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.
For the month of September, Mark, Maya, and I lived and traveled in our camper van, Zesty. This was interspersed with multiple-day visits to destinations in Quebec and Maine and nights at an Airbnb, a friend's house, a motel, and a hotel, courtesy of my parents, who joined us on September 19th. The generosity of ma and pa kept our expenses lower than they would have been, as they chipped in for groceries, fuel, and a national park pass and treated us to restaurant meals.
Despite that, September was still an "average" month, due to camper projects, an expensive bridge toll, and personal splurges. We purchased a new car battery on Prince Edward Island, several parts and tools to fix the van this month, and a few drinks and meals out.
October 9, 2019 at 15:11
Test comment to see what happens.
October 9, 2019 at 16:33
Reply from the dashboard. Will Liesbet be notified?
October 11, 2019 at 14:24
Test. Do I get this reply in my inbox?
October 11, 2019 at 14:25
How about this one? I sure hope nobody else is getting this nonsense either…
October 9, 2019 at 15:24
Greg is right now swapping out our house batteries today. We’ve had the old ones for 3 years now so I guess we got a pretty good value out of them – but new ones are over $300 – ouch! But who wants to be worrying about their batteries every day?
You really do manage to keep your expenses low and nicely balanced despite the big ticket items like the battery.
I hope you had a great visit with your folks. It is so nice that they could come see you on the road.
And BTW – I got the post about the notice about this post and not the actual post in my inbox. So odd.
October 9, 2019 at 16:38
Ha! I remember you mentioning the Ballena Blanca battery project. Yep, that’s expensive. But, you will really take advantage of all that reliable power. Three years is pretty good! Ours was not even three years old and would be under warranty had the previous owner kept the documents… That was one of our worries buying it in Canada – potential warranty in the US if it fails again.
We did have a nice time with my parents – lots of sightseeing and splurging, and we were quite lucky with the weather. Now, it is back to work!
Thanks for letting me know about the (lack of) notification. I have a feeling the original expense blogs are not being sent out anymore. Mark helped me create a template for them, years ago, so maybe he can help me again to do this with the new Gutenberg editor, which – to be quite honest – I am not a fan of!
October 9, 2019 at 17:55
Good ole Mom and Dad! Now that Zesty is taken care of let’s see if you can get below $975 for October! Easy for me to say, right? Safe travels!
October 10, 2019 at 10:26
I’m glad you’re rooting for a <$1000 expense month for October. We have some catching up to do, in order to make our usual yearly average... It will all depend on Zesty's moods. :-)
October 9, 2019 at 20:48
The most important part is that you had fun! Btw, I received your post notice via my email as usual, but got an Error 404 notice when I clicked on the link. I was then able to reach your post by clicking on your masthead.
October 10, 2019 at 10:29
I’d say “yes” to fun, Janis. Surprisingly, we usually live a pretty benign existence in regards to fun… Thanks for letting me know about the error. I had put a link to click in that notification, but the paragraph got cut off with the “read more about this post”, before it showed up! 🙁 I am too wordy. One day, I’ll figure out why the normal expense posts are not being sent out anymore. You gotta love WordPress!
October 13, 2019 at 22:41
I’m replying to your comment again, Janis, to see whether you’ll receive this one in your inbox. Can you let me know if you did? Thanks!
October 10, 2019 at 10:43
Hi, Liesbet – Sorry to hear about your computer/email struggles. I received the same 404 error message as some other readers. Thanks for the link. It does sound like you had an awesome month. Your parents sound wonderful. Sending warm wishes for Zesty to be in a good mood for October!
October 11, 2019 at 10:26
Hi Donna! You know so well about computer and email issues… 🙁 I think WordPress just changes things behind the scenes and it is for us to figure out what happened and how to fix it. Jude wrote a little while back that she couldn’t leave comments on older posts of mine. I would NEVER check that box in my dashboard. I looked for it and guess what: the box for not receiving comments on older posts was checked… How do those things happen? WordPress updates? Their way of resetting things? Anyway, that was one issue I could fix. The other ones? No idea!!
October 10, 2019 at 10:46
Hi Liesbet! I’ve been enjoying photos of your adventures and glad to see you were able to stay in your budget even with repairs to zesty. But now that it will be getting cooler will you be heading south? Looking forward to hearing about your coming adventures! ~Kathy
October 11, 2019 at 13:46
Hi Kathy! We won’t be heading south until the end of the year. But, the end of this month, we will drive 1,000 miles southwest, to Kentucky – of all places… 🙂 It is getting way too cold in Massachusetts now, that’s for sure.
