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. Two sweaters were needed for Mark to replace the holy ones, which he gave to a homeless man in San Luis Obispo. I splurged with a sweater and two T-shirts. That was when we still thought it would be a cheaper than normal month.
For once, the grocery expenses were more than the camper category, even though we crossed more tasks off the list and did an oil change. Full disclosure in regards to our free camping: we paid $120 for four nights at a primitive campground in Monterey, but this was purely for work reasons, so I'm calling it a business expense. 🙂 Then, unplanned for, we signed up again for the most expensive, yet most active house sitting site Trusted House Sitters, since we "desperately" needed to find a house sit for January. We failed, but more about that later. One of these months, I swear, we will stay under $1000 . Maybe in December?
Oil change - it had been exactly a year since we last did this, in San Diego
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December 10, 2018 at 06:21
With a birthday and Christmas shopping, I’d say you kept the gift category remarkably low. I won’t tell you what we’ve spent over the past few months…
December 10, 2018 at 15:31
I think Christmas shopping takes a massive chunk of money out of most Western people’s pockets. I’m sure you’re not alone, Alex!
Our trick is to create relatively personal gifts (every year I make calendars for loved ones with 13 different photos of Mark and me all over the world/country) and be far away from friends and family over the holiday period. 🙂 As far as my birthday is concerned: I prefer useful gifts and believe that I already have everything my heart desires, except for a pair of new hiking shoes and a selfie stick, which bargain-hunting Mark found for me.
December 13, 2018 at 10:22
I love your calendar gift idea. It’s such a lovely, personal gift that’s also useful for the recipient.
December 13, 2018 at 19:00
It is a well-received gift, Ellen. I’ve been doing it for ten years or so. First for my oma, and then for my and Mark’s parents as well. Last year, after my oma passed away, I decided to replace hers with versions for my aunts. On the same topic… I just returned from the post office to send the Belgian recipients their calendar – all to one address and my mom will distribute them – four thin calendars, 2 pounds and 2 ounces: $36!!! I think next time, I will order them from a Belgian photo company. Paying more for shipping than for the products themselves is where I draw the line.
December 10, 2018 at 07:42
$159 for Trusted House Sitters – that seems like a lot! Oddly someone recently suggested that we join them but considering that we already have 85 house sitting days on our calendar for next summer I think it would be a huge waste.
We have our oil changed and tires rotated about twice a year. We take it to a Ford Dealership and although there always seems to be some sort of complication I don’t think the oil change cost more than if we did it ourselves. I wonder if they could do Zesty.
If our alcohol expense is ever $3, you will know Greg died.
I think the gum alley is gross too.
December 10, 2018 at 15:40
The yearly fee for Trusted House Sitters is actually $119, but with a 30% coupon code we paid $89. Very expensive for us, and we’d discontinued our membership once we had our camper van. But, our hopes were high to find a necessary sit in January through THS, hence forking out the money. We actually were picked for a few sits through them, but circumstances made them all fall through!! So, yes, a waste of money as we now have other plans for January, and usually the other two sites we are members of suffice.
We happily do the oil changes ourselves, as long as we don’t make a mess. We are very careful. Our price for the oil (Walmart) and the oil pans and funnels (Dollar Store) totals about $50. If you find a dealership who would do it for the same price (with our preferred synthetic oil), let me know. 🙂
The $3 alcohol is very low for us, as we had wine left from the month before and did our best to make it last through November. And, the bottle Mark bought for my birthday went in the gift category. Right now, we are “back on track” with our alcohol category… The holidays are coming up, so no skimping!
December 13, 2018 at 10:23
Duwan – your comment about alcohol expenses and Greg cracked me up 🙂
December 13, 2018 at 19:00
I guess you know him too well? 🙂
December 10, 2018 at 13:39
Eurgh! That alley is definitely gross.
December 10, 2018 at 15:42
That’s exactly what Mark said when we came upon it. He did not want to set foot in it, while I walked it back and forth a couple of times. 🙂
December 11, 2018 at 17:42
Wow, I don’t know how you manage to keep the bills so low. Alcohol $3 What’s that about lol 🙂
December 12, 2018 at 15:23
I know, right? We were actually trying to keep it at 0 in November, but we ran out of white wine. (And Mark added the nice white wine he bought for my birthday to the gift category.) The red wine and beer, we had stocked up the previous month in Oregon, where there is no sales tax. Hence the high alcohol expense in October. We save wherever we can. 🙂
December 18, 2018 at 03:25
Three dollars for alcohol? That must have been quite the bargain bottle. 😀
This has been an extremely expensive month for me too. Definitely have to reign it in next month. If I could get by on only $1K per month, that would be impressive, but my mortgage alone is almost $800, so my odds probably aren’t good.
December 19, 2018 at 16:13
Have you ever heard of Two Buck Chuck, JH? Those Trader Joe’s wine bottles now cost around $3 and they are a go-to (their Chardonnay is anyway) when I want drinkable wine without being fancy. 🙂 Our favorite red (mixed blend) wine from Trader Joe’s costs $4 in California. Hard to beat!
While December is probably the most expensive month for most westerners, Mark and I hope to defeat all odds and make it our cheapest month of the year. We will see. With $800 mortgage expenses, $1000 a month would indeed be insane. The only reason we can keep the costs down as a couple is by not having a real home and no utility payments. Life on the road (and the water) is generally cheaper than life in a stick-and-brick house.
January 2, 2019 at 05:09
Liesbet, years ago we went through a serious effort to downsize and simplify our lives, and it has made all the difference. However, we were in uncharted territory most of the time and were forever looking for real-world information to know if we were on track. And the detailed, monthly budget information that you publish in each post would have been invaluable. You and Mark have an interesting and unusual lifestyle and you’re living proof for newbies that your approach can work, and work well. Great post. ~James
January 2, 2019 at 16:41
Hi James! Isn’t it a fantastic feeling to get rid of things that we don’t use on a daily bases or really don’t care about? I really enjoy the minimalistic lifestyle. I find that enormously satisfying and liberating. Even now, when not really having all that many belongings, I still enjoy dropping off clothes at thrift stores or finishing things up, like food in the fridge. 🙂 People have different priorities in life and their comfort levels vary, but I hope these reports show readers/potential nomads that it is possible to live and travel with low expenses.