Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting, and adventurous life without breaking the bank. The less money you spend, the less you need to make. 🙂
This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for two adults and one 60-pound dog (we adopted Maya on June 4th, 2019). Under groceries we incorporate food, produce, and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and vitamins/supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor’s visits. Because of our income level, Mark and I are eligible for free health care within the state of Massachusetts. For check-ups and extensive care, we return to the US East Coast. Other health issues are resolved locally and out of pocket where needed.
In February, Mark, Maya, Thirsty Bella, and I explored an attractive part of Patagonia. The first week, we drove north in Argentina and the rest of the month, we bounced on the gravel, potholed Carretera Austral (Ruta 7) in Chile.
Driving through pretty Patagonia National Park
A sunny day is reason for a smile
A decent gravel road
Border crossing in the middle of nowhere
Arriving in Chile again on another rainy day
Maya is getting used to the roads again
Following the Carretera Austral southwards in Chile
While it is still summer in the Southern Hemisphere, the rainy weather has made our time here less pleasant. But more about that in future posts.
A windy and particularly bumpy part of Ruta 7, aka the Carretera Austral
Crossing a wooden bridge
Road construction worker reading a book!
Driving inland to check out a couple of lakes
Driving north on the Carretera Austral in Chile
These bridges look narrower than they are.
Beware of falling rocks!
Crossing a pretty river in Chile
Can you pick out the dog? He’s there to keep pumas at bay.
Tunnel along the way
Yes! They are grading the road…
This expense report could well be the most straightforward one ever. Nothing complicated, unexpected, or weird happened. And, despite fuel being at an all-time high (I say this every month) at $670 (!), we stayed on budget. This record amount accounted for more than half of our expenditures in February! Blame all the driving, the awful roads, and the high fuel prices in Chile ($6/gallon).
This town’s gas station ran out of gasoline, so we needed to buy it elsewhere…
The only place in town to buy gasoline!
These five gallons held us over until the next town with a gas station.
Another visit to another Copec fuel station along the Carretera Austral
Prices at the Copec gas station in southern Chile: $1.60 per liter.
Our grocery bill is back on track at around $300. We didn’t come across “real” supermarkets, so have been buying our bread at bakeries, our produce at vegetable shops, and other necessary goods at convenient-store like establishments. We buy what we need, rarely what we want.
Finally! A decent-sized produce store in a decent-size city, Coyhaique
Our healthy bounty for $15
Once we reached Chile, we ate out again! Empanadas in Cochrane that consist of ground beef, boiled egg, an olive, and a raisin (beware of the pit in the olive; yes, many dishes containing olives down here, like pizza, still have pits); a tasty fish lunch in Tortel; an incredible pizza in Puerto Rio Tranquilo; and a set lunch menu in La Junta. None of this was cheap, but the total remained under $100.
Salmon lunch out!
Our restaurant of choice in Tortel didn’t open for lunch until 1pm.
Dinner out in Puerto Rio Tranquilo: : Mark’s (vegetarian) pizza
Dinner out in Puerto Rio Tranquilo: my pizza
The set day dish in La Junta consisted of a stew topped with egg and a side salad
The restaurant we ate lunch at in La Junta
Maya rests under the table of the La Junta restaurant.
As usual, most of our meals were cooked and eaten at home. I’ll never tire of Mark’s cuisine, but when he’s busy, working, or tired, I take over.
Pizza in our little oven! This is only possible when we have excess power.
Couscous, falafel, and eggplant with a bun
Eggplant dish with egg noodles
Pasta with corn and pepper, anyone?
An appetizer of crackers and artichoke dip
Maya’s dinner is augmented with vegetable compost whenever possible
Vegetarian lentil dish
Fried eggplant with quinoa, fish, and cucumber salad.
And when I cook, our meals are simple: quinoa, coleslaw, fried potatoes and a veggie burger (for me) / chicken thigh for Mark
Back to Mark: spaghetti with a cherry tomato sauce
Hamburgers on the grill, French fries in our oven, and coleslaw
We also paid for excursions in February. An intended highlight was a boat tour on stunning General Carrera Lake to the famed Marble Caves ($54). The trip didn’t really go according to plan, but we still enjoyed the experience. And, the three of us walked up to Las Manos in Cerro Castillo, to observe rock art in the form of hand paintings ($6). I’ll report on these Chilean attractions later.
Boat ride to the Marble Caves
Part of the Marble Caves
Las Manos in Cerro Castillo
Our engine still contains two generic injector coils that we purchased new in Bolivia over a year ago and that we ideally replace with OEM ones. Mark ordered one on Amazon (he always waits for the best available price – one more to go) and, when discovering that an unopened tube of caulk had gone off after we separated our camper from the truck for a repair, we had to hunt for caulk locally. Again, we only found a temporary solution. These two items brought the camper repair category to $58.
General store in Cochrane, where we bought our new caulk
Re-caulking some seams
Life is more enjoyable with a glass of wine, so we spent $54 on alcohol: some local beers for Mark and a few bottles of wine for both of us. The $39 for utilities went to our monthly Starlink subscription. The exact amount depends on the exchange rate for Argentinian pesos. Our company pays the other half. Filling up with potable water was free.
Because the line was so long for gas, we filled with water first.
More potable water is needed.
Topping up with potable water at a gas station
For once, we needed to stay at a campground, because we had to wash the car, take our camper off, and fix parts of the box. We managed to keep it to one night.
The owner begrudgingly let us wash our car.
We took the camper off to fix something underneath.
This is why we don’t like official campgrounds – they are often busy and loud.
In general, we wild camp and avoid official campgrounds for several reasons (just like marinas when we sailed). Boondocking/wild camping is free, offers privacy, flexibility, and natural surroundings; you don’t have to reserve or register; and there is no check-out time. So that’s what we did the other 27 nights in February. Although we were rarely alone then, too!
The very popular free camping spot in El Chalten, with Mount Fitzroy in the background
We camped here by ourselves to be protected from the insane winds. By evening, we had a lot of company!
Camped across the border, in Chile, since the check-in procedure took much longer than expected.
Camped by one of the many rivers in Chile
We loved our river camping spot in Tortel.
A rare moment of being able to sit outside for happy hour
Camped by the Rio Baker, one of our favorite rivers in the world!
Cerro Castillo on a sunny morning
The afternoon we arrived, it was sunny at Lago Paloma. But this was followed by two days of solid rain.
Another rainy day and burs in the grass, so we only stayed one night here.
Meeting Swiss overlanders at Puente Piedra
Another nice river campsite
We hoped for beautiful weather in Puerto Raul Marin Balmaceda for Mark’s birthday, but it was not meant to be.
The last item of this month’s expense report is laundry ($10). Mark and I have been washing, rinsing, and drying our clothes and linen in nature most of the time. The river water in Patagonia is extremely cold, but the sense of accomplishment – within our own time and space – after finishing a load, or three, is immense. That being said, we do wish laundromats get cheaper as we head north, especially since it has been raining non-stop, lately. This means lots of dirty clothes and no option of drying anything out.
Hand laundry by the river
Mark rinsed the clothes in the river, after I washed them in a bucket.
Without trees around us, we connected our washing line to a parked truck on a Sunday.
Of course, the truck had to leave for a few hours…
The grand total for February was $1,307, so right on track. But we do need to start spending less on fuel!
