October Expenses

Well, we knew that October was going to be an expensive month. We spent $3,182 CAD ($2,405 USD) for the month.

But, considering that we started the month in Ottawa, Canada and ended the month in Turkey, I suppose that's not bad. And, since our Ottawa to London airfare was actually paid for way back in May, it doesn't actually feel as hard on the bank account. 

Here's how it all broke down...

(The following figures are all in $CAD. For $USD equivalent, subtract about 25%)

Gasoline: We spent $202 on fuel. A chunk of that was for our road trip to Gravenhurst, Ontario when we borrowed our daughter's vehicle just before we flew out of the country. And $73 was on fuel for our Turkish car rental.

Groceries: At the beginning of the month, we were using up the food we had mostly purchased during September. So there were not many grocery purchases at the beginning of October. The rest of our grocery purchases for October were here in Turkey, where some things are cheaper than Mexico! We spent a total of $290 for the month.

Meals out: This category includes restaurants, snacks while we're out and about, or drinks on a patio. We spent a total of $192, but $87 of that was for the three restaurant meals we had to purchase while waiting for our Turkish flight at London's Gatwick airport.

Alcohol: We spent $145 on booze, which to be honest is not that much booze! Part of that was before we departed expensive Ontario, and the rest was on beer and wine here in Turkey. But alcohol is also fairly expensive in Turkey and we have cut right back...  it's hard to justify at these prices, so we will treat ourselves only on the weekends. 

Miscellaneous: Fairly high, at $472. But $287 of that is travel medical insurance. The balance was for an International Driver's Permit ($42), a SIM card for Germany that we ended up not using ($30) a SIM card for Turkey ($22) and a few other things.

Entertainment: We keep ourselves fairly well entertained, and we find that we can do so without spending much money in this department. We spent a total of $45. The boat trip that we did was $33, and then a few ruins site visits. 

Overnight: We have a maximum budget here in Turkey of $30 a night. While that sounds inexpensive, it that still adds up on a monthly basis. We spent $597 on 20 nights of accommodation (one night at the Gatwick airport was $60 and the rest averaged out to $28.26 per night) and we also paid a $46 penalty for cancelling our Germany accommodation. So we spent a total of $645 for the month.

Travel: We spent $1,192 on travel. Our flights from Ottawa to London were $262 per person, and London to Turkey were $88 per person. Our cancelled London to Berlin flights were $44 per person. Our Turkish visas were $81 per person, and we spent $243 on car rentals for the month.

So, the cancelled Germany trip cost some money, but accommodation would have been much more expensive so we probably about broke even overall, except of course that we didn't see any of Germany!

So, a total of $3,182 CAD.

November will be cheaper... the budget calls for about $2,300, so we'll see how we do. This type of travel is certainly more expensive on a monthly basis than our style of motorhome travel... but of course you have to buy the motorhome in the first place.

Don't forget to check out the new deals posted two or three times per day at www.campingandrvgeardeals.com