The beach at Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Toluca on December 24th!

Thursday, February 28, 2013

February Expenses

Considering everything we did to keep busy in February, including driving all the way the Guatemala (!), we did pretty well in the expenses department. But you're not surprised by that anymore, are you?

Gasoline: We started the month of February in Puerto Escondido, we drove all the way to Guatemala and then back as far as Ocozocuatla in Chiapas on our way to Oaxaca City. All of that driving cost us $98.40 for 110.3 litres of gas ($0.892 cents per litre) for the little blue car. Not bad. Because we filled up before crossing into Guatemala, we never had to buy any of their expensive gas.

Toll Roads: We didn't use any toll roads during the month of February.

Groceries: Cheapest month ever in the grocery department, at $153.87. But considering that it was our most expensive month ever in the entertainment department where we also record our meals out, I would have thought grocery expenses would have been even lower than that!

Alcohol: At $65.05, a pretty cheap month. Yes, February only has 28 days, so we have to take that into account. And we didn't do much drinking on the hiking trails!

Miscellaneous: Not bad, at $102.19. Anytime we can stick close to the $100 mark in this department we feel pretty good about it! This includes everything from laundry to border crossing fees and everything else that doesn't fit into any other category.

Entertainment: Yikes. Plug your ears for this one. $548.66. Having said that (you can unplug your ears now!), approximately $400 of that was for the two hiking trips that we did. And, Kevin's mom had given us some extra Christmas and birthday money, and that's what it went towards. Thanks Mom! Glad you were able to share our experience through the pictures and stories along the way. Other than that, we ate out more than we ever have before. Mexican and Guatemalan street food is delicious, providing your stomach can put up with it! We must be getting immunity built up!

Overnight: $199.46. Considering we paid for 17 nights of accommodation during the month, we did pretty good at an average of $11.73 per night for the two of us. And the last couple of nights included breakfast!

So, we spent a total of $1,167 for the month and that includes our hiking trips! We're pretty happy with that!

Our budget for March is under $1,000, and then April will have some heavier gasoline expenses as we head back to Canada.

7 comments:

  1. Way to go on the booz budget! Thats one that is never light for me.

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  2. Good one! We are very interested in the daily and monthly expense. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Glad to hear that, several times Kevin has thought of stopping doing posts on our expenses as he didn't think people were interested in it.

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  3. butterbean carpenterMarch 2, 2013 at 8:18 PM

    Howdy Ruth & Kevin,
    Thank you, for the wonderful hike and sights(pics)!!! WHERE WERE THE SOLDIERS that were supposed to guard the hikers?? Didn't you 'pay' for them?? I'm so glad you didn't run into any 'banditos' and brought Ruth back safe & sound; well, okay Kevin too,also!! I'd rather go anyplace with y'all, because of the back parts of the country we get to see, the markets, the people and the sights!!!
    Hope all goes well getting back to poor neglected Sherman, poor lonely thing!!! ha ha

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    1. On the long hike we were never going to have any police officers with us as there were no problems on this hike with robbers. Only our hike up Santa Maria Volcano were we going to have them and in the end found that they weren't needed as they had several officers posted along the trail. Guatemala is doing everything they can to make sure that tourists have a good time and we sure had a great time.

      We are so looking forward to getting back to Sherman. We miss him as much as he is missing us, I am sure!

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  4. Amazing how far our made your money go. And with work lined up for the summer you can splurge a little with no worries. Actually figured you could probably work 1 summer then travel for 2 years the way you go. Great job

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    1. We learnt from the best, Glen and Steve!!!!

      You are probably right but I think that we will most likely work for a few summers and stock up a bit before we take another summer off.

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