Saturday, April 2, 2016

BUDGET UPDATE: MARCH, 2016

It's again a New Year!! Wow, time is flying by here in beautiful PV where we once again proved that you can live well for a very reasonable budget. (See our Year End analysis published in January, 2015 & January, 2016.)

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.

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
Rent w/util  $       800  $       800  $       800
Electric  $         18  $           9  $         11
Cell Phone  $         16  $         11  $         12
Groceries  $       192  $       190  $       202
Meals Out  $       363  $       262  $       463
Drinks Only  $       197  $       116  $       209
Entertainment  $         37  $         63  $       159
Massages  $         19  $         73  $         91
Bus/Taxi  $         15  $         28  $         29
Dental Cleaning


Incidentals  $       100  $       100  $         46
TOTAL  $    1,757  $    1,652  $    2,022




TOTAL W/O RENT  $       957  $       852  $    1,222




Discr Spending:


Visas/Legal  $       220  $           -  $         23
Clothes/Shoes/Gifts  $         48  $         95
Medical/Life Ins.  $       322  $       322  $       322
Tours


Home Improve  $       203
 $       322
Medical

 $         52
Dental


Air Travel


Trips/Vacations
 $       877
Car Rental/Gas


Spanish Lessons


TOTAL Discr.  $       793  $    1,294  $       719




TOTAL ALL  $    2,550  $    2,946  $    2,741
 
*Meals Out: Jan. 15x; Feb 11x; Mar 17x
*Drinks Only: Jan. 14x; Feb 10x; 13x
*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.