That was the rotten cherry on top of a really stinky monthly budget sundae.
Let’s take a closer look at the train wreck that is our April 2023 budget report.
Accommodation: $721.11 USD
For accommodation, this is our second-highest month on record.
This included 19 nights in Cuenca, Ecuador ($408.50 USD) and 2 nights in Pedasi, Panama ($70.68 USD). But the least cost-efficient nights were the undiscounted rates we got for our 3 nights in Quito, Ecuador ($114.12 USD) and 4 nights in Panama City, Panama ($127.81 USD).
$34.04 USD/day for accommodation during the month of April is not sustainable long-term, by our standards.
But thankfully we have our accommodations all figured out for the next 3 months, and we know that our accommodation expenses will settle in the low to mid $20 USD/day range from now on.
Eating Out: $564.17 USD
For eating out, this is also one of our most expensive months on record.
We did our best to keep things cheap, but there is only so much you can do when moving quickly from big city to big city.
You have limited time to find the best bargains!
At least the hornado plates were cheap in Cuenca! All this for $4 USD.
Groceries: $340.39 USD
Only a little higher than last month, due mainly to the fantastic produce we had access to while in Cuenca, Ecuador.
It wasn’t that it was very expensive. It was because there was so much good stuff to try!
But still, not an unreasonable level of grocery spending when you compare it to past months.
General Supplies: $49.09 USD
A low spending month on general supplies for our Airbnbs.
Generally speaking, our Airbnbs were very well equipped and often covered consumable supplies like soap, shampoo, and toilet paper.
Transportation: $197.05 USD
Our transportation expenses were about double from last month, due to the multiple long bus trips and expensive taxi rides we needed to take.
Those $25 USD taxi rides to the airport outside of Quito, Ecuador hit hard!
That, and we took more rides on Uber and taxis in general due to the fast-travel nature of our 7-day April relocation. And we swear that Uber is about 25% more expensive in Quito since the last time we were there in February.
All of this adds up!
Activities: $48.00 USD
We did a ton of stuff, but most of it was free or very cheap.
Thanks Cuenca, Ecuador!
Our two biggest expenses were visiting the Casa Museo Guayasamín art museum in Quito, Ecuador ($10 USD/adult) and visiting the Amaru Zoologico Bioparque in Cuenca, Ecuador ($8 USD/adult).
The rest was made up of very inexpensive entrance fees.
Alcohol: $67.14 USD
Another relatively dry month.
When we bought alcohol it was usually to take advantage of the occasional happy hour libation or experimental adult beverage foray.
And we did buy inexpensive red wine a couple of times to pair with some of our chocolate purchases.
Utilities/Upkeep: $38.58 USD
Very low expenses for this category in April.
We needed to recharge our 30-day Claro 10 GB LTE data plan ($10 USD) in Ecuador and purchase a new 10-day +Movil Unlimited data plan (+ SIM card) in Panama ($11.77 USD).
The remainder is made up of bathroom fees and sunscreen purchases.
Medical: $194.12 USD
This includes our fixed travel insurance cost for the month ($171.01 USD), and a bunch of different OTC medicine purchases.
Miscellaneous: $118.11 USD
This category includes general necessities like clothing replacements, hiking boot repair, a screwdriver, an orchid we gifted to our housekeeper, and a replacement pair of quality water shoes to replace the ones I wore out over the last year.
[For those who want to read the entire series of posts about my passport SNAFU, CLICK HERE.]
Total Expenses for April 2023 = $3,153.51 USD
So we were WAY OVER our $2500/month budget by about $650 USD! But if you ignore our passport SNAFU expenses, we were under budget by about $165 USD.
Passport SNAFU expenses aside, this is a good case study for how speeding up travel (during the last 10 days of April) can greatly increase how much it costs!
Not to mention how exhausting fast travel is. We are so happy to have put down roots for 28 nights in Pedasí, Panama.
Here is a pretty graph that summarizes our April 2023 budget report:
Our current monthly spending average is now $2,301.51 USD, up a bit from last month.
Unfortunately, Panama does look like it will be a more expensive country than any other we have visited so far.
But we have our accommodation expenses locked in already. So really it all comes down to the spending choices we make for the rest of our time in this country.
Barring another passport SNAFU, I think we will end up with a financial happy ending at the end of July 2023.
We hope you found our April 2023 budget report useful!
Until next time…
Thanks for reading!
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