The cost of April 2013
This month is a little different than the past few months. It is the first one in which I pretty much sat still for the entire month. This causes a shift in my primary spending… from gasoline to other things.
Instead of the normal $300 or more, I only spent $101 in gasoline. It helps a lot to park the big van and use my much smaller Datsun for my daily driving and exploring. You would think I was ahead of the game… but I did have to spend more than $200 in vehicle registrations for all three vehicles (Van, Datsun, and Trailer) keeping my total “transportation” costs at $300 for the month.
Thanks in large part to the local Moose Lodge, I have not had to pay for any camping this month, although I did pay $50 for the application fee to become a Moose. I am still camping out in the back lot of the Moose Lodge.
As has become the norm, food is still the second largest expense for me. Groceries accounted for $148 for the month… but before we get to excited in the reduction over my previous months… dining out jumped to $126. I bought less groceries only because I ate out more, in large part to hanging out with my son. Just like my transportation costs above, my total “food” costs remain the same as previous months at my average of $272 per month.
Itemized cost of living per-day
The remainder of my expenses were in line with the norm. From entertainment to my cell phone nothing really changes much. I did spend over a $100 in clothing this month as I found some great deals on jeans that I didn’t want to pass up. It is rare I find a pair of jeans in my size (31 inch waist) so I have to grab them when I see them.
All in all my total costs for the month were a tad lower then my average at $1031 ($1144 average) bringing my per-day cost from $39 average in past months to only $34 in April. I am going to try to bring my per-day cost under $30 in the month of May, which means I must spend less than $930 for the entire month… I have yet to spend less than $1000, so it will be a challenge.
To summarize my year-to-date figures:
Gasoline total: $1084 in 2013
Food total: $1087 in 2013
Camping total: $207 (19 nights total)
Or to put in in daily averages:
Gasoline: $9.03 per day
Food: $9.06 per day
Camping: $1.70 per day
Avg daily spending: $38.04
