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. 🙂 That being said, Mark and I seem to manage one big expense a month for some reason, whether it is camper, plane, travel or computer-related.
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.
August was different from all previous months, because it was the first full month we’ve lived in our camper van Zesty. We have been on the road full-time since the end of July and are slowly adjusting to a lifestyle switch from house and pet sitting to van living. Since we drove quite a bit last month (from Santa Fe, New Mexico to North Cascades National Park in northern Washington), our fuel cost was high. We also needed to have medicines shipped to us from Massachusetts last-minute (hence the high shipping expense), bought – and drank – more alcohol than usual, and one of our credit card fees was due. No more house sitting means doing laundry at a laundromat, so there’s a new category for that.
We rarely pay for camping, but in Yellowstone National Park the distances are huge and what we would have spent on diesel driving back and forth to a free campsite, easily covered our two nights in a central campground within the park and saved hours on the road. As it was, driving the Grand Loop (142 miles long) was time and distance-intensive.
This is the place where conversation is made. Please, join in!