So, off we go again into this 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 and other "wants".
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.
May! Oh, WOW!!! Low Season, oh heck NO!! So many people coming to town to check out living here. So many people moving to town to call this home!! A mini vacation with 8 other friends up the coast to Guayabitos, Restaurant Weeks where many wonderful restaurants offer their fabulous food at reduced special prices so that us on a budget can partake in their gourmet food, Pride Week, Friday Foodies all contributed to this wonderful month here in PV.
We also signed a new 2 year lease extension, so we made a few minor purchases to continue to make this our home - new bedspread, sheets with 1500 thread count, an antique mirror with PV history.
But, the biggest single expense for May was Mike deciding to get a tooth implant at Dental Avant Garde. He had a CT scan to see if he had enough bone ($108), then the actual surgery ($1,177). His crown will be placed after a 4-6 month healing process. This tipped the scale over our monthly budget goal but still well within our yearly income, which is our ultimate goal of living only on our income.
June saw a bit of a respite on the expenses sort of back to "normal", if there is such a thing. We had several friends move to PV, so we did a lot of catching up with each other. Our biggest expense this month, however, was as a celebration of signing our new 2 year lease extension in our condo, we treated ourselves to the purchase of a new "L" shaped, comfortable, fabric sofa!! So wonderful!
I also took a part time job doing media coordinating for a local organization. My time is most certainly not idle!!
July & Aug was spent between PV and the US. We took our annual East Coast to West Coast trip to visit family and friends.
| Living Expenses: | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August |
| Rent w/util | $ 800 | $ 800 | $ 800 | $ 800 | $ 800 | $ 800 | $ 800 | $ 800 |
| Electric | $ 18 | $ 9 | $ 11 | $ 12 | $ 14 | $ 25 | $ 20 | $ 25 |
| Cell Phone | $ 16 | $ 11 | $ 12 | $ 23 | $ 11 | $ 11 | $ 33 | $ 16 |
| Groceries | $ 192 | $ 190 | $ 202 | $ 271 | $ 218 | $ 229 | $ 37 | $ 274 |
| Meals Out | $ 363 | $ 262 | $ 463 | $ 355 | $ 508 | $ 418 | $ 192 | $ 332 |
| Drinks Only | $ 197 | $ 116 | $ 209 | $ 158 | $ 157 | $ 146 | $ 27 | $ 105 |
| Entertainment | $ 37 | $ 63 | $ 159 | $ 63 | $ 133 | $ - | $ 81 | |
| Massages | $ 19 | $ 73 | $ 91 | $ 46 | $ 36 | $ 38 | $ 32 | $ 48 |
| Bus/Taxi | $ 15 | $ 28 | $ 29 | $ 55 | $ 37 | $ 17 | $ 3 | $ 42 |
| Dental Cleaning | $ 44 | |||||||
| Incidentals | $ 100 | $ 100 | $ 46 | $ 70 | $ 100 | $ 65 | $ 60 | $ 33 |
| TOTAL | $ 1,757 | $ 1,652 | $ 2,022 | $ 1,853 | $ 2,058 | $ 1,749 | $ 1,204 | $ 1,756 |
| TOTAL W/O RENT | $ 957 | $ 852 | $ 1,222 | $ 1,053 | $ 1,258 | $ 949 | $ 404 | $ 956 |
| Discr Spending: | ||||||||
| Visas/Legal | $ 220 | $ - | $ 23 | |||||
| Clothes/Shoes/Gifts | $ 48 | $ 95 | $ 284 | $ 63 | $ 77 | $ 641 | ||
| Medical/Life Ins. | $ 322 | $ 322 | $ 322 | $ 322 | $ 322 | $ 322 | $ 322 | $ 338 |
| Tours | $ 73 | |||||||
| Home Improve | $ 203 | $ 322 | $ 259 | $ 680 | $ 60 | |||
| Medical | $ 52 | $ 134 | $ 48 | |||||
| Dental | $ 1,316 | |||||||
| Air Travel | ||||||||
| Trips/Vacations | $ 877 | $ 185 | $ 4,396 | |||||
| Car Rental/Gas | ||||||||
| Spanish Lessons | ||||||||
| TOTAL Discr. | $ 793 | $ 1,294 | $ 719 | $ 813 | $ 2,145 | $ 1,079 | $ 4,718 | $ 1,087 |
| TOTAL ALL | $ 2,550 | $ 2,946 | $ 2,741 | $ 2,666 | $ 4,203 | $ 2,828 | $ 5,922 | $ 2,843 |
*Meals Out: Jan. 15x; Feb 11x; Mar 17x; April 14x; May 13x; June 15x; July 7x; Aug 9x
*Drinks Only: Jan. 14x; Feb 10x; March 13x; April 12x; May 10x; June 11x; July 4x; Aug 7x
*Legal: Jan. Passport Renewal
*Trips/Vacations:
In February, 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.
In May, we took a 3 day trip with 8 other friends up the coast to Guayabitos for a quick get away.
In July, we spent 25 days in the US. We flew to CT then across the country to Spokane, WA. The cost amount shown includes air fares, any hotels, meals & drinks out, new clothing/shoes/personal items, traveler's insurance & car liability insurance.