Wait until you see January’s budget… We almost broke even! If you count selling our Tohatsu outboard. And I do. (For more info on our budget breakdowns, start here)
We spent January hopping through the amazingly beautiful Exuma Islands. Hands down, our favorite islands visually. And another plus? Not a lot of shopping/eating out to be had! Grocery stores were few and far between. Literally. When found one, we often paid well over what we would in the States. For example, I needed some non-dairy creamer. In Black Point I paid $7 for some powdered coffee creamer that cost $1.50 in the States. But on the flip side, I paid $8 for well over a pound of ground beef. Not too shabby. The whole point here? While we did spend some money, and even pay for a mooring ball during one of the worst blows, we still stayed well within our budget.
In case you worry that we are cutting corners to stick to our budget, rest assured – we ate out in restaurants, had drinks at the bar(s) with Sailing Doodles, had friends come down and visit (who brought Amazon/West Marine purchases in the suitcase, Thanks again!) and bought random boat things when we got to George Town. But we balanced that with snorkeling, SUP days, beach bonfires with Tipitina, Caribou, Lasmalas and many more, as well as pot lucks and sunset dinghy raft ups (all FREE). Over all, I’d say January was one of our most fun (and cheapest) months in the Bahamas!
If you add that $700 we got for selling our outboard, we are only in the hole $85. Not too shabby! As always, keep in mind that I loaded up the boat with food before we left. If we’d had to buy all of our food in the Exumas, our budget would definitely NOT have been on point.
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Well done on keeping those costs down, especially since you also managed to have drinks/eat out. We were pleasantly surprised by the cost of ground beef in Marsh Harbour. I don’t remember it being that cheap last time we were there.
Meat overall seemed to be relatively cheap. We don’t eat a lot of it, so it goes a long way here! But it was nice to know we could afford it when we wanted it.
Our general feeling was that food generally cost about double in the Bahamas as it did in the Keys (and the Keys aren’t exactly cheap). And yes, we stocked up big time before we left the US so we didn’t have to buy much there. Our months there were very cheap, but the month before we left the US? VERY expensive as we stocked up!
Exactly! That large purchase for provisioning – well, I don’t even have the numbers! For months before we left, I would buy 2 or 3 of something at a time. If I needed coffee creamer, I would by 2 or 3 instead of 1. Then I would stash the extras. It worked really well for us. And it hit my budget a bit softer, as it was stretched out. It also ensured I didn’t buy foods we don’t eat. But I sure wish I knew how much I actually spent so I could share the numbers. Or maybe I don’t…!
But this Fall, when I load up again before we head to Puerto Rico (via the Bahamas), you can bet I’ll have the numbers for everyone to see!