What We Spent | Month One

budget: £30 GBP / $50 USD per day 

total Budget: £930 / $1550

total spent: £1140 / $1920

avg. daily spend : £37 / $62

all costs are for two people. 

days on budget: 20%

days under budget:  32%

   days over budget:   48%


In our first 31 days we spent two weeks in Mexico and two weeks in Belize.

Our first mistake was to book some accommodation in Mexico for our first week when we were still in our 'UK budget mode'; this costs £21.5/night and so made staying on budget very difficult. 

Belize also led to a drain on our finances. As noted in our typical Belize costs post, it's not easy as a budget backpacker there.

Savings were made by staying exclusively in hostels with kitchen facilities and always taking the segunda classe transport options in Mexico. 


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total: £475 / $800

avg. cost per double room: £16 / $27

most expensive: £21.5 / $36

cheapest: £11 / $18.5

 

accommodation: 42%


total: £170 / $286

most expensive: £42.5 / $71.5  

Sareteneja to Caye Caulker (boat)

cheapest: £2.7 / $4.5  

Chetumal to Corozal (bus)

transport: 15% 


total: £42 / $70

most expensive: £12 / $20

cheapest: £2 / $3.5

Eating out in Mexico can be incredibly budget-friendy, with numerous choices on almost every street corner. Contrast this with Belize where you'll struggle to find a small portion of chicken and rice for less than $5 and you'll begin to understand why our eating out budget is so small.

eating out: 4% 


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total: £135 / $227

Bloody hell, did we really spend that much?!

alcohol: 12%


total: £128 / $ 216

For the last two weeks of this month, we almost never eat out - a lot of this budget was spent on rice, beans and tomatoes.

groceries: 11%


total: £47 / $79

So, we had to treat ourselves every now and again.

 sweets & treats: 4% 


total: £16 / $27

As we came away with full toiletry bags, we're not actually sure where this money was spent..

toiletries: 1.5%


total: £82 / $138

We missed out on a lot of activities in Belize thanks to the extortionate prices.

Most expensive: £18 / $30 / Horse-riding in Belize. 

Cheapest: £4.5 / $7.5 / Kayaking in Belize

activities: 7%


total: £30 / $51

Mexico departure tax of £30 

crossing borders: 3%