What does it cost to spend a month living in Keystone, Summit County in the state of Colorado, USA. We have just spent a month in a condo and also an AirBnB place in Loveland, living an everyday life, so lets take a look at the figures.

We spent a total of 32 days in Keystone, these are our costs.

Let me explain what we include in each of the groups.

Food which includes all shopping for home.

Eating out with all beverages, coffee etc.

Transport includes trains, buses, shuttles, car hire and everything in between, also fuel, taxis etc all whilst in that place.

Entrance and souvenirs is exactly that, all entrances and any souvenir, tours etc.

Other includes things like postage, washing, personal items like clothing (jeans, shoes, cosmetics etc)

Tips, exactly that, a tip for service in the USA

All costs outside of each place are listed separately and do not appear here, eg the flights to get to Denver.

This travel budget post is another of the ‘cost of living‘ in different countries of the world that we have visited. It is solely our own interpretation and should be by no means taken as a guide to what YOU may or will spend during any of your visits to the places we mention.

If we were to spend the same time here again, I’m sure that our budget would be different as well. It will however give you a rough estimate on what to expect.

How much does it cost to live in Keystone, Summit County for a month?

All up we spent $4622.27 AUD for our one month or 31 day stay  in Keystone, Colorado between 17th July 2014 until 17th August 2014.

Accommodation

Even though we had our base in Keystone for the month we also had a few days away in Loveland visiting the Rocky Mountain National Park and catching up with the mentor from Moni at the time.

Let’s break it down;

• Keystone $1596.79 (31 nights) = $51.51 per night
• Loveland $168.88 (3 nights) = $56.29 per night

As these nights in Loveland were not extra nights but rather a different place on the same night the total of $1765.67 for 31 nights accommodation in the Colorado area worked out to $56.96 per night.

Eating Out

Our eating out habits really depend on what facilities we have in our apartment and also the food available and the price. Under the umbrella of eating out we include everything, from all meals, alcoholic & soft drinks, teas & coffees, ice creams and any snacks in-between.

During our time in Colorado we did eat out quite a lot as we had a tiny kitchen and the shops a bus ride away, saying that, I still managed to cook at home a lot of the time.

All up, our cost for eating out in Keystone was $543.64 AUD which equates to $17.54 per day for the two of us.

Groceries & Household

Under this category we include all items of food & drink bought for cooking & consumption at home. It also includes items like toilet paper, cleaning liquids etc that are required at home.

We spent a total of $470.38 AUD on groceries & household, which is $15.17 per day.

Combining both eating out with the groceries and household purchases $1016.85 AUD we ended up eating, and keeping us and the apartment clean for $32.80 per day, just over $16 per person each day which is not bad at all.

Other Items

In this category we include things like postage to Australia, printing, Doctors, washing, hair cuts, local phone SIM & credit, clothing etc.

The total amount spent on other items was $886.51 AUD which is very high. This is due to the fact that we had to visit the doctor to get a referral for some medication and injections, plus a couple of non essentials.

Transport

Under transport we include all modes of transport used for getting around within the place. This could be car hire, bus, shuttle, taxi etc. This does not include large travel items like a cruise or flight, these are totaled separately. A total of $742.51 AUD was spent on transport which includes a car hire for a week and a shuttle rides to and from Denver airport.

Entrance/Souvenirs/Tours

This includes any entrance to place or event, any souvenir, any organised tour etc. We spent 143.98 on entrance/souvenir and tours.

Tips

This is not normally in our costs, but it is a common practice in the US to tip for many things. I list it separate as this is something personal and not a set cost. We tipped a total of $66.85 AUD, which is not too much.

The Wrap Up of our expenditure in Keystone, Colorado

• FOOD; $951.78 USD    $1016.75 AUD

• TRANSPORT; $682.68 USD    $742.51 AUD   (we had a hire car)

• ENTRANCE / SOUVENIR; $133.85 USD    $143.98 AUD

• OTHER; $824.28 USD    $886.51 AUD    (doctors, Malaria tablets, injections)

• TIPS; $62.51 USD   $66.85 AUD

• ACCOMMODATION; $1617.86 USD    $1765.67 AUD

The total was $4622.27

Which equates to $149.11 per day

$74.55 per person per day

As you can see, we spent $4622.27 AUD for our 1 month stay (31 days) in Keystone, Summit County. This works out to be $149.11 per day, $74.55 per person each day. Unfortunately we did not manage to keep within our aim of trying to stay and live for under $50 per person per day but we did have some expenses that we would normally not have.

All dollar values used here on the EO blog are Australian currency, and are worked out using the XE rate of the day. FYI, these would be the USD

The total spend for the 31 days in US dollars was $4272.96

Which equates to $137.84 per day

$68.92 per person per day

To see other places that we have visited and what it costs to live in them for a period of time check out the Travel Budget – Cost of Living tab.