Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting, and adventurous life without breaking the bank. The less money you spend, the less you need to make. 🙂
This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for the two of us. Under groceries we incorporate food, produce, and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. Since June 2019 – we adopted Maya on June 4th – we have a dog section as well. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and vitamins/supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor’s visits. Because of our income level, Mark and I are eligible for free health care within the state of Massachusetts. For check-ups, we both return to the East Coast.
The first three weeks of December, Mark, Maya, and I continued living in a campground and working in Campbellsville, Kentucky. We hit the road again in our camper van for the last week of the year. The entertainment category constitutes those travels, as I took a tour of Churchill Downs in Louisville, where the Kentucky Derby takes place, and Mark and I took a guided walk in Mammoth Caves, after hiking with Maya to wear her out.
We didn’t spend money on camping as we managed to boondock during our “migration south”. The three of us made stops in Frankfort, Louisville, and Mammoth Caves National Park in Kentucky (more about that another time) and found the most amazing free parking in Nashville, Tennessee, which allowed us to explore this vibrant music city and have drinks at night.
Mark bought a new SmartPhone at a very good price after doing lots of research and waiting for the right moment. The amount underneath includes a two-month data plan, a new SIM card, and a free tablet! While in Kentucky, we HAD to try Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and its competitor Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken. We took Maya to the vet to get another opinion about her itchiness. At the moment, we are giving CBD oil a try. This might help with her anxieties as well…
We couldn’t avoid buying more alcohol, as we planned a fun New Year’s Eve (and extended stay) with our sailing friends Karmen and Tom in St. Augustine, Florida. They put a feast together on the last day of the year and we enjoyed spending time with them and their friends on their refitted catamaran, Sauvage. More about that later as well.
January 7, 2020 at 00:46
So… what’s the verdict on the Great Fried Chicken Contest? We have KFC up here but not Lee’s, so inquiring minds want to know. 🙂
Well done on the budget; and a total SCORE with the new smartphone, hooray!
January 8, 2020 at 10:14
Hi Diane! The new SmartPhone is a treat, but the cell service/data plan with Visible (lesser version of Verizon) is worse than our existing AT&T plan, so we will have to work around that. The fried chicken contest is won by KFC, but the biscuits are more flavorful (buttery) at Lee’s. The Lee’s restaurant in Campbellsville was so disgusting in terms of hygiene that this played a role in our verdict as well…
January 8, 2020 at 16:11
Ew. That would be a total turnoff. I’ve never even tried the biscuits at KFC – didn’t know they had them. By the time I finish gobbling down all that gloriously greasy and delicious chicken, I usually don’t have any room left over anyway. 🙂
January 8, 2020 at 21:07
Aha! Caught! I didn’t know you were a KFC fan. 🙂
January 7, 2020 at 05:06
Nice job with the budget, Liesbet. I’m revamping my 2020 budget, so you’ve inspired me. 🙂 Mark looks happy with that bucket of chicken! Happy New Year!
January 8, 2020 at 10:15
Happy New Year, Jill! Have fun with your budgeting for 2020. One thing that is atypical for us that Mark and I never think about or plan our budget – we just buy what’s needed and try to keep our expenses as low as possible, keeping a certain quality of life(style).
January 7, 2020 at 07:12
Always wanted to see Mammoth Caves.
You had to celebrate New Year’s right!
January 8, 2020 at 10:17
Hi Alex! I hope you make it to Mammoth Caves one day – good inspiration for your future books. 🙂 We will have to go back, because all the tours were booked when we showed up and we couldn’t pick our favorites. Reserving during peak seasons is recommended!
January 7, 2020 at 07:16
As your adventures prove, you live RICH on a tiny budget. What is your favorite non-restaurant food? Inquiring minds want to know.
See you soon . . . !
January 8, 2020 at 10:20
Hi Marian! We pretty much cook and eat anything that hasn’t too much diary in it, as Mark is allergic to cow’s milk. We enjoy chicken and fish and pasta and rice and lots of vegetables. 🙂 Yes, yes, yes, see you soon!!
January 7, 2020 at 10:34
Our experience with CBD and dogs this past summer was that it is a “miracle” drug – at least for giving vitality to older dogs. Hope it works on Maya’s itching.
Well done again in December! Sounds like quite a deal on the phone!
January 8, 2020 at 10:24
Hi Duwan!
I’m so glad the CBD oil worked for the dogs you pet sat. Maya seems to be a special case. Other than the Apoquel, nothing seems to do the trick when it comes to her itchiness. And, forget about her anxieties… Now, we believe the cause of her itchiness is environmental again, as it got worse in Florida, while we mostly seemed to have it under control by the time we left Kentucky (as it was cold and “dry” there). We are upping her dose and keeping an eye on it all.
