Well, after a record cheap February, we almost had a record expensive March! It's hard to believe we can spend only $1,058 one month, and then $3,576 the next!
Of course our number one expense was fuel. We did a ton of driving in March, putting on over 3,400 miles (5,400 kms). We spent $1,420 on fuel, but Sherman still has more than 3/4 of a tankful and that will get us around quite a bit of Nova Scotia before we have to put in more. Our average over the last six months is $563.
Spent $28 on propane, but that's almost gone with all this cold weather we've been trying to live through. In fact, We're taking Sherman for a drive tomorrow to fill the propane tank. Average over the last six months is $24.
Grocery bill was heavy at $516, but we had a very light bill in February. Plus, Ruth stocked up on a bunch of gluten free items that are a lot more expensive in Canada. Average month is $353.
Alcohol, at $143 was only slightly more than our monthly average of $128.
Miscellaneous was way over, at $764. We were doing pretty good in this department for the month until Whiskey got sick, and the vet got richer. Also, we bought the new Weber BBQ grill. Our average month is $425.
Entertainment (including meals out) was way low at only $18. Our average is $100.
Overnight expenses at $66. Our 6 month average is $174.
Motorhome expenses of $600. Some months we don't spend anything, and the last big one was the tires in October. In March, we did the rear air springs. Average over the last 6 months is $283.
Fortunately, April is expected to be a cheap month, but a lot of that will depend on Whiskey, because the vet bills can change that expectation pretty quickly.
Also fortunately, a lot of people visited our Adsense advertisements during the month of March, and we had a record $152.57 in Adsense earnings. All we can do is hope that the trend keeps up because that income is starting to become worthwhile enough to make a difference.
That other online income thing that we tried, blogvertise, didn't send us any work for the month of March, and I kind of figured that would be a one time thing. We'll stay signed up because it costs us nothing to do so, but I'll be very surprised if we ever see a $60 month like we did in February with them.
Adsense is a neat program because it doesn't cost us or you anything. Here's how it works...if you see one of our Google ads that interests you, you can confidently visit that advertisers website and if you do, we make a few cents. All the ads are prescreened by Google to be virus free. Notice too, that the ads are usually related to what we happen to be writing about that day. For example, click on our Solar Panel page and notice that the advertisements on that page are all related to solar panels.
No matter how hard I try our budget varies from month to month as well. We have noticed the increase in diesel as well as with food. We have not tried the adsense yet.
ReplyDeleteHope that sweet baby decides to meet her family real soon. :-) We'll keep Lindsey and the baby in our prayers.
Also keeping Whiskey in our prayers. We love doggies!! Keep us updated!
Thanks for the expense update. It's always interesting to see how our expenses compare to others. I forgot to budget for "dogs" and I spend $22 a month just getting their toenails trimmed. Hope Whiskey is doing OK.
ReplyDeleteHappytrails...Normally we are pretty good with our budget but this past month just got out of hand. It's hard to anticipate the unknown. Especially concerning the rig or pets. Some things you are able to adjust over the month, but some you can't do anything about. Thanks for your concerns for Whiskey and our daughter and her baby. We are sure everything will turn well.
ReplyDeleteMargie and Roger...Yep, everyone's budget will be different. It is the same with living in a sticks and bricks house though, everyone has different priorities. Thank you for your concerns for Whiskey too. She seems to have improved it some ways but not in others, we are watching her closely.
Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey
EW PREFER NEWFOUNDLAND. NO CAMPGROUND FEES EXCEPT ONE NIGHT A WEEK FOR TANK DUMP AND FILL.
ReplyDeleteFUEL IS HIGHER AND YOU HAVE THE FERRY BOAT FEE BUT YOU CAN BOONDOCK ANYWHERE, UNLIKE NS.
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Living it up...We would like to go to Newfoundland as well. But right now we are going to stay in Nova Scotia for the summer as we want to spent time with our daughter and husband and our new little grandson. We would like to do Newfoundland when we have a good 6 to 8 weeks to do it in. Makes the ferry ride worthwhile then. We haven't had any problem finding free boondocking sites here. 3 years ago we spent a good few weeks here and only paid for camping twice, once to spend time with some friends and the other because it was too windy for driving and it was close by and just wanted to get off the road. I don't think we will have any troubles this year either. If we go to a park it will be by choice, not because we can't find somewhere.
ReplyDeleteKevin, Ruth and Whiskey