August Expenses

As we expected it to be, August was an expensive month. 

We spent $4,729 CAD ($3,602 USD) for the month. And we had predicted that it would be a $4,000 month, but it came in slightly higher than that. 

We started the month near Max's home base of Dulmen, Germany and ended it near Halifax, Nova Scotia. And in between, we were in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Cabri, Saskatchewan, and Calgary, Alberta!

So, here's how it all broke down... (the following figures are all in $CAD dollars)

Fuel: We spent $236 on fuel. But none of that went into Max. In fact, I think we left Max with about a half a tank, so that will get us started when we get back to him in November. This was just for the rental cars for the month.

Groceries: We spent $495 on groceries which was about what we expected. 

Meals out: We spent $219 on meals out. We had dinner in Amsterdam, we used Uber Eats (for the first time ever) in Montreal, a couple of meals out at Cabri Park in Saskatchewan, and I had dinner and breakfast out in Jasper, Alberta with my friends.

Alcohol: When I go on my guy's weekend away, we're not stingy on the quality of the alcohol. My contribution was a few bottles of decent wine, so that was a hundred bucks right there. Total for the month was $229, and it really wasn't that much booze! 

Miscellaneous: Total of $550. Higher than expected, but we bought a new backpack for Ruth ($100), Ruth bought some clothes and got her nails done with Lindsey and Sadie ($50), we had to get new Nova Scotia driver's licenses ($100), and I paid off some speeding fines from two camera tickets in Germany ($93). I will need to be more careful driving through the smaller towns! Then of course there was the typical laundry and parking and other minor expenses.

Entertainment: About as expected, at $300. Most of that was when we went to the Ontree Adventure Park, but we did a few other things during the month as well.

Overnight: $536, and that included one night in Amsterdam, one night near Montreal airport, and my weekend away with the guys.

Travel: This was the big one. We spent $2,080 in this department, and most of that was car rentals. We got the best deal we could, but car rentals are expensive in Canada right now. Our Nova Scotia one was $72 a day, and I don't think that we have ever paid more than a maximum of $35 a day in our life. Craziness. Flights added up to only $532, but that was because I used credit card points for our Amsterdam to Canada flights and return next month. Oh well. It is what it is.

Fortunately, the expensive months average out with the inexpensive months. We still expect to average just under $2,200 CAD ($1,675 USD) per month in total expenses for the year and we are on track to do that.

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