 2018 was to collect funds to support Szymon, who recovers after spinal tumour surgery. All money (collected via JustGiving or offline) are meant to be transferred using TransferWise (or Barclays whichever gives better deal) to account managed by Fundacja Złotowianka in his name. From there that money can be only used for his immediate recovery needs with full accountability.

So what we collected so far?

Total Collected (JG+offline) | £606.00

• | - JustGiving donations (26) | £580.00 JustGiving fee (5%) | -£29.00 Processing fees (PayPal or cards) | -£9.00 JustGiving net | £542.00 Offline donations (3) | £25.00 Net donations | £568.00 Transferwise fee | £5.03 Net Transferwise | £562.97 To receive (rate as per Aug 4th) | 2698.02 PLN

How much it cost:

As a cost of the trip, I count actually spent money on food, commute, accommodation and medication. That includes accommodation I had to cancel but couldn't get a refund but doesn't include equipment. Why? Because the equipment is for longer than a trip. I purchased a backpack, tent and sleeping bag that I will use for years to come. The real cost is what is being used/worn during and for the cause.

Total cost | £182.46

• | - Accommodation | £72.62 Food | £53.09 Medication | £8.97 Transport | 47.70

Accommodation

Avoid holiday parks. Most of them have no refund policy and cost quite much even for a little tent (~£25). On the other hand, you can get a place on a simple campsite for about £10 with clean showers and toilets and an amazing, family-friendly atmosphere like at Buckhurst Campsite. In edge cases go for last minute booking via Booking.com. This way I found Afton Hotel in Eastbourne which was simple, clean and cheaper than Airbnb deals .

Food

Wholemeal roll, apples and salami snack sausages from Morissons cost me peanuts and lasted for all 3 days. That is a good deal, but it's not enough for proper nutrition. Funny enough good choice seems to be McDonald's (how much I loathe them) Wrap of a Day deal (£1.99 for a wrap) will give you large wrap, large drink and a large salad (or chips if you prefer) for £3.99. That's the same as WHSmith meal deal (which is rip off). If you go with meal deals then Tesco, Sainsbury or Morrisons are very good to start with. If you need to carb up you can get some pasta there as main. Go for salads instead of crips and water or coffee instead of sodas in all options.

Where you'd spend more are pubs, beach bars even takeaways. Go simple.

Medication

The Boots is a rip-off. Their anti-blister plasters are good, but cost 3 times price in Wilko. Worse that Wilkos located next to Boots often don't have medicine shelf. Buy supplements like magnesium and calcium before the trip as if you have to buy it in Boots it will cost a lot.

Transport

TrainLine is a winner. You can find great value tickets (2 or 3 times cheaper than regular), but with few gotchas: no refund and often specific times only. Anyhow with them still using a train becomes a very viable option in the country like the UK which has one of the most expensive public transport in the World.

More to come

We will update this article with information about money collected, sent to Szymon account and how it's being used.