CATEGORY
|
AMOUNT
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Groceries/Household
|
416.12
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Rent/Utilities
|
946.14
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Transportation
|
143.46
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Doctors/Dentist/Meds
|
250.41
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Dogs
|
59.88
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Entertainment
|
86.65
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Trips*
|
782.05
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Workshop/Garden
|
143.03
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Furniture/Fixtures
|
0.00
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Exercise/Fitness
|
43.00
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Misc.
|
95.78
|
||||||||||||||||||||
March 2014 TOTAL
|
$2,966.52
|
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|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Without going to
Nicaragua this month, we would have just missed our $2,000/month goal, spending
$2,184.47. Last month was $2,248.21. Should I change the goal to $2,200? I
really don’t want to – I do think that once we get our pensionado, our medical
expenses (mostly mine) should decrease enough to keep us below $2,000. So I’m
going to hang onto the $2,000 goal for now and see what happens in the coming
months.
But … until we get our pensionado (which we still haven’t begun
working on), we will have to leave Costa Rica every 90 days for 72 hours. (UPDATE: Several folks have shared information with me since I posted this, explaining that the 72-hour requirement has to do with customs, not immigration. I appreciate their taking the time to explain this, and we'll happily use that information to take a much shorter trip next time.)And even after we get a cedula number, which means that we’re “in process” we will continue
to have to cross the border to recertify our U.S. drivers’ licenses (not the
72-hour requirement), but we’ll most likely follow the lead of our neighbors,
Jim and Irina Just -- A Different Kind of Trip to Nicaragua ..., who have ferried to Nicaragua
for lunch and come right back.
We learned lots of lessons on this, our first trip to
Nicaragua. In total, our trip cost us nearly $800, pretty pricey (for us) for a
4-day trip. To get the complete picture of this trip, check out the three-part “Busing It from Costa Rica to Nicaragua” articles on our blog. After reviewing what we spent our money on, there are definitely a few things we could have done to cut down on these trip expenses: picked a cheaper hotel (downtown San Juan Del Sur has several modestly priced hotels that are rated okay on Trip Advisor); taken the un-air-conditioned, but much cheaper Deldu bus both ways; spent less on food -- we ate at the hotel restaurant which was delicious, but pricey for Nicaragua. I'm not sure how many of these Visa runs are in our future -- friends who've applied for their residency more than 15 months ago are still waiting. It will be interesting to see how much we're spending every three months or so on these trips. So far January and March haven't been too promising in the "living cheaply" category.
NEW CATEGORY
I’ve added the category “Exercise/Fitness” to the March
budget. We are trying to be regulars at the twice-a-week yoga, and Paul has
started playing tennis again after a 10-year hiatus. Maybe in future budgets our Exercise/Fitness expenses will help reduce the Doctors/Dentists/Meds category!
