Because moving to an island in the middle of the ocean was a completely foreign concept to me, I felt it important to create and maintain a very strict budget as I know what the bottom line looks like when we visited as tourists 😳. Living here is different, of course. We can’t and won’t party and eat out every night like we do on vacation, it simply isn’t possible. That said, I am very pleasantly surprised how well this is going. Since we’ve been back I’ve been driving around testing out prices at numerous grocery stores. I make a mental note of where the best prices are for the items we use frequently. Because we have a little island car that gets good gas mileage (Hyundai i10), driving to a few different places to maximize the spending power is not nullified by the drive. Our power and water bill, from 9/22 – 10/12 was $65. This with A/C running at night in the bedroom, occasionally during the day in the living room, weekly washing and drying of clothes, and occilating fans running virtually 24/7. We are learning what water conservation looks like and are getting a pretty good mastery of it. Internet runs $65 a month though that will increase to $85 when (if) Telem shows up. We eat in most nights (we are both great cooks ☺️). When we do go out we no longer feel like we need to order the “best thing on the menu” because now that we live here we have time to try out the *entire* menu, one by one 😁 Worry about how this was going to financially play out is waning with each passing day. The paradigm shift from US living to island living is happening far quicker than I could have imagined. I’m glad I started a budget because it reminds me that we live here now and I must operate as such. So far, it’s going very well, indeed.
St. Maarten Move 
‘Glad you are finding it very manageable! We found it’s not significantly more costly than living in Chapel Hill NC. Like you, we cook-in most meals, (also for health reasons–I cook light and don’t want to go home a “bigger person” after each stay)! We eat out far more often than when at our US home, but like to do lunch and breakfast out as much as dinner. We can “ditto” all your tips and discoveries and do much the same and it is fun to adapt to the new lifestyle and adopt new habits. I especially like cooking with the food products available in SXM and not so easily found in the US. And cooking Caribbean foods is great. I’m learning to make Johnny Cakes the Caribbean way! I can’t wait for the Carrefores to reopen for the abundant French and European selections. ENJOY!!
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So glad you are enjoying your move. When we retire would love to move to island for a year or two just for the experience of doing something so different for us. Would love to see some stir recomendations as we are coming out for a longer visit in 2019. Would also love to learn where we can find some great fresh fish markets.
Love your blog and can’t wait to hear more 😊
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I’m contextually guessing that “stir” is store. Next week I’m going to drive around and get photos of the stores I’ve found good prices in 🙂. Stay tuned. I know that Marigot has a fish market. I will research others 👍🏻
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Wow, $65 for three weeks! Is this from GEBE? I’ve never had a bill so low. Lucky you!
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Yes, GEBE. We were told when we moved in that electricity in this area was less expensive. Not sure if that’s true or not, but we’ll see what it is for a full month soon enough.
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