February in Nice was definitely more expensive than January. We had our first full month in France, so our grocery budget tripled. We also spent more on entertainment – visiting the Monaco Aquarium and purchasing tickets for stadium seating at the Nice Carnival.
We left the beautiful port on the 28th of February and are now spending 3 months just down the street from the famous Negresco Hotel. It’s a completely different feel on this side of town, more residential and traditional. We opted for a taxi (40€) to get us to the next apartment instead of walking with our luggage. We need to send A LOT of stuff back with my Mom before our big tour of Europe this summer.
Some of our miscellaneous expenses this month include Netflix, a monthly subscription to IXL website for homeschooling, and purchasing a few new episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal – did you know you can’t watch shows on ABC from France?!
We also spent $100 on minutes for my husbands cell phone. He traveled home for a family emergency (other expenses not included). We ended up using his phone more than anticipated. We still have about $40 credit, so it won’t need to be reloaded anytime soon – we hope. We typically use FaceTime (free) and Skype for calls as it’s just 3¢ per minute or free if calling a 1-800 number.
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 1.13€ 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.
February 2015 Expenses Chart:
Can’t view the chart? Click HERE
Expenses:
| Grocery | $880.22 |
| Eating Out | $359.84 |
| Housing | $1,461.51 |
| Entertainment | $182.79 |
| Transportation | $57.75 |
| Health Insurance | $499.00 |
| US Car Insurance | $97.62 |
| US Storage unit | $136.00 |
| Miscellaneous | $74.70 |
| Total | $3,749.43 |
Have you lived in France? What were your expenses?
You might also like to read more about one of the local stores to shop that I like to call the French Walmart.
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