Here is a breakdown of my expenses for May.
| Household | $128.63 |
| Mortgage/Apt | $115 |
| Utilities | $207.07 |
| Entertainment | $19.91 |
| Transportation | $209.75 |
| Food | $131.11 |
| Visa | $343.18 |
| Health | $184.54 |
| Travel | $1386.54 |
| Support | $288.76 |
| Phone | $0 |
| Total | $3014.49 |
May’s expenses were a little higher than normal. This was mainly due to expenses incurred to finally bring my wife here to the U.S., so I consider it money well spent.
Entertainment expense was for one month Amazon Prime subscription, one month Hulu, and one month Netflix.
Rent was $115 for our apartment in Chiang Mai.
My transportation expense consisted of $40.59 for gas and $169.16 to buy two new tires and get them balanced and installed.
My food expense was $131.11. That is divided between $51.88 for groceries and $79.23 for restaurants. That is close to average for when I’m only feeding myself. This amount will definitely be higher this month and will continue to be higher in the future. I’ll eventually need to set a new budget for this category.
I paid $214.17 for an expedited passport application, passport photo, and shipping for the passport app. My passport had fewer than six months validity left, and I knew I’d want to go to Thailand this month. Some countries/airlines won’t let you travel unless you have at least six months validity left on your passport, so I got an expedited renewal to avoid any potential problems.
The big travel expense was $1166.94 in airfare. This was mostly for two plane tickets from Bangkok to San Francisco booked with cash. It also includes the taxes and fees on award tickets from SGF-Minneapolis and then MSP to Bangkok to get me to Thailand and taxes to get me and my wife from SFO to Kansas City. In addition to those flights, I booked another flight from Bangkok to Buriram to visit my wife’s family. I also spent $5.43 on a taxi. Although I spent a lot of money, it would have been a lot more if I didn’t have credit card points and airline miles to book a lot of the travel.
Utilities came in at $207.07. This was for electric in the U.S., 2 months internet in the U.S. and one month of utilities in Chiang Mai. This amount will probably be about the same this month.
The household expense was mainly for continuing education to maintain my attorney license. I need to get some attorney self-employment income so I can write this expense off.
I provided $288.76 of support to my wife. She had to quit her job in order to prepare to come to the U.S., so she needed a little more support.
I spent $343.18 on visa related expenses. The biggest part of this was $235 for my wife’s green card fee. This will allow her to legally work as soon as she arrives in the U.S. I also paid for round-trip airfare between Chiang Mai and Bangkok and one night in a hotel for my wife’s visa interview at the embassy in Bangkok.
This month’s expenses will surely be much lower. How was your month?