February Expenses

Well, we're off to a pretty good start on the year.

$1,430 CAD in January, and $1,471 CAD in February. (Subtract about 25% for $USD equivalent). This is pretty typical of our expenses when we are traveling here in Mexico. Food, booze, and restaurants are all reasonably priced... it is only gasoline that is now considered expensive to our travel expenses here.

Here's how it all broke down...

Gasoline: We spent $679 CAD in gasoline during the month of February. As I said, gasoline is pretty expensive now in Mexico at about 21 pesos per liter ($1.45 CAD per liter, or $4.16 USD per gallon). And, we started the month with an empty tank, and ended it more than half full. We drove about 1,300 kms (800 miles) during the month.

Here is our approximate route during the month of February...

Toll roads: We spent $46 CAD on toll roads during our February travels.

Propane: We spent $30 CAD on propane to fill the tank when the propane truck conveniently came to one of the parks to fill people up. We are staying at quite a few places during the month of March where we should be able to plug into electric to run the fridge most of the time, so we likely won't need any more propane until we return to Sherman in late fall. We are leaving him parked in Texas for the summer.

Groceries: We spent $223 CAD on groceries for the month, and the fridge and freezer are pretty much full! This monthly price for groceries is pretty typical during our Mexico travels, although it is somewhat offset by the fact that we eat out more often in Mexico (see "Entertainment" expenses!). We LOVE the food, and the prices are so reasonable when you stay away from the tourist restaurants. 

Alcohol: We tend to drink a lot more than we should while we're in Mexico. We let our livers recover when we are in other parts of the world where alcohol is more expensive. (Canada and our upcoming trip to Australia!) We spent an abnormally high $198 CAD on alcohol in February, but the booze cupboard is pretty well stocked up and it should even out during the month of March.

Miscellaneous: Considering this includes dentist visits for both of us, we did really well in this department. A total of $152 CAD. This includes all taxi and bus transportation, our internet for the month, laundry, and a few other minor expenses.

Entertainment: We include all meals out in our entertainment budget, because essentially they are discretionary expenses. We entertain ourselves by eating out in Mexico! I think we had a total of about twelve meals out. We spent $143 CAD on the two of us. This also includes some minor tourist expenses like museums and waterfalls that we may have had to pay admission to.

And that's about it. Our overnight and RV park expenses are charged to the caravan group as part of those expenses. And Sherman behaved himself so we did not have any motorhome maintenance or repair costs. After last year, Sherman is pretty much new, isn't he??

So, a pretty good month at $1,471 CAD. March should be about the same.