October was a bit of an expensive month for us. We bought new hiking boots, we had some car rental expenses, and of course a trip to Peru! I'll do a separate post later that details the total cost of the Peru trip by itself.
We spent a total of $3,306 CAD ($2,520 USD) for the month. Here's how it all broke down...
(Note, the following expenses are in Canadian dollars. For approximate U.S. dollar equivalent, subtract 25%)
Gas: We put $101 worth of fuel in our little rental car. We always drive a lot of miles while we're visiting Ottawa, so it's a good thing it was a tiny, fuel efficient car!
Grocery: The first half of the month we were in Ottawa, and the second half we were in Peru. We spent $228 in the first half, and $122 in the second half for a total of $350 in groceries for the month. But to clarify, part of the first half was for supplies for our Mexico trip, and we ate out quite a lot in the second half which is reflected in our Entertainment expenses below.
Alcohol: We did not drink very much in the first half due to high Ontario booze prices. And in the second half, we were in Peru. We spent a total of $117.
Miscellaneous: At a total of $535, a bit on the high side, but mostly because of our two new pairs of hiking boots at $367. Ruth's high school reunion was $40, and we spent a total of $65 on Ubers, taxis, and collectivos for the month.
Entertainment: We spent a total of $465 in this category. $265 of that was meals out, but we had two meals out while we were in Ottawa and that was $75 right there! Starting in January 2020, I'm going to put in a new category to separate meals out. We've always felt that meals out are a discretionary expense so they should go in with the entertainment budget, but then it doesn't give a true picture of how much we actually spent on eating.
Overnight: A total of $705 in overnight expenses. A bit of a splurge for us, but we totally enjoyed our nice apartment here in Huaraz.
Travel: Our flights to Peru were $659 one way for the two of us. We spent $87 on the bus ride for the two of us one way from Lima to Huaraz. And $268 for our car rental while in Ottawa. A total of $1,014 travel expenses for the month.
So, a total of $3,306 CAD ($2,520 USD) for the month.
November is expected to be around the same, so that will be two expensive months back to back. But then we will be in Mexico for December through March where we know we live, travel, and explore on about $1,500 CAD ($1,150 USD) a month.
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Hm, usually I put eating out in entertainment too (our annual fishing trip goes in that category as well) but maybe I should separate eating out. It would be interesting to see how much we spend on that. When we eat out for travel though I lump it all in the travel category as well as any groceries we ate there. Traveling does cost more versus staying in one spot. I am glad Peru worked out so well at the last minute.
ReplyDeleteYes, we have always considered it entertainnment but when we are traveling to other countries there is generally more entertainment than just meals out. By us putting in a separate category just for meals out it will give us a better indication how much gets spent on meals out. For us, we like to see where our money goes all the time but then again, we live a lifestyle where we are almost always on the move.
DeleteLooking at your travel costs, did you have points to make up the difference (ie, cost of airfare to Peru was only one way and I know you flew back to Ottawa). Thanks, Judi
ReplyDeleteNo, we didn't use any travel points. The reason why you only see the two one way costs for our flight to Peru is because that was part of our October expenses. The two one way flights back to Ottawa will show up in our November expenses because we will have taken that flight in the month of November.
DeleteKevin will do a separate expense report detailing the exact cost of our full 20 day trip to Peru including our flights shortly.