January Expenses

Not bad, all things considered, but still more expensive than we thought it would be given that we are in "cheap" countries. Also considering we spent almost a week with our friends Han and Michelle and they hardly let us pay for anything! (Thanks again!)

And of course I had my heart health tests done during the month, which added a lot, however even taking that amount off it was more expensive than we planned.

But of course we also did a lot!

We spent a total of $3,820 CAD ($2,837 USD) for the month of January.

But, $1,058 CAD ($786 USD) of that was for my heart health tests in Penang, Malaysia. So taking that out means we spent a total of $2,762 CAD ($2,052 USD) on living, traveling, and exploring. Which in itself is not bad, but more than we thought it would be.

Here's how it all broke down (the following figures are all in $CAD)...

Fuel: We spent $22 on gasoline for our rental car in Langkawi, and our scooter here in Senmonorom.

Grocery: $44... must be our lowest groceries month ever! But of course we make up for that with meals out...

Meals out: $710. We splurged a couple of times. Yes, you can eat very inexpensively if you stick with street food stalls and local foods. But doing that every single day can get monotonous, and we need some variety. 

Alcohol: Not bad, at $96. 

Miscellaneous: A total of $1,238, but that includes the $1,058 medical expense (which is still tax deductible on our Canadian tax return). So $180 for other items like cellular, laundry, tuk-tuks, and taxis etc.

Entertainment: We decided we had better spend some money seeing the sights and attractions. We might never be back in the area, so did a few more things than we normally would. We spent $459 entertaining ourselves. 

Overnight: Actually a little under budget in this category, but partly because we had a few nights with Michelle's brother in Penang. We spent $668 on accommodation for the month.

Travel: More than expected, but we rented a car for a week, and we had to pay for our Cambodia visas. And of course ferries and the flight from Langkawi to Siem Reap. Total came to $583 for the month. 

Once again, considering all we did, it's not bad. But when you think about SE Asia being cheap (and it is, in a lot of ways), everything adds up when you're out exploring.

Our budget for February is $2,385 CAD ($1,772 USD). We'll try to stick to it!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------