Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting and adventurous life without breaking the bank. The less money you spend, the less you need to make. 🙂 Since July 2018, Mark and I have lived and traveled full-time in our camper van Zesty, which has affected our expenditure, compared to our previous house and pet sitting lifestyle. This last month was a combination of van life and house sitting.
This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for the two of us. Under groceries we incorporate all the food, produce and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and Mark's vitamins and supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor's visits. Health insurance and costs are related to my health care as a permanent resident in the US. Mark is still eligible for free health care in the state of Massachusetts as of today. If a non-emergency were to happen outside of that state, it will be expensive! For check-ups, we both return to the East Coast. I still pay a small quarterly fee in Belgium for health care (required to retain citizenship), which I mention in my year report.
November was an interesting month. Half of it was spent in Zesty, as we drove south in California and spent a week in Monterey, working, and the last couple of weeks, we were settled at a house sit in Ojai. We REALLY tried hard to spend less money, but with my birthday and our Christmas shopping, the gift category went up. We kept ourselves from buying more alcohol, except for that one cheap bottle of white wine, and postponed filling up our diesel tank again until December.
