When we were trekking in the RV, I kept a record of our living expenses and posted those monthly. I admit that I haven’t been keeping it up regularly since arriving on Ambergris Caye in mid October, but if I told you that you can live on $2400 a month on a beautiful island, would you believe me? Well, you better Belize – it!
Below is an itemized breakdown of our expenses for two and a half months.
HOUSING – $2790 (Around $1140 per month)
This category covers rent, water, housekeeping, electricity, cable, drinking water, internet, and use of all amenities like kayaks, gym, and pools. We try to keep our electricity usage low by setting the thermostat on 79 degrees. Ovens and hair dryers also consume a lot of kilowatts, so I try to avoid cooking! (That’s my excuse anyway).
GROCERIES/DINING – $2214 (About $885 a month)
This category was hard to track because most of it was cash sales. I looked up our credit card receipts and added our ATM withdrawals to come up with this total. It breaks down to less than $30 a day, which is a lot lower than I would have guessed because we had at least three very nice dinners, including Christmas day.
ENTERTAINMENT – $450
I lumped a lot into this category. The bulk of our spending was with a tour company that took us to the Lamanai ruins and a catamaran trip to Caye Caulker. I am also including yoga sessions, poker run entrance fees, trivia participation fees, and paying for my friend’s gas when he took us out boating. Some of these events included eating and drinking, but I didn’t include the cost of meals in the total because we would have eaten anyway.
GOLF CART RENTAL – $550 (We only rented it for 1 month)
The best option for getting around the island is a golf cart since rental cars are non-existent. We splurged in December on a monthly cart rental because I had a friend coming to visit. The price of a one week rental for tourists is $300 – $350, but we were able to get a full month for only $500. Gas is very expensive here, selling for $5.10 per gallon, but we needed to fill up a couple of times. Expats will pay $10,000 to buy a used golf cart and they will also need to obtain a permit to drive it.
FLIGHTS – $1100
In the past couple of years, prices have dropped tremendously due to a new route on Southwest Airlines. All other airlines had to slash their airfare in order to compete, and we are so thankful. For the two flights to get to the island, we each paid $550. Once you get to Belize City from the states, you need to book Maya Air or Tropic Air to get to the Island quickly. You can save a few bucks on the water taxi, but it takes 75 minutes longer.
GRAND TOTAL for 2 1/2 months – $7104
I came up with the $2400 a month figure by excluding airfare, since that will vary and it is a requirement to be able to live anywhere outside of the US.
Stay tuned for our 2018 plans!