May Expenses

Well, hopefully that was our most expensive month of the year done and over with!

We spent $4,967 CAD ($3,680 USD) in the month of May! But, we were also in five different countries and we were on six different airplanes during the month so a big chunk of that was travel and overnight expenses.

Here's how it all broke down...

Note: The following prices are all in $CAD. For $USD equivalent you can subtract about 25%.

Fuel: We started the month in Ottawa and we had a rental car there. We also had a rental car in Calgary. We spent a total of $177 on gasoline for those two vehicles at an average cost of $1.24 CAD per liter ($3.50 USD per gallon).

Groceries: We did really well in this category, but mostly because other people looked after us so well. We contribute groceries and make meals when possible, but their hospitality definitely makes a difference. Thanks to our daughter Lindsey and her family, David and Liz in Cabri, and Pat and Louise here in Australia! We spent $284 on groceries. But, our entertainment (meals out) expenses are also higher than normal.

Alcohol: We didn't drink as much while in Canada. But we still spent a total of $137 for the month. Not bad.

Miscellaneous: This was a kicker. Lots of miscellaneous expenses. Some related to Ruth's kidney infection. Quite a few Uber rides. The three higher priced items were my travel medical insurance ($265), the RV storage in Adelaide ($229), and the space heater we bought for Joyce ($105). With all of that and the smaller items we spent a total of $946.

Entertainment: We had 11 meals out in May. And a couple of them were expensive airport meals. We spent a total of $308 in this category.

Overnight: We spent $643 with AirBnb in May. That was for a total of nine nights accommodation, so an average of $71 a night. Singapore was expensive, with three nights at $308!

Motorhome: Just a couple of mechanical expenses... a new battery and new wiper blades. Total of $187. There will be more in June because Bundy needs an oil change and minor service work.

Travel: What was supposed to be an inexpensive trip turned out to be anything but. On the bright side, we visited both Singapore and Bali which were not originally in the plan. Here are the individual expenses in this category...

May 1 Ottawa Car Rental $178.88
May 5 Australia visa $ 19.36
May 5 Australia visa $ 19.36
May 8 Calgary Car Rental $162.90
May 10 Australia visa $137.46
May 20 Calgary to Singapore $953.02
May 25 Singapore to Bali $287.80
May 27 Bali to Adelaide $526.52

Total of $2,285.30

The other direction will come in August, so that will be an expensive month as well. But in the meantime, our June and July should be very reasonable. Time will tell!

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