So, off we go again into this new year trying to continue to live within our income but still keeping our goal of no more than $2,000/month for our true Living Expenses. And, if we keep our total expenses to no more than an average of $2,500/month, it leaves a good bit for our love of traveling.
January was an extremely busy month for us! Many show openings that we love to attend. Free tickets in lieu of doing some advertising work for local entertainment venues. Thank You!!
February highlight was our trip to the mountains of MX to see the Monarch Butterflies. High season is in full swing.
March was a month of meeting up with many visiting friends & catching up with friends we really hadn't had a chance to see since the holidays. We splurged on several meals out.
April was the time we took to do some preventative medical exams. We are extremely grateful to have a medical guru here in PV. Pam Thompson-Webb of HealthCareResourcesPV.com. She runs medical clinics every month. As members (very inexpensive), we get discounted medical exams with specialists of all areas.
I also took a part time job doing media coordinating for a local organization. My time is most certainly not idle!!
| Living Expenses: | January | February | March | April |
| Rent w/util | $ 800 | $ 800 | $ 800 | $ 800 |
| Electric | $ 18 | $ 9 | $ 11 | $ 12 |
| Cell Phone | $ 16 | $ 11 | $ 12 | $ 23 |
| Groceries | $ 192 | $ 190 | $ 202 | $ 271 |
| Meals Out | $ 363 | $ 262 | $ 463 | $ 355 |
| Drinks Only | $ 197 | $ 116 | $ 209 | $ 158 |
| Entertainment | $ 37 | $ 63 | $ 159 | $ 63 |
| Massages | $ 19 | $ 73 | $ 91 | $ 46 |
| Bus/Taxi | $ 15 | $ 28 | $ 29 | $ 55 |
| Dental Cleaning | ||||
| Incidentals | $ 100 | $ 100 | $ 46 | $ 70 |
| TOTAL | $ 1,757 | $ 1,652 | $ 2,022 | $ 1,853 |
| TOTAL W/O RENT | $ 957 | $ 852 | $ 1,222 | $ 1,053 |
| Discr Spending: | ||||
| Visas/Legal | $ 220 | $ - | $ 23 | |
| Clothes/Shoes/Gifts | $ 48 | $ 95 | $ 284 | |
| Medical/Life Ins. | $ 322 | $ 322 | $ 322 | $ 322 |
| Tours | $ 73 | |||
| Home Improve | $ 203 | $ 322 | ||
| Medical | $ 52 | $ 134 | ||
| Dental | ||||
| Air Travel | ||||
| Trips/Vacations | $ 877 | |||
| Car Rental/Gas | ||||
| Spanish Lessons | ||||
| TOTAL Discr. | $ 793 | $ 1,294 | $ 719 | $ 813 |
| TOTAL ALL | $ 2,550 | $ 2,946 | $ 2,741 | $ 2,666 |
*Meals Out: Jan. 15x; Feb 11x; Mar 17x; 14x
*Drinks Only: Jan. 14x; Feb 10x; 13x; 12x
*Legal: Jan. Passport Renewal
*Trips/Vacations: We took a wonderful 4 day/3 night trip to see the Monarch Butterflies in the mountains of MX. This amount included transportation, hotels, meals, souvenirs, entrance fees, etc.