Mark posted his phone discovery on Slick Deals, where it made the first page and stayed there for ages. 🙂
January 7, 2020 at 16:00
Sorry to hear of Maya’s itches. And so cool that your friends have what looks like a spacious “refitted” catamaran. Always enjoy checking in with you, Liesbet, to see how things are going in the exciting life you have. I wish you health–and Maya too–and success in 2020. All best to you.
January 8, 2020 at 10:26
Hi Victoria!
Our friends did an amazing job, getting their sailboat comfortable, safe, homey, and travel-ready in a year’s time, to enjoy it now and sail to the Bahamas. If we didn’t have Maya, we would have joined them. We sold our sailboat 4.5 years ago and this is the first time we feel that same itch again. 🙂
Thank you for the wishes and the same to you and yours. May 2020 be the year of massive memoir progress!!!
January 8, 2020 at 14:21
It’s amazing what your two do on a limited budget. Many of us spend way more money than we really need to. I’ve never been to Mammoth Caves but would love to visit one day. They caves we have seen were incredible. Good luck getting Maya’s itchiness and anxiety under control… poor thing.
January 8, 2020 at 20:58
Yeah… Maya has been going through serious periods of itchiness and we are trying all kinds of different remedies. The prescription medicine might have to be reintroduced, though.
We will have to go back to Mammoth Caves as well, since I feel we didn’t really see the beauty of the drip stones and such. It was incredibly busy and all the tours were fully-booked between Christmas and new year. Luckily, they added an “Historic Tour”, which we ended up joining (with 100 others).
I think you discovered our trick about keeping expenses low: we only spend the money we need to.
January 9, 2020 at 06:20
Inspiring how you manage to live so well on so little. Very impressive!
Just in case it helps with Maya, we used raw organic coconut oil on some skin issues both of our dogs had while we were living in Nicaragua. No idea of course if it will help and this might be more serious than what ours had, but in case it helps, thought I’d give it a mention.Hope it gets resolved…. perhaps its like eczema in people which can be brought on by stress and anxiety.
Peta
January 9, 2020 at 11:35
Thanks for the tip, Peta. I think the coconut oil would help if she had spots of itchy or raw skin, but her entire body itches. There’s no particular area we can point at… We pretty much had it under control in Kentucky, when it got cold. This makes us wonder whether it isn’t environmental as it got worse again once we entered warmer and much more humid Florida. Hard to define whether it’s stress-related as well, since she itches and chews when we are home and settled as well.
January 13, 2020 at 20:07
Well done! I wish I could I live on that budget and enjoy life at the same time. I can’t help but wonder if Maya has food allergies? I hope you figure it out soon. 🙂
January 13, 2020 at 21:01
Hi Debby! Thank you for your concern about Maya. We have basically boiled her itchiness cause down to allergies being related to the environment. We tried a lot of food stuff during the earlier months we had her, but that realization only arrived recently, as we had everything under control in Kentucky (where it froze enough to take the allergens out of the air) and from the moment we arrived in hotter and humid Florida, we were back to square zero. The only remedy is prescription medication. One day, I’m going to write a post about our sweet girl’s troubles and our findings.
January 14, 2020 at 10:31
Environmental allergies are as bad as food allergies – only you can change diets but not always easy to change locales. I know myself when it gets real cold (like now) my skin gets so dry without even going out. I have to use tons of re-applications of cream throughout the day. In summer – or winter vacations, my skin becomes happy again.:) x
January 14, 2020 at 11:15
Exactly! We can’t change the environment. The only way that would work for Maya is if we moved to Toronto in the winter and then kept finding the coldest places on earth. Mmmm… no, thanks! Since being in Florida, I have noticed a big difference with our skin as well. Not as dry and we are not as thirsty at night. 🙂
January 15, 2020 at 09:26
LOL, I don’t blame you! Enjoy the warmer climate! 🙂 x
January 16, 2020 at 13:56
Liesbet, you and Mark love to be in warm places, so I hope your suspicion that Maya thrives best in cold places doesn’t turn out to be true. I’m looking forward to your post on the Mammoth Caves. I love exploring caves.
Jude
January 16, 2020 at 16:19
Jude, Mark and I do enjoy the warmth better than the cold, but it does appear that Maya gravitates towards the opposite… She’s more active and happy in colder climes and her fur seems to do better in below zero temperatures. We will make it work. Right now, medication appear to be the way to go.