Here is a breakdown of my expenses for May.
| Household | $93.52 |
| Mortgage/Apt | $555 |
| Gifts/Charity | $11.62 |
| Visa | $730.16 |
| Entertainment | $84.64 |
| Transportation | $43.95 |
| Food | $281.68 |
| Phone | $33.94 |
| Health | $28.17 |
| Travel | $338.27 |
| Total | $2222.86 |
My May expenses were high which was expected since I was in Thailand the entire month.
Entertainment expense was for a New York Times digital subscription, one month of Hulu at 99 cents, one month of Peacock, Thailand Netflix, a concert ticket, and a movie visit. That was a lot of entertainment for the price.
The mortgage payment was my regular mortgage payment. I also had a month’s rent for the apartment I’m staying in with my wife here in Thailand.
Transportation was for taxis. Not having a car here is saving me some money.
My food expense was higher than I’d prefer. It was for two people, but local food is cheap here so this could be a lot lower. I’ll try to have more Thai food and less fast food/Western food this month and I think I should be able to get this total down to about $200.
My phone bill was $33.94. It will probably be about the same this month.
The household expense was for laundry, miscellaneous household items, and fees to get married.
Health expense was for one month’s health insurance premium and a one month gym membership.
Travel expense includes airfare for me and my wife from Chiang Mai to visit her family later this month. I scheduled this so we could stay in Bangkok for a day on the way back. I’ll fly home from Bangkok and my wife will continue on to Chiang Mai. Scheduling it this way reduced the number of flights I had to purchase. It also includes a flight from Chicago to my local airport when I return home.
I also spent $730.16 on expenses associated with getting my wife a visa to come live with me in the United States. This will be a long process and there will be more spent on this.
I’m not sure what this month’s overall expenses will look like. It will depend on how much I spend when I visit my wife’s family and whether I have any visa expenses due during the month.
How was your month?
Hey Andy!
Congrats on getting married. What an exciting time. Flights have been getting expensive but your travel expenses are reasonable. Did you book these in advance or were you using points for some of your travel?
Thanks. The domestic flights in Thailand are still cheap. They are about $30 for a one hour flight. I did use credit card points to book my flight from the US to Thailand. I got really lucky and was upgraded to business class on the flight from Dallas to Tokyo. I’m not sure how that happened since I don’t have any status and didn’t request an upgrade.
Condolences on your marriage.
Ha Ha. Thanks.