Another month has come and gone. We closed out March WAY over budget – $1,000 over budget!
So what happened?
First, we became official French residents. Part of our final approval involved paying 482€ in taxes (241€ each.) We also prepaid 10 hours of French lessons in the amount of 197€. That is only 20€ per hour which is AMAZING! French lessons are ridiculously expensive in Nice.
We also went over our grocery budget by $300, spent $40 on a taxi getting to the OFII to obtain our residence sticker, bought Derrick a new pair of jeans, and well… you can see how things start to add up quickly.
March 2015 Expenses Chart:
Can’t view the chart? Click HERE
Expenses:
| Grocery | $1,320.38 |
| Eating Out | $450.48 |
| Miscellaneous | $1,082.33 |
| Entertainment | $13.10 |
| Transportation | $128.10 |
| Housing | $1,302.85 |
| Health Insurance | $499.00 |
| US Car Insurance | $97.61 |
| US Storage unit | $136.00 |
| Total | $5,029.85 |
Our US expenses are $233.62 total for our US car/umbrella policy and our storage unit for the items we kept for our return to the US. We also have an international health insurance policy (required for our Visa) that is $500 per month.
The exchange rate is still low at just 1.07€ to the $1. I prefer to translate all our expenses to USD since our income is in dollars. My goal is to not exceed $4,000 per month. While other travelers could spend significantly less, this budget allows my family of 4 to live comfortably.
What are your secrets to staying in budget while living abroad?
See more of our monthly expenses here.
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