First of all, before we get to the expenses, a comment about this Namibia trip.
What an absolutely unbelievable week they have planned for us! They've organized a 7 day "self drive" tour where they give us a 4x4 vehicle and we do our own driving to see the highlights, staying at fantastic lodges along the way and in some of the National Parks including game safaris and a scenic 1 1/2 hour flight over the "Skeleton Coast". When it's all confirmed, I'll share the details with you all! All we can say is....wow!
Okay, so June was not a bad month. Pretty much what we expected, although the "miscellaneous" column is still higher than we'd like it to be. Problem is our internet usage, but it's our only luxury so it will remain high.
We spent a total of $777 in the month of June. Here's how it all broke down...
Gasoline: $20 in the little blue car. We did do that drive one day up to Prince Albert National Park, other than that we have to take the camp truck into town because it needs to be filled up anyhow. We do groceries at the same time to kill two birds with one stone, as the saying goes.
Groceries: Seems this is starting to finally catch up on itself with all of the stocking up we did when we first got here. Spent "only" $489 on groceries for the month. Hopefully we can keep the next three months around the same or lower.
Alcohol: Nope. Not spending any money on booze up here. Alcohol in Canada is simply too expensive so we're boycotting it while we're here.
Miscellaneous: Total of $248. Which is not bad when you consider that our internet bill is $115 and our car insurance is $75.
Entertainment: We're working all the time...actually our $115 internet bill should be in this department because it's our only luxury. Anyhow, we spent $19.60 in total. A couple of ice cream cones, and our entrance fee to the National park we visited on our day off.
Wow is right.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you two won that trip because I'll get to go, too.... through this blog! Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteGrace (in Tucson)
Neither can we! First we need to get through the summer and then we get to visit family which we are really looking forward too as well.
DeleteWOW no Booze we have a lot to learn from you guys..
ReplyDeleteWhen prices are this high it is not hard to say no to booze.
DeleteKevin,, Have another bottle of the Crown. Want me to ship it up to yall?
ReplyDeleteTake Care, Pete & Pam
It would probably cost you more than what the bottle of Crown Royal cost!
DeleteTrue, but you're also making big bucks and saving most of it. Internet for 115 dollars? I hope you have you're own tower! Here in Mexico we are paying 14 dollars for high speed wifi. Ouch!
ReplyDeleteYep, internet is expensive here compared to most countries around the world. Maybe part of the reason is, is that Canada is so big land wise but doesn't have a huge population.
DeleteI'm with you in the boycott business. If the price is outrageous then the only way to send the message is not to buy it. I do that with movie tickets. Can't remember the last one I went to in a theater. It isn't having much effect that's clear since others seem willing to pay anything at all for both movie and sports tickets. Stick to your guns - or is that priciples?? :-))
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I don't think we are going to make a difference to the pricing, especially after seeing how much alcohol was comsummed over the long weekend. We will still to our guns/principles all the same.
DeleteYou are amazing. I wish we had your discipline, its too easy to live the way we do but your example has certainly made me think before I spend.
ReplyDeleteIt really helps that we don't have any accommodation or utility bills other than the internet. That alone is a huge savings.
DeleteIt helps that we don't have any accommodation or utility bills to pay other than the internet so that makes a huge savings for us.
DeleteGotta love Canadian internet bills.. /maybe someday we will get some competition to lower those
ReplyDeleteI'll agree that internet in Canada is quite a bit more expensive than in many other parts of the world. Our situation here in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan makes us even more susceptible to high prices. We have no choice but to use cellular internet, and the price is on a graduated scale depending on your usage. With both of us able to be online at the same time, we find that we use between 12 and 13 GB per month. That puts us above the 10 GB threshold where the cheaper price level is.
DeleteHaving said all of that, we're happy to have a good signal, decent speed, and very few problems.
if internet gets too high I'm sure with all your fans they would be willing to chip in a dollar each just to keep you online, after all many of us live vicariously through you :-))).
ReplyDeleteThink I am getting almost as excited as you about the upcoming trip cant wait to see your blogs
I don't think our internet will go any higher than that at least for this year.
DeleteWe are excited too, Donna! :)
We don't spend a lot, but vehicle repairs and maintenance are taking a bunch right now, but then our coach in our only house and is 14 years old, still better than a house.
ReplyDeleteThere will always be repairs or maintenance on our motorhomes or vehicles just like there would be on a house. It all averages out eventually.
DeleteWow, you guys are an inspiration. I'm becoming more familiar with the "traps" of my spending excesses. I've been so much more conscientious since meeting you earlier this year; I feel I have you two to thank - or maybe it's "I will have you two to ...." when I get it under control. Right now the money is flying out with the new RV purchase, etc. But, now that I'll have renters in the house, I'll also be able to do some nice regularly planned savings, which I really haven't done since I retired two years ago.
ReplyDeleteUnbeknownst to me earlier, it's really very satisfying to be lots more thrifty.
Mary-Pat, even we overspend on our budget at times. Sometimes you can't help it but as long as we are careful even in those months we can keep the prices down compared to others. We actually have fun trying to do lots but not spend lots.
DeleteAs time goes by you will get a handle on how much you spend and where you you can save. It is also nice to have that extra income coming in each month. Hope things work out well for you.