February 2023 Budget Report – First Full Month in Ecuador
Seven months of international travel down…and who knows how many more to go!
It really feels like we are starting to get into a groove.
Transitions between destinations are getting easier. We worry less about travel uncertainties. And when we need local information we pretty much know how to find it.
And we are really enjoying Ecuador! This country is proving itself to be a natural wonderland, in addition to its many cultural and gastronomic perks.
So how do our finances look, now that we’ve spent our first full month in Ecuador? Does the cost of living compare favorably to Guatemala, Peru, and Colombia?
Let’s review our February 2023 budget report and find out.
Accommodation: $365.77 USD
WAYYY down from last month, this includes 22 nights at our Quito, Ecuador Airbnb ($264.39 USD) and 6 nights at our Banos de Agua Santa, Ecuador Airbnb ($101.38 USD).
Getting good long-term Airbnb deals is really easy in Ecuador it seems!
$13.06/night for accommodation during the month of February was stupidly affordable. This is good because apparently, we are making up for this bargain in other expense categories!
Eating Out: $477.80 USD
About the same as last month, which wasn’t exactly our cheapest on record. Restaurants are, on average, more expensive in Ecuador than in most other places we have been. But honestly, we find ourselves indulging ourselves more now that we are more comfortable with our spending tendencies in other areas.
That said, if we travel to places with higher accommodation costs we may rein in eating out a bit. We’ll see, depending on what our average monthly expenses end up being.
Groceries: $318.79 USD
Higher than last month, most likely due to higher-than-average supermarket prices for many items, compared to other countries we visited. That said, local markets had really low prices on produce, so that helped balance things out a bit.
Ecuador has phenomenal produce options! The variety is ridiculous, and the climate is perfect for growing cool-weather crops all year (being on the equator helps). So you are nearly guaranteed to be getting a good price for produce if you buy from local growers.
Pretty cool, especially compared to produce prices in the United States!
General Supplies: $60.35 USD
About the same as last month. Just boring expenses needed to maintain or enhance life in an Airbnb (primarily bathroom and kitchen supplies).
Transportation: $69.01 USD
I love this expense category this month.
We traveled a TON within Ecuador by ground transportation. And it was so cheap!
In Quito, our typical Uber or taxi ride cost around $3 USD. Public buses anywhere in the orbit of Quito cost from $0.35 – $0.55 USD per trip. An intercity bus ticket from Quito to Banos de Agua Santa, 4 hours away, costs $5 USD.
Why can’t bus transportation be this affordable (or at least more affordable) in the United States? Makes you wonder.
Also, not having to fly in an airplane really cut costs!
This really exemplifies the slow-travel on the cheap philosophy we preach.
Want to travel internationally for cheap? Stay out of airplanes as much as possible.
Activities: $211.07 USD
About the same as last month, but we actually did a lot!
In Quito, we made multiple trips on the TeleferiQo gondola, visited many free or inexpensive museums, enjoyed free public spaces, visited zoos, botanical gardens, and went on a guided trip to Cotopaxi (~$100 USD total for both of us). And at times it felt like we explored almost the entire city on foot while we were there (Note: we didn’t even come close).
In Banos de Agua Santa, we’ve been hiking in the mountains a ton! And aside from the occasional $1 – $2 USD mirador overlook fee, these activities are virtually free.
Ecuador really knows how to make fun activities affordable, especially if you like the outdoors!
Alcohol: $43.20 USD
A pretty dry month, all things considered.
Beer and non-Ecuador/Argentinian wine are comparatively expensive in Ecuador, so we abstained much more than in Colombia. Aside from the occasional social bottle of wine and beer with friends, we really didn’t drink much.
Our livers appreciate it, I’m sure.
Utilities/Upkeep: $11.25 USD
This is WAY down from past months.
This includes only a few full-service laundry runs (between $2.50 – $3.50 USD for each load, dried and folded) and paid bathroom stops.
This is, by far, the best country so far for getting laundry done!
Medical: $189.70 USD
This includes our fixed travel insurance cost for the month ($171.01 USD) and some normal OTC purchases at the pharmacy.
Riveting stuff, I know.
Miscellaneous: $56.00 USD
Completely out of form, most of this expense was from my purchase of a wonderful Alpaca hair zip-up hoodie ($30 USD) we fell in love with. I’m wearing it as I write this!
It also includes a few small souvenir purchases, neck gaiters for high-altitude hiking, and bribes to get the local panhandlers to leave us alone.
Total Expenses for February 2023 = $1,802.94 USD
So we were WAY UNDER our $2500/month budget by about $700 USD!
This is an all-time spending low for our Year 1 travel plan! Here’s hoping the trend continues while we are in Ecuador.
And because pretty graphs are fun, here is a visual summary of our February 2023 budget report:
Our current monthly spending average is now $2,219.69 USD, down from January 2023. Good to see this number continue to track downward…we’ll need it when the Panama stage of our journey begins!
We’ll see how March 2023 plays out. We have many reasonably priced tours planned and we want to make at least two excursions into the Amazon rainforest. So we’ll see how that goes.
We hope you found our February 2023 budget report useful!
Until next time…
Thanks for reading!
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