Here is a breakdown of my expenses for December.
| Household | $97 |
| Mortgage/Apt | $116.18 |
| Utilities | $26.72 |
| Entertainment | $25.85 |
| Transportation | $9.67 |
| Food | $241.14 |
| Phone | $7.13 |
| Health | $8.03 |
| Visa | $792 |
| Travel | $221.51 |
| Support | $0 |
| Total | $1545.23 |
December’s expenses were higher than normal due to having to make a payment to the visa agency that is helping with my wife’s visa application.
Entertainment expense was for one month Amazon Prime subscription, one month Hulu, and a couple visits to the movies.
Rent was $116.18 for our apartment in Chiang Mai.
My transportation expense was only $4.88 for a tank of gas and $4.79 for local transportation. It doesn’t take much to fill up my wife’s motorbike’s gas tank.
My food expense was $241.14 That is divided between $88.36 for groceries and $152.78 for restaurants. That is reasonable since it is for 2 people and we eat out almost every day. I expect this month’s expense will be about the same.
I paid $7.13 for one month of Thai phone service. This month I’ll pay the same amount for another month of service.
Utilities came in at $26.72. This was for electric and water for our Chiang Mai apartment. My mom paid for electric and water for my U.S. residence as a Christmas present.
The household expense was for gifts, deodorant, tp, a haircut, toothpaste, 2 power strips and some other miscellaneous items. This should be slightly lower this month.
Travel expense included $44.79 for a flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, $5.60 in taxes and fees on an award ticket from LAX to Springfield, MO and $21.79 to select my seat and get a meal on my Air Asia flight from Bangkok to Tokyo. I also paid $95 for my Chase Sapphire card annual fee, $1.43 for a train from the Taipei airport to my hotel and back, and $3.24 in currency exchange fees.
I provided $0 of support to my wife. When I’m staying with my wife in Thailand any money I provide is accounted for in the appropriate category rather than using the generic support category.
The Visa category expense was $792 for a second and final payment to the visa agency. A small amount of that was for getting a certified copy of a document here in Thailand that is needed for the visa application.
This month’s expenses should be lower since there won’t be a large visa expense. How was your month?