The waterfront where we are staying at Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Valle de Bravo, Mexico.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Cancun on December 17th!

Friday, November 30, 2012

October expenses

Here we are at the end of November and we haven't even posted October's expenses yet. I was thinking about not doing it anymore, but obviously some people are interested because we've had a couple of reminders. So we'll keep posting them every month.

October is always an expensive month for us because it usually involves some form of travel. It's the time of year when we are probably in the process of heading somewhere warmer! And this October was no different.

We spent a total of $2,863 in October and a big part of that was because we were in four different countries! We started the month in England, went to Iceland, then Canada, then the United States. So a lot of our expenses were related to travel.

Gasoline: We spent $260.90 on gasoline. $50 of that went into our daughter's car because she ferried us around while we were in Nova Scotia. The balance of $210.90 essentially got us from Ottawa, Canada to Oklahoma City where we ended the month.

Toll Roads: $3.00 on the Oklahoma Turnpike.

Groceries: We stocked up on quite a few items in preparation for our time in Mexico. Still, it only came up to $307.51. We had spent some time at Ruth's father's though, as well as eating in a lot of restaurants while in Iceland. (See "Entertainment Expenses"!)

Alcohol: Cheapest month ever. We refused to pay the ridiculously high booze prices while in Iceland, and then we carried on with that philosophy while in Canada. We did stock up on some wine while coming through the United States. Total was $57.99.

Misc: This is always the killer, and you'll find out tomorrow that it was the killer of November's budget as well. We spent $808.68 in the miscellaneous department, and that was only in the month of October. The expensive items were tires for the little blue car ($332), Ruth's new hiking boots ($130) and car insurance and licensing ($150). We also bought new sandals for each of us and a bunch of lesser items.

Entertainment: One of our higher months in this category, at $291.65. Some of that was while we were in Iceland ($132.90) and the rest was driving down through the U.S.

Overnight: $128 total. One night at a guest house in Iceland ($82) and one night in a dumpy motel in Chandler, Oklahoma ($46).

Travel: Our biggest expense for the month was getting from England to Canada. We did it with IcelandAir and that's why we did the stopover in Iceland. Total cost for the two of us to get one way from Manchester, England to Halifax, Nova Scotia was $964.48. Then we had also spent $42.09 getting to the Manchester airport in England, for a total of $1,006.57.

So, a total of $2,863.30!

Good thing we don't have many months like that! November was an improvement though, so stay tuned for that tomorrow!


15 comments:

  1. You really have to pat yourselves on the back - $2800+ for one month that included transatlantic plane tickets and travel in 4 countries is pretty darn astounding.

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    1. Kevin does a great job finding some fantastic deals on the internet. After 5 years full time traveling we know what we can do on our budget and still have a geat time.

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  2. Kudos for having the willpower to dutifully record, itemize, and publish all your expenses each month. I only can muster a few days of it, then get lazy. I'm going to start my own RV blog on January 1 and maybe that will finally inspire me to do the same!

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    1. We are is such a habit of it now that we don't even think about it. I need to have pen and paper handy though when we go to the markets, or take a bus or eat in the small taquerria's because you never get a receipt, and I would soon lose track. We know it doesn't amount to a lot but it still all adds up.

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    2. Be sure to share the name of your Blog, Diugo.

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  3. Bewildered Commenter DiugoNovember 30, 2012 at 7:06 PM

    Whoops, my comment was published, then completely disappeared, then I complained about it getting deleted, then it reappeared. Strange.

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    1. For some reason, Google's spam filter held your original comment until I approved it. No idea why. Then I approved it, and removed your complaint :-)...no problems!

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  4. Not good for expenses Kevin. How in the heck could you only spend 57 dollars on alcohol? You need to make some adjustments to make up for that!

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  5. Pretty goo looking expenses considering the miles you have travelled for October. Should be next to nothing in Mexico.

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  6. I keep pretty close track of expenses as well but have a little trouble in Mexico where we use cash for everything. I record my expenses every night in Quicken but the conversion from pesos to CA dollars usually means I am dealing only with estimates.

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    1. Kevin uses the exchange rate that our money is taken out of the ATM at, all he has to do is check our bank account for the rate. He will use that rate until we take money out again and then he will use the new rate.

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  7. Yikes, no wonder you are talking of doing some paid work next year!

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    1. That was one high month out of many lower months but we are still going to have to work next summer.

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