How Much Does It Cost to Spend a Month in Mostar?

This May, Chad, Luna, and I spent a month easing happily into summertime in lush, green Bosnia and Herzegovina. As usual, I’ve been tracking my spending and—in an ongoing effort to show you that travel really really doesn’t have to be expensive—I’m sharing that budget here today.

Before I dive into the numbers, a few notes on how I travel:

:: First, remember that I’m working while I’m traveling, which means someone spending all their time exploring, taking day trips, and eating out is likely to spend more.

:: Second, I fall somewhere in between the extreme budget travelers and the luxury crowd. I don’t stay in hotels (usually) and I don’t couchsurf. This means that while you can easily spend more than I do, you can also easily spend a lot less by always eating in, couchsurfing or staying in dorms or at campgrounds. Consider this budget very middle-of-the-road.

:: Third, the below budget is just my day-to-day expenses. It doesn’t include business expenses, big one-time purchases (like a new computer or car), etc. For more details about how I manage all my expenses on the road, visit this extensive post.

:: Finally, this budget is my spending. Chad keeps his numbers separately. So the below represents half the total accommodation cost (which we split 50-50) and my share of everything else.

Now, then, to the numbers!

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Category	Dollars	Bosnian Marks
Accommodations	$511.50	889.29
Transportation (national/international)	$45.54	79.18
Transportation (local)	$7.76	13.49
Groceries	$215.35	374.41
Supplies	$112.06	194.83
Eating/drinking out	$54.06	93.99
Entertainment & activities	$16.81	29.23
Luna (vet bills, supplies)	$124.57	216.58
Health & wellness	$160	278.18
Other	$48.23	83.85
Totals	$1295.88	2253.03

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Notes on the above spending:

Keep in mind that the above expenses are my spending and do not include Chad’s expenses. We split the rent 50-50 and lunch and dinner groceries 60-40 (while purchasing our own breakfast stuff and sometimes our own snack stuff separately). Luna is my responsibility, so these are her full bills and our health insurance and healthcare costs are totally separate as well.

As usual, for accommodation, we’ve rented an apartment via Airbnb. We were lucky enough to find a lovely new-built space just a block away from old town above a grocery store and with two bedrooms, a massive living area, and a lovely shady balcony with a view of the old bridge (review coming soon!). Even with such nice accommodations, we’re paying much less than we paid for any other accommodation this year. You gotta love Bosnia.

The international transportation cost is my half of our taxi ride from Dubrovnik to Mostar. Local transportation is three taxi rides in Mostar – two to the vet just outside town for blood tests and one to get home in a pouring rainstorm after a dinner outside the center.

Groceries were delightfully low this month despite the fact that we shopped mostly at the giant fresh market, had fresh-squeezed orange juice from Dalmatia almost daily, and ate plenty of the local specialty sausage cevapi.

My supplies budget is higher than average this month mostly because I had to replace almost my entire wardrobe. Somehow everything I owned wore out at the same time, so I found myself arriving in Bosnia on a mission to have more than one outfit without holes in it. The supply budget includes three tops, one skirt, and an autumn jacket.

Eating and drinking out also came in crazy low (hooray, Bosnia!), despite the fact that we ate out a couple times each week. Meals there were just that cheap and portion sizes were huge, which meant we could usually get away with splitting a main course.

Entertainment costs represent entry fees for waterfalls, as well as several nights at the movie theater. In Bosnia, movies run in English (with Bosnian sub-titles) and cost about $3 per person (unless you go for 3D showings, in which case it ends up being $4 or so).

Luna’s vet and living costs represent three months worth of flea meds purchased ahead of time, a vet visit for allergy shots, another vet visit for allergy cream, a third vet visit for a blood test to assess her pancreas levels, and the cost of having that blood tested at a human-grade lab in town. Also included are Luna’s food costs (for fish and potatoes).

My health and wellness expenses this month are just my $160 monthly payment to GeoBlue Insurance (who I adore). I didn’t need a doctor or pharmacy this month, so that’s all she wrote.

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Interested in seeing more travel budgets? You’ll find them all here.

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