October 10, 2019 at 13:10
Hi Liesbet,
You guys are so frugal and yet have such adventurous lives. If we could let go of supporting 2 homes and multiple toys I think we could do it…:)
Glad Zesty is all better again. Vehicles – especially ones that are long distance travelers – just need constant tlc.
So enjoyed your Canada posts.
October 11, 2019 at 13:51
Hi Nancy! Thank you for your comment. Our goal is to see the world on a budget, while not having to work 9-5. 🙂
Yes, our Zesty needs constant TLC. We have some necessary parts at the moment, but most of the work still has to happen. We are hoping for some nice days in October still, to repair a few issues on my in-law’s driveway.
Toys and homes are expensive. Many people don’t realize that it’s not just the initial purchase price that breaks the bank, but the constant upkeep and use eats away at heard-earned dollars as well. I’m glad you liked my Canada posts. I have one more about Quebec City, whenever I get to it!
October 10, 2019 at 13:33
Great post. 😎, great job on your budget. That is amazing.
Cheers!
October 11, 2019 at 13:52
Hi guys! Thanks. I have your blog sitting in one of my browsers and hope to have some spare time one of these days to indulge in your stories and experiences!!
October 10, 2019 at 13:58
Dog toys, Liesbet? That sounds like my purchasing my young children toys when we went out shopping. And wonderful for you to have such a handy husband to do most of the van maintenance for you. $0 for camping expenses? Truly wonderful. I don’t know how you get anything accomplished, writing-wise. You are absolutely amazing and have the most exciting life. All best to you!
October 11, 2019 at 13:57
Hi Victoria!
To most people without children, their dog is like a child. We are no different. 🙂 Being 24/7 together with Maya makes her a huge part of our lives. We’d been looking for a long-term chewing toy that she enjoys using. We think we finally found it, although, after a few days she seems to have lost interest again.
I don’t even remember when the last month was that we spent money on camping or accommodations. Not even sure whether it happened yet this year. We are experts in boondocking and camping for free. 🙂
The thing is… I don’t get anything done, writing-wise. Not these months. It’s a bit like you…. too many other priorities and distractions. And, now that my parents have left, I got my other jobs to take care of (editing, translating), so my memoir progress is on the last of the back burners. I’m hoping to get to more querying next week!
October 11, 2019 at 14:16
Liesbet, I got here through my WordPress Reader feature today. Fingers crossed that clicking there will produce your posts in my inbox. Even though you two don’t work 9-5, you are like “Eveready” batteries, powering up your world. Impressive expense report!
October 11, 2019 at 14:21
Hi Marian! I’m glad you found me somewhere. 🙂 I’m still not sure why you don’t get my posts in your inbox, as – I assume – you put your email address in the “subscriber” box on the top right side of my blog. I so hope I’ll get that figured out one day, as most people now seem to get the posts in their inbox. Not to say that they (and I) are not experiencing other (WordPress) issues…
For not working 9-5, we sure seem to be busy all the time! I’m hoping the last months of the year come in well under $1,000 as we have some expenses to catch up on. Zesty has been breaking the bank again this year!
October 12, 2019 at 17:31
You did well! It’s nice to have a month where you get to splurge a little on yourselves, while still staying inside a reasonable budget. Enjoy!
October 13, 2019 at 22:42
We sure did splurge a bit last month, Diane. Mostly thanks to my parents. Now, it’s back to throwing all our money at our camper van! 🙂
October 12, 2019 at 22:47
As I taught during the ‘regular’ year, we traveled frugally every summer (including internationally) — and, surprisingly, found our expenses were about the same as at home. Sadly, now that we’re OTA (older than average), our trips are shorter, but I love such independent travel and shower your Zesty family with dog with hopes for many, many more adventures.
October 13, 2019 at 22:46
Thank you so much for the happy travel wishes, Beth! As long as we can combine work and being on the road, we should be fine. If the weather cooperates and we manage to take a break in a house once in a while. 🙂 Of course, house sitting with a dog will be challenging, if we decide to do so again in the future.
I’m happy to hear that you got your fair share of seeing the world when you were younger. And now, at a slower pace. Slow and independent – that’s the way to immerse oneself into new territories and cultures.
I used to be a teacher as well and traveled as much as I could during holidays, outside of prep work and such, and on a tight budget. It’s amazing what’s possible, if you watch your expenses.
