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. 🙂
This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for the two of us. Under groceries we incorporate 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. Since June 2019 – we adopted Maya on June 4th – we have a dog section as well. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and vitamins/supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor’s visits. Because of our income level, Mark and I are eligible for free health care within the state of Massachusetts. For check-ups, we both return to the East Coast.
For most of October, Mark, Maya, and I were based at my in-laws in Newburyport, Massachusetts; the first week with my parents. From the moment they returned to Belgium, Mark and I got busy with camper projects. They were many and they were expensive. Some of you might remember the ordeal we had with our windshield in Santa Fe in the spring of 2018. Well, that nightmare lasted for over a year, as we soon noticed new and reoccurring rust spots as a result of a job poorly done by Extreme Twist.
We tried everything short of a lawsuit to get our money back – emails, photos, Better Business Bureau, Attorney General of New Mexico. After heaps of time, frustration, and determination (and the issue becoming even worse), the company finally reimbursed us the US$1,100. Unfortunately, that was not enough to get the body work redone and the windshield replaced in Massachusetts. Without the new windshield, which was covered by our insurance, the body work there cost U$1,500, so we spent an extra $400.
Another biggie was the side window project. The purchase of a new window was already accounted for in a previous month (the people at Extreme Twist were responsible for damaging the old window – and other things on our camper) and we planned to install it ourselves, like everything else… But, the project proved much more difficult than expected, making this our first failure. I’ll spare you the details, but it was a stressful time, especially as a rain storm was to arrive that night and we had a huge hole in the side of Zesty! It took the window specialists three hours and three bulky men to accomplish the job. $165 well spent!
Mark did all the rest of the maintenance himself: replace the brake fluid, another oil change, remove and clean the RV heater, and replace a glow plug and a few other things in the engine.
Our other costly “item” last month was Maya. After continued itchiness and trying whatever we could to determine the cause, we took her to the vet, who prescribed antibiotics for her healing wounds and Apoquel, a wonder drug for itchy dog skin. It did a great job for two weeks, but is now wearing off. A big bummer. We also compared and tested two GPS tracker systems for her and decided to keep the Whistle. We’ve had a lot going on and our expenses reflect it.
