DECEMBER BUDGET: COST FOR A MONTH IN CAMBODIA AND THAILAND FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR
In the month of December, we spent time in three separate locations (Koh Chang, Siem Reap, and Phuket), so we incurred some additional transportation expenses, but our food and accommodation expenses have remained very affordable.
MEALS, GOOD, AND SERVICES COSTS
Our expenses for meals, goods, and services for December increased slightly over our comparable expenses in November, to 1275 USD, partially due to an increase in our average meal costs relative to those during the previous month in Koh Chang, Thailand, and partially due to the purchase of some Christmas gifts for our children. We did go lighter on the Christmas gifts this year because of our limited luggage space and because this trip itself is part of our gift, so this was not a huge cost this year and our children were honestly just as happy. While our behaviour on meals has not changed, with our approach being to leverage local bakeries for lunches and to eat restaurant food for dinner, the average cost for these meals was higher in December. Overall, we are happy with our spending in this category this month.
ACCOMMODATION COSTS
We spent 11 days at our Airbnb in Koh Chang, one week at our hotel in Siem Reap, and 13 days at our Airbnb in Phuket. The total cost for all of these stays was very comparable to our expenses in this category in November, ringing in at 1872 USD. We are again very happy with our spending in this category, and while we would not describe any of our accommodations as “luxury” (although our place in Koh Chang had an incredible view), our family has been very comfortable in each location.
TRANSPORTATION COSTS
We spent a total of 1197 USD on transportation in December. As alluded to above, we started the month in Koh Chang, which is an island an approximately six-hour drive from Bangkok. From there, we elected to do a private road transfer to Siem Reap, which all told took approximately seven to eight hours and cost us 230 USD. Flying from Siem Reap to Phuket cost an additional 750 USD, including all of the extra checked in luggage we needed to purchase for our Air Asia flight. Our remaining costs were incurred getting to and from airports as well as getting around in each place while we were there.
SUMMARY
Overall, we spent a total of 4,334 USD in December of 2023, which still represents significant savings over our regular monthly expenses back home in Toronto, Canada. Our one ongoing fixed expense back home is for storage, which costs us 140 USD per month and is not included in our total.
Later in January, when we move on to the next leg of our trip in Australia and New Zealand, we fully expect that all of our costs will increase significantly, particularly in the accommodation and transportation categories. Food costs we hope to keep fairly steady by eating out much less often and preparing more of our meals at home.
Transportation costs will ultimately increase, with some longer flights and the need to rent cars to properly explore Australia and New Zealand. Accommodation costs will also be significantly increased, likely ringing in from the 3,500 to 5,000 USD range per month. Fortunately, we have prepaid for at least half of our accommodation, which will blunt this increased cost somewhat for us.
If you’re interested in seeing how this month’s spending compares to that of previous months, you can check out all of our monthly budgets here.
DECEMBER SPENDING BREAKDOWN
TOTAL SPEND OVER 31 DAYS: 4,344 USD