October 14, 2019 at 12:51
Still testing comments and what happens when I leave one…
October 14, 2019 at 13:23
All that seemed to go fine, as a new user.
October 14, 2019 at 20:32
Wow, I don’t know how you do it. Our groceries for two are about what you spend a month what we spend per week! 🙂
October 16, 2019 at 19:54
Hi Debby! We try to keep our grocery bill under control, because other categories go through the roof, based on our travels, health, or dog care. The stores in the US are much cheaper than in Toronto and we shop in multiple stores with the cheapest options for what we require. It’s sometimes a hassle to stop at multiple stores, but it’s worth it for us. We do eat healthy, though, with our plant-based “diet” and home-cooked meals.
October 24, 2019 at 06:33
Thanks for the share!
We’re hoping to do this when returning back to The Land of Oz and am sure it will be higher costs.
October 24, 2019 at 09:45
I haven’t been back to Australia since 2002, so I’m sure the prices have gone up since then. Especially if the economic development there is similar to that in NZ, where I returned to in 2014 and was appalled by how expensive the country had become. But, usually, in the more expensive countries (think Europe as well), there are different ways to save money, depending on where you shop or how you travel. Having a camper van and “wild camp” would make living costs cheaper than staying in any other accommodation and eating out, for example. Will you travel or live in OZ?
October 24, 2019 at 09:49
I’m from Australia so can always find ways to travel cheaper or live cheaper.
I’ll have to return to work soon for a couple of years to save money to travel again. 😉
October 24, 2019 at 09:55
I guess that’s good and bad… On one hand, you’ll be happy to live in comfort and convenience for a while, have some routine to your life, and make some highly-needed money. You will feel like you’re achieving a goal with travel as a destination along this path of temporary “normal life”. On the other hand, you will miss the adventures, freedom, and excitement of the previous years. But, I’m sure you’ll fall into a healthy rhythm with so much to look forward to again.
Mark and I are in a similar situation, where we are considering “settling” somewhere for a couple of years to make and save money for future travels. It’s a tough choice, as working on the road, from a camper, has its challenges. Our middle ground at the moment is go somewhere for a couple of months at a time and focus on making money (from) there. The fact that we’ve been spending huge amounts of money on our camper lately is making this plan more urgent… 🙁
October 24, 2019 at 09:59
Ah right, I remember when we had our 1997 Fiat Ducato motorhome ‘Reg’. They’re wonderful when all is going well, but an endless black hole when things start to fail.
We’ve been in southern Italy for a while but in an apartment so it hasn’t been uncomfortable. We have a home in QLD that’s rented out so will look forward to returning to that as all our belongings are stored in its garage. I look at these belongings as if I haven’t used them since 2014, do I really need them…
October 24, 2019 at 10:05
You’ll need some of those belongings and can toss/donate the rest. 🙂 Every time I returned “home” to Belgium for a quick visit and had a look at the things I stored there (or in Massachusetts) – we are talking about a few boxes and suitcases between the two places – it was like discovering new items I forgot I had. Mostly clothes. I was happy to change my wardrobe a bit and I always tried to reduce those belongings. So much fun! When you return to your stuff after five years, it will be like opening Christmas presents. 🙂
October 24, 2019 at 10:10
Ha, ha I know exactly what you mean but I’m not going back for a little while to stay. Just a quick trip next February before the UK then back in southern Italy. So, it will be longer than 5 years.
Guess it’s because I lived on a boat for 21 years and that’s conditioned me not to hoard, so I’m sure I’ll donate loads of stuff. 😉
October 24, 2019 at 10:58
Totally get that!! But, we only lived on a sailboat for eight years. 🙂
October 24, 2019 at 12:11
Still enough time to teach you how to become minimalistic. I think everyone should live on a boat for a month so they value water, power, and everything else.
October 24, 2019 at 12:34
Well said! And, believe me if I say that we are minimalistic people. The joy of that was one of the reasons I did NOT want to get off the boat after eight years… 🙂
November 2, 2019 at 13:48
Liesbet, your older posts are letting me comment on them again now. And thanks again for having the “save my name” box checked so I don’t have to enter my credentials every time like on many WordPress blogs.
Jude
November 2, 2019 at 20:41
Hi again, Jude. I’m wondering whether you are getting these replies, as many readers don’t get notified about my replies anymore and since I replied to one of your previous comments last week, mentioning that I’m glad you manage to reply to my older posts now…
I’m glad the “save my name” box still works, but I actually don’t think the “receive replies by email” box still works. 🙁