Once again, I was moving a lot this month.  I was in SEA and using it as a bit of a fact finding mission to figure out where I want to spend winters going forward.  As a result, I was moving every few days once I left Chiang Mai so I was incurring a lot of travel expenses. I also had no kitchen so I was eating out all the time and I didn’t particularly enjoy Cambodian or Vietnamese food which led to eating at more western places.  I may or may not have found a wine bar in Siem Reap that saw a good chunk of my cash. 🙂  I also did a couple tours which aren’t generally my thing but were important to me.

Had I stayed in one spot for the entire month, especially one with a kitchen, I suspect my costs would have been closer to $500-600 for the month.

This summary covers travel related expenses for 1-29 February 2016.

Location(s) Visited This Month

  • Chiang Mai, Thailand
  • Bangkok, Thailand
  • Siem Reap, Cambodia
  • Phnom Penh, Cambodia
  • Chau Doc, Vietnam
  • Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Transportation – $34.78

  • This is pretty low because, aside from a cheap flight from CM to BKK, I did overland travel for everything which I paid with cash, so it would be reflected in Miscellaneous.

Lodging – $285.22

  • While I splurged a bit, I tried to stay in hostels as much as possible. Also, a couple places were cash only so the cost would be reflected in Miscellaneous.

Food & Entertainment – $108.16

  • My food is relatively low because most of the places I ate required cash payment so much of my food cost is reflected in Miscellaneous.

Miscellaneous – $577.13

  • This includes expenses for a mobile phone plan, a tour, my Vietnamese visa, and other food/lodging expenses.  Most transactions in this region are in cash and I’m not into tracking cash. 🙂

Monthly Total:  $1005.29

Average monthly spend: $1245.27 ($245.27)*

With all the moving around, I was still over budget this month, but this is much closer to my target so that makes me happy. Next year when I’m in one spot and this is halved I will be even happier.

* My average monthly spending target is $1k/mo. This number is the average for the months I’ve been working remotely so far.  The amount in parentheses is the amount I’m over or under my goal.