Summary
Welcome to our August spending post! Our total spend for the month was £5,987 or $7,425.
It’s all change this month! During August we moved back to the UK, meaning from next month we can finally stop having split currencies in the spending posts!
We’ll provide a full update soon, but we’re currently temporarily renting an apartment while purchasing a property in England.
Mr Way will be working part time, as will Mrs Way, with the little one (now 3 years old!) making the most of the free childcare hours.
There’s lots to catch up on, but we’ll leave the summary there for the sake of this post and get straight to the spending.
The biggest item this month was a car purchase in the UK! We sold our car in the Caribbean, so we’ve reduced the cost by the sale amount.
We break our main expenses down into broad categories starting with the big 3; housing, food and transport. Everything else falls into the entertainment category, with any large inclusions explained in detail.
| Category | Amount (£) | Amount ($) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | £449 | $557 | See below |
| Food | £456 | $566 | See below |
| Transport | £3,885 | $4,818 | See below |
| Entertainment/misc | £1,197 | $1,484 | See below |
| Total ($) | $7,425 | ||
| Total (£) | £5,987 | ||
We break each of these categories down in the following sections, giving detail for any large expenses.
Housing
Our August spending is reduced because we had already paid our final rent in the Caribbean. Having moved back to the UK, we paid a deposit for a rental flat to live in temporarily, while we purchase a house.
| Category | Amount ($) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | $243 | |
| Water & Electricity | $231 | |
| Internet | $83 | |
| Total ($) | $557 | |
| Total (£) | £449 |
Food
Our August spending on food was £456/$566. This includes everything on our supermarket shop receipts for the month.
Transport
Our August spending on transport includes a car purchase in the UK.
Used car prices are ridiculously high so we ended up spending more than we wanted, but we ended up with a good quality used car, with only 20,000 miles on the clock.
The car cost £12,950 but we reduced this by the amount we sold our car for in the Caribbean to get a more realistic value.
We had a similar approach with a new bike purchase, which was cancelled out by the money from selling one in the Caribbean. We got a really good deal here, with a decent bike with loads of accessories, all for £200!
| Category | Amount ($) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | $60 | |
| UK Car | $4,558 | |
| UK Car Insurance | $200 | |
| UK Bike | $0 | |
| Total ($) | $4,818 | |
| Total (£) | £3,885 |
Entertainment/Misc
Our August spending on misc items includes a few extras. We’ve been eating out a lot due to making the most of our last weeks in the Caribbean, as well as settling into our new home.
| Category | Amount ($) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| UK Phone Bills | $16 | |
| Student Loan | $295 | |
| Eating Out | $647 | |
| Boat Trip | $105 | |
| Clothes | $123 | |
| Passport Photos | $11 | |
| Haircut | $35 | |
| Sports | $65 | |
| Presents | $15 | |
| Bed Frame | $62 | |
| Train Set | $50 | |
| Forest School | $60 | |
| Total ($) | $1,484 | |
| Total (£) | £1,197 |
That’s All for Now, Folks!
Considering the average US household spend is $5,111 we’re very happy with our spending. We live on a very high cost of living island!
See you next month!