Long time no blog! I am using this time of quarantine as a way to get reacquainted with the wonderful habit of journaling and blogging with a first person voice, keeping you and me entertained in the process. You may feel like you have missed a few episodes, or rather a whole season! I will try to catch up as we go. In the meanwhile, stay safe and wash your hands 🙂
If you click on that day 48 link above, you’ll see how much living in an RV in San Diego is costing us each month.
If you are too lazy, the answer is around $1,400 for the spot we rent, the RV and truck payment and insurance, propane to cook and gas to move the RV around between campgrounds.
That is a crazy amount of money, but by San Diego standards, it’s not too bad. We were in a one bedroom apartment before that where, if we compare apples to apples, rent, utilities and gas money to go the extra miles it took to work totalled $2,250.
So we are saving $850/ month. And I am saving 100% because I don’t pay rent.
If you know me and this blog, you know I have always cried high and loud that I am a strong, independent woman, who would never depend on a man, and is very much in favor of splitting joint expenses right in the middle.
Well, I made an exception for my husband lol.
Here is why I don’t think paying rent is fair
When we talked about how to split expenses, before I even moved in with him, I explained I expected him to pay for rent.
Because San Diego is CRAZY, stupidly expensive, and the only reason we are in San Diego is HIM. Or rather his job. He is a Marine and can’t pack up and move. His cute little butt belongs to the U.S. government.
But as I mentionned yesterday, he receives a housing allowance, on top of his salary, to cover rent. $3,165, tax free, are deposited into his account every month, no matter how much his rent is.
Thanks to me suggesting and convincing him to move into an RV, his rent is now $1,400 (part of which includes paying off a truck and RV, when his previous apartment was just rent rent).
So he went from $2,250 to $1,400 thanks to Pauline. Then marrying Pauline also bumped his housing allowance by $468. Making his net thanks-to-Pauline net rent $932.
I reduced his rent by 58%, which is more than the 50% I would have contributed if we’d moved into his apartment.
More reasons why paying rent isn’t fair
- I also left my home, rather the two homes I own free and clear in Guatemala, to go live with David. We could have lived for $0 at my place, and I wouldn’t have charged him rent.
- We could be in Colorado finishing the works on my cabin, and also paying $0 for housing.
- We could be traveling the world in the RV, or renting cute Airbnbs around Europe, in which case I think it would be fair for me to pay half.
- For now, I pay “rent” at RV parks when we go on holidays, and I also cover 100% of groceries, alcohol, and things that improve the RV. Salmon, steak and other expensive treats are regularly on the menu.
- I arrived with a $450 mini split Air Conditionning unit, that will cost another $450 to install on a basket rack at the back of the RV.
- I bought a $210 memory foam mattress and a $100 vapor barrier to prevent mold under it. A $200 bike rack, and so on. Whenever David mentions he needs new this or that, it generally materializes in a smiley box at the Post Office.
Couple finances are personal and that is what is working for us right now. David is super happy with all the reduced rent and free groceries money he saves each month, and I am happy to keep living for free-ish.
Life in Guatemala would still be much cheaper but we’ll call that an investment in love and happiness haha.
How do you handle couple finances?