My expenditure has been a bit all over the place the last few months, what with buying land and all the associated sundries I've had to purchase to get set up (such as > 1000 EU on a strimmer and chainsaw and paying someone (necessary) to help me get the land cleared on time, AND with just general purchases of things I already had in the UK but which I couldn't fit in the car (various tools, extension leads, a new desktop!).
HOWEVER, FINALLY my expenditure is settling down and I'm able to calculate my new regular ('new normal') expenditure which should be relatively stable going forwards for at least the next few years.
I've broken my new expenditure down into 'UK related' and 'Portugal related' - and I've converted it all to ££££ sterling, seeing as that's what I still earn most of my money in. (I don't count my crypto token rewards as earnings, because they are not earnings, they are crypto token rewards.)
In total I'm spending currently about £1950 a month, which is more than I'd like, but not too bad either!
UK Expenditure
- £650 a month on the damn mortgage - OK OK I am paying it off faster than I need to, and most of that is covered by rent (it's rented out) but it still HURTS!
- £230 on tax, and that's 'tax debt' - what I owed from last tax year paid off monthly. Thankfully my income for the tax year just gone will be lower so I won't have as much to pay when I do my tax return at the end of the year!
- Insurances - well the house is rented, so most of this is for that, it covers lost rent due to rogue tenants, and the boilers covered.
- Car sub - this is £50 a month towards things like insurance, tax, new parts, not actually enough to cover everything but I've got 1000 EU put by especially for the car upkeep, so I'm good for a year.
- Subscriptions - it costs me about £40 a month to pay for my blog and sales hosting, not bad at all, and I've got an English cheap mobile connection and Netflix - I mean one does need to binge watch Warrior Nun and the like from time to time!
Portugal Expenditures
- £240 EU for cabin rental and bills - I mean, that's a bargain, I couldn't get anything like this in the UK, so I'm staying put for a while. The land is a bit too raw to live on just that!
- £130 Fuel - mainly driving too and from the land 4 days a week, it adds up. I might look into nipping across the border to Spain a couple of times a month when I fill up to bring this down, fuel is cheaper there.
- £130 on Food - I eat quite basically, I'm quite happy with this, I guess long term I'll bring this down by growing more of my own.
- £80 - there's always something I have to spend on the land - Mistura, shade netting, water fittings, new boots, gloves, tools, etc. etc. This is besides the larger expenditures
- Other stuff for just living - £30 on the net, unlimited data, and a few beers n outings and other bits and bobs and I'm good!
This should be sustainable....
This expenditure is broadly in line with my fiat earnings, even during Covid when they've been hit hard, and I'm hoping that come September and schools start up things will ramp up again, and fingers crossed for no exam cancellation in 2022 so I can get my usual peak income from April-June, which I've been missing for two years now.
Not much room for maneuver for summer
The only problem I've got is that for the next few months I'm likely to break even in terms of income-expenditure, but there's a lot I'd like to buy for the land, not least of all some roofing material to waterproof my two buildings properly and a bell tent to live in.
I MIGHT be able to scrimp enough for these or squeeze the funds from somewhere, but I'm going to have to keep my expenditure down too!
For now though, I'm OK!