I hesitated to continue writing these expense reports because they’re always the least viewed posts, and they’re not as relevant as they used to be when we were traveling on a strict budget. But I do the work in compiling them for our own use anyhow, so it’s not much more effort to share them. And if someone gets some value out of them, then that’s good too.
We’ve been keeping track of our daily expenses for over twenty years. We now use a travel budget app (TravelSpend) that does all the foreign exchange and everything and Ruth and I can add expenses individually. It’s so much easier.
Anyhow, let’s get to it!
We spent a total of $5,414 CAD ($3,874 USD) for the month. Slightly less than expected, although only because I didn’t complete the paraglider training. The following figures are in $CAD…
Fuel: Between the car rental at the beginning of the month and a fill up of our ATV and gas can, we spent $145. That figure is obviously going to rise over the next several months as we travel to Panama with Igor!
Propane: We filled up the tank here at the house last October, and it lasted us a full year. Of course we’re not here full time, but still, we thought that was pretty good. We had it filled up again last week at a cost of $149.
Groceries: A total of $527. Not bad, considering the fridge and cupboards were empty when we arrived, and we fed another mouth for the last week of the month. Having said that, groceries are definitely more expensive here than they were a year ago, but that seems to be a worldwide problem.
Meals out: We spent $257, and a big chunk of that was two meals we had in Ottawa at the beginning of the month!
Alcohol: We had been doing really well this month until one of the major grocery stores here had a 35% off sale on all hard liquor and wine! So we stocked up even though we won’t be here for the next couple of months. It’ll be waiting for us when we return! We spent a total of $149 for the month.
Miscellaneous: This category always comes in higher than I expect. I’m going to have to start budgeting more! We spent $493. About $250 of that was for various items around the house. A hand mixer, some new exercise equipment, some kitchen items. It all adds up!
Entertainment: A total of $1,408. $230 of that was when we went to the Cirque de Soleil at the beginning of the month, and the balance was my paragliding lessons and Ruth’s tandem paragliding. Obviously what I did was a bit pricey for what I got considering I didn’t finish the course. But the guys have agreed that I can pick up where I left off when we return in April. We’ll see.
Overnight: A total of $879. That’s five nights in Ottawa at the beginning of the month, one night in a hotel in Mexico City, and the balance in our rental house here in Mexico.
Motorhome: The monthly cost of our registration, storage, and insurance came to $122. That will decrease next month since we won’t have the storage or registration fees. However, we do have some fairly major repairs to the rear brakes that we want to have done.
Travel: A total of $1,291 for our flight tickets from Ottawa to Mexico City ($532 each), five days of car rental in Ottawa ($151) a new International Driver’s Permit ($55) and the bus from Mexico City to Valle de Bravo ($25 each).
About what was expected. November will be far cheaper. We have an upcoming budget of $3,185 CAD ($2,280 USD) for the month!
Great deal on a Two Pack of Zero Gravity Chairs with Cup Holder Trays at Amazon.com.
And in Canada… great deal on the popular and highly rated JBL Go-4 Bluetooth Speaker at Amazon.ca
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