May Expenses... right on target!

Usually when I make up the budget for the next month, I do so with a best case scenario... to try to give us something to shoot for. That's why we generally go over budget. It's not that we absolutely need to stick to the budget... it's just a guide. And provided the annual expenses don't often go over $40,000 CAD ($30,000 USD) or so, then we're doing just fine. And even if they do go over that amount, we're still doing just fine!

Anyhow, it is odd when we do come in under budget... and even more odd when we pretty much meet the budget bang on!

So, at the end of last month, I projected that we would spend about $5,000 CAD ($3,650 USD) during the month of May. Which is fairly high by our standards, but we had a lot of travel involved, including fairly expensive flights from Mexico City to Madrid.

We ended up spending $5,004! Only four dollars above budget!

Lets have a look at how it all breaks down... (the following figures are all in $CAD)...

Fuel: Our little Audi A1 is very fuel efficient and over the month we did 1,375 km (854 mi.) but fuel is expensive in Spain. We filled up twice at a cost of $144.

Groceries: We did have six days away at the English language program where our meals were covered, so our grocery expenses are a little lower than they would have been otherwise. We spent a total of $355.

Meals Out: Other than the meals we had at the language program, we only ate out three times during the month! Total of $114.

Alcohol: A little higher than expected, mostly related to the expensive winery we went to the other night! Total of $169 for the month.

Miscellaneous: This is where things are a little higher than normal, but we expected them to be. I stocked up on my heart and cholesterol medication before we left Mexico so I have enough supply to do me until we return to Mexico in October. That was about $78. Plus, I bought both sneakers and hiking boots that combined cost about $325. Other expenses were mostly Uber and buses. Total of $535.

Entertainment: A total of $97.

Overnight: Spain is a lot more expensive than it was pre-Covid! We spent a total of $1,816 on accommodation in May. 

Motorhome: Our monthly registration, insurance, and storage expenses for Igor.  Total of $141.

Travel: The big expense in this category was the flights, at $625 each. The second big expense was the car rental, which was actually quite a good deal at $21 a day. Total of $1,612.

All of that adds up to $5,004 CAD ($3,652 USD).

So, it was expected to be an expensive month by our standards, but we're happy with the end result.

For the month of June... we have a budget of $3,200 CAD ($2,329 USD).

We are flying to Edinburgh, Scotland on Wednesday and renting a car to use in Scotland for the month. The car rental is actually quite expensive, but we are doing a lot of house sitting for the month so that makes our accommodation cheaper. Oh, and friends are lending us their apartment in Dundee for a few days as well so that will help. Still, I think Scotland is going to be quite expensive... we shall see!

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