I will now concentrate on a full year's monthly budget to show absolutely everything we spend money on. We have proved that you actually can live well in PV on the $1,800/mo budget, and I will continue to use the $1,800/mo as our goal because it keeps us accountable. But I'm certainly not going to beat ourselves up over it if our expenditures creep a little closer to $2,000/mo.
We chose to keep our rental amount at what we were paying during high season because we found a great apartment exactly where we wanted to be and didn't really compromise on much. A very good value! And, because we are living here year round, we chose to purchase some items that make our life more comfortable and pleasing for us. This was total Discretionary spending and not necessary at all to live here.
This first full month back, our grocery bill was a bit higher because we needed to completely restock after being gone for 2 months, we went out for dinner a bit more than we normally would have because we were meeting back up with friends that we missed while being away PLUS we continue to be contacted by potential expats that have been following the blog and want to meet up to ask questions and meet face to face. We also completed our Permanent Residential Visa process. The $300 for each of us is drastically lower here than in all the other countries we considered!
We also made a final decision on health insurance. We could have chosen the national IMSS health care insurance for $360/year for each of us but because of the restricting parameters for the first 3 years, we decided that for us the better option was for Mike to continue complimenting his US Medicare with Traveler's Insurance at $483 for 6 months of coverage, which he'll renew as needed. And, I chose an IMG Global Insurance program that covers me most anywhere in the world with a $1,000 deductible for $1,569/yr. To qualify for mine, I had to have a full physical and lab/blood work done at the local hospital at a total cost of $184 out of pocket.
| Living Expenses: | Dec - Jan, 2014 | Jan - Feb | Feb - March | March - April | April - May | May - June | June 13-July 29 | August |
| Rent w/util | $1,050.00 | $1,000.00 | $1,000.00 | $1,000.00 | $1,000.00 | $1,000.00 | $1,000.00 | $1,000.00 |
| Electric | $4.00 | $50.00 | $36.00 | |||||
| Cell Phone | $16.00 | $16.00 | $16.00 | $15.00 | $16.00 | $31.00 | $125.00 | $23.00 |
| Groceries | $247.00 | $308.00 | $230.00 | $331.00 | $326.00 | $298.00 | $397.00 | $372.00 |
| Meals Out | $274.00 | $283.00 | $167.00 | $382.00 | $255.00 | $224.00 | $897.00 | $273.00 |
| Drinks Only | $211.00 | $193.00 | $164.00 | $130.00 | $160.00 | $136.00 | $0.00 | $170.00 |
| Entertainment | $70.00 | $74.00 | $102.00 | $238.00 | $72.00 | $0.00 | $164.00 | $5.00 |
| Massages | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $30.00 | $33.00 | $57.00 | $0.00 | $52.00 |
| Bus/Taxi | $72.00 | $28.00 | $5.00 | $21.00 | $39.00 | $14.00 | $29.00 | $45.00 |
| Dental Cleaning | $24.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $14.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Incidentals | $22.00 | $4.00 | $23.00 | $20.00 | $31.00 | $25.00 | $844.00 | $25.00 |
| TOTAL | $2,026.00 | $1,950.00 | $1,747.00 | $2,167.00 | $1,946.00 | $1,835.00 | $3,456.00 | $2,001.00 |
| TOTAL W/O RENT | $976.00 | $950.00 | $747.00 | $1,167.00 | $946.00 | $835.00 | $2,456.00 | $1,001.00 |
| Discr Spending: | ||||||||
| Visas | $72.00 | $600.00 | ||||||
| Clothes/Shoes | $538.00 | |||||||
| Medical Ins. | $129.00 | $129.00 | $129.00 | $129.00 | $129.00 | $129.00 | $129.00 | $211.00 |
| Tours | $203.00 | $32.00 | ||||||
| Home Improve | $793.00 | $1,110.00 | $678.00 | $120.00 | ||||
| Medical | $60.00 | $15.00 | $184.00 | |||||
| Dental | $118.00 | $705.00 | ||||||
| Air Travel | $1,846.00 | |||||||
| Hotels | $38.00 | $90.00 | ||||||
| Car Rental/Gas | $1,028.00 | |||||||
| Spanish Lessons | $117.00 | $124.00 | $36.00 | |||||
| TOTAL Discr. | $449.00 | $253.00 | $225.00 | $960.00 | $1,372.00 | $1,512.00 | $3,703.00 | $1,147.00 |
| TOTAL ALL | $2,475.00 | $2,203.00 | $1,972.00 | $3,127.00 | $3,318.00 | $3,347.00 | $7,159.00 | $3,148.00 |
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