Summary
Welcome to our June spending post! Our total spend for the month was £3,601 or $4,321.
Our June spending was much lower than the previous two months. We’re finally settling into life in the Caribbean and most of the large start-up costs are now out of the way.
It’s still significantly higher than our living costs in the UK, but we would be very happy if we could consistently spend under $4,500.
We break our main expenses down into broad categories starting with the big 3; housing, food and transport. Everything else falls into the entertainment category, with any large inclusions explained in detail.
| Category | Amount (£) | Amount ($) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | £2,497 | $2,996 | See below |
| Food | £444 | $533 | See below |
| Transport | £68 | $82 | See below |
| Entertainment/misc | £592 | $710 | See below |
| Total ($) | $4,321 | ||
| Total (£) | £3,601 | ||
We break each of these categories down in the following sections, giving detail for any large expenses.
Housing
Our June spending includes our first utility bills. Thankfully, these weren’t as bad as we were expecting. We’ve made the choice not to use our air conditioning to try and keep our electricity bill down and it seems to be working. Hopefully we can continue to keep the bills around this level throughout the year.
| Category | Amount ($) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | $2,650 | |
| Water & Electricity | $346 | |
| Total ($) | $2,996 | |
| Total (£) | £2,497 |
Food
Our June spending on food was £444/$533. As explained previously, this includes everything on our supermarket shop receipts for the month.
We’re very happy with this total. Food is really expensive but there are certainly ways to save, so we’ll see how low we can get this figure.
Transport
We had very low transport costs in June. We only topped up the car once, which will probably be higher in a ‘typical’ month. Mr Way also got a flat tyre on his bike on the way to work. The bike shop nearby charged $32 to repair it – luckily we now have spare inner tubes so won’t be going there again!
| Category | Amount ($) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel | $50 | |
| Bike Tyre | $32 | |
| Total ($) | $82 | |
| Total (£) | £68 |
Entertainment/Misc
Our June spending in this category is very low. We didn’t spend much outside of the essentials. In a typical month, we expect to average closer to $1,000 here, but we’ll celebrate the lower months when they come!
| Category | Amount ($) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| UK Phone Bills | $14 | |
| Nursery Fees | $368 | |
| Student Loan | $203 | |
| Eating Out | $84 | |
| Presents | $16 | |
| Hat | $25 | |
| Total ($) | $710 | |
| Total (£) | £592 |
That’s All for Now, Folks!
Considering the average US household spend is $5,111 we’re very happy with our spending, considering we’re on a very high cost of living island! Long may that continue.
See you next month!