As we also knew would happen, our family and friends would start visiting us and the winter months would see us eating out and going on excursions more with them. My daughter and her family were here for 16 days in January, and several friends came to town to spend time with us. It definitely shows in our expenditures for these 2 month!
We also had the opportunity to meet up with friends from Nicaragua in Mexico City for a week in February and while we were already up in the "highlands" of Mexico, we decided to come back by bus and visit San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, and Leon. A beautiful part of this wonderful country!
The month of January also brought us the expenditures of washing machine repair ($232), camera repairs ($10), more of Mike's dental woes (a new crown & a tooth pulled $742), and Mike needing to visit a chiropractor twice for adjustments that couldn't be dealt with in a massage ($73). We also took a 3 day side excursion to Yelapa with family and incurred hotel expenses and a more expensive water taxi ride plus all meals out.
But, we are extremely happy that everyone wants to come see us!! This was part of our decision to live here. We knew it was easier and more alluring for them to come here to PV than any other location we considered. So it is what it is and we make no apologies for enjoying our family and friends.
In March, our expenditures went back to normal. EXCEPT we had decided back in December, 2014 to purchase excellent seat tickets ($300) to the Santana/Journey concert in Guadalajara for March 26. The total of the expenditures including the tickets, tours of Guadalajara, meals out, our stay in a B&B, gas, taxes, busses, etc. are all accounted for.
I'm continually asked how can we do all we do on what we actually show in our posted budget. I must admit, that the times when we meet up with people who I've helped through my blog, they have been very gracious in treating us as their guests for meals and drinks in appreciation for our time and sharing of our experiences. We do this gladly without expectation of this!!
| Living Expenses: | January | February | March |
| Rent w/util | $ 1,000 | $ 1,000 | $ 1,000 |
| Electric | $ 24 | $ - | $ 23 |
| Cell Phone | $ 42 | $ 40 | $ 39 |
| Groceries | $ 227 | $ 219 | $ 249 |
| Meals Out | $ 448 | $ 292 | $ 240 |
| Drinks Only | $ 161 | $ 154 | $ 95 |
| Entertainment | $ 60 | $ 57 | $ 105 |
| Massages | $ 101 | $ 20 | $ 40 |
| Bus/Taxi | $ 64 | $ 55 | $ 15 |
| Dental Cleaning | $ 33 | $ 80 | |
| Incidentals | $ 25 | $ 18 | $ 82 |
| TOTAL | $ 2,185 | $ 1,935 | $ 1,888 |
| TOTAL W/O RENT | $ 1,185 | $ 935 | $ 888 |
| Discr Spending: | |||
| Visas/Legal | $ - | $ - | |
| Clothes/Shoes/Gifts | $ 13 | $ 32 | $ 27 |
| Medical/Life Ins. | $ 211 | $ 211 | $ 211 |
| Tours | $ 87 | $ 60 | |
| Home Improve | $ 420 | $ 171 | $ 57 |
| Medical | $ 237 | ||
| Dental | $ 742 | ||
| Air Travel | |||
| Trips/Vacations | $ 180 | $ 2,459 | $ 684 |
| Car Rental/Gas | |||
| Spanish Lessons | |||
| TOTAL Discr. | $ 1,890 | $ 2,933 | $ 979 |
| TOTAL ALL | $ 4,075 | $ 4,868 | $ 2,867 |
*Drinks Only (in PV only): January 11x; February 9x; March 7x
*Meals Out (in PV only): January 12x; February 10x; March 9x
*Our Rent includes 1br/1ba; dipping pool; view of Bay; fully furnished with everything you need; cable TV, internet, water; excludes electric.
*I do not include health insurance as a Living Expense because many expats choose not to have insurance. It was our choice to have it.
1 comment:
Lovvely blog you have
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