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” is our motto. 🙂 At the beginning of each year, I produce an expense report for the previous 12 months. This is the most recent one, for 2024.
Our first yearly expense report (2016) can be found here, the report of 2017 is here, the one for 2018 here, our 2019 expenses are located here, our total costs for 2020 are documented here, those for 2021 are detailed here, 2022’s financial summary hides here, you can find our full expense report for 2023 here, and our 2024 costs are recorded here.
These reports include ALL of our expenses, in US$, for two adults and a 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, we both return to the US East Coast. The internet cost is for our Starlink’s monthly subscription fees. We bought our satellite dish in Lima, Peru, in September 2023.
It truly feels like the year 2025 came and went extremely fast. I still remember it starting at “the end of the world” in Ushuaia, Argentina, and what felt like mere months later, finishing in Massachusetts, USA, after our South American RV journey ended. During that last year, we crisscrossed Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and southern Brazil, covering many thousands of miles and spending even more thousands of dollars. As a matter of fact, 2025 was our second-most expensive year on record, after 2014 when our life changed due to Mark’s cancer.
Posing by an Ushuaia sign
Back to Argentina
Back in Chile for the seventh or so time
Welcome to Paraguay!
As expected, the car category — at $6,000 — was the highest; a trend during those three years on the South American continent. Most of that went to fuel (around $5,000), while the rest was spent on parts, maintenance, tolls, parking, and insurance.
Quiet (but littered) parking lot for car maintenance
Filling up with fuel – including our jerrycan – in Concordia, Argentina, before crossing the border into Uruguay
The most affordable fuel station in Argentina
Fuel prices in Argentina
In Chile, the fuel is 1/3 more expensive than in Argentina
Fuel prices by the liter in Paraguay – PYG 8,000 resembles US$1
Fuel pump in Encarnacion
It’s not so easy to find a fuel station where we fit in Brazil – the last fill!
Trying this credit card machine with our debit card for tolls, in vain
Finally finding a place that can install our new tire, which we had to carry around
New tire on the rim and ready to install
Dealing with brake maintenance
Groceries came in at $4,000, which boils down to $333 a month, which is very manageable. I’m pretty sure we won’t stick to that amount this year in Europe.
A decent grocery chain in Argentina
A really cool and affordable grocery store in Foz de Iguaçu, Brazil
Coastal grocery store in Brazil
Some of the bounty from a grocery store
This is the Jumbo grocery store on the ground level of the Costanera building in Santiago de Chile. It is the best supermarket in all of South America!
The Carrefour in central Mendoza is a great grocery store.
Buying groceries at Lider, Chile’s cheapest grocery store
Affordable groceries in Paraguay
Our accommodation cost was higher than in other years, mostly because we spent three weeks in an Airbnb in Santiago de Chile ($800) and I took a 4-night side trip to Easter Island, where I stayed at a hostel ($200). We also “splurged” with a few weeks of real campground stays in Brazil, Paraguay, and Chile.
My hostel on Easter Island had several rooms, two shared bathrooms, a shared kitchen, and outdoor spaces.
My private bedroom with shared bathroom at the hostel Va’ehu
Our cozy Airbnb apartment in Santiago de Chile for three weeks
We decided to go with this campground in Bertioga, Brazil, for Maya and me
Camped for two nights at the affordable but basic Cerro Cora campground in Paraguay
Home for three weeks at Camping Manantial – We did move twice a week!
Our spot at Camping Las Varas in the hills
I have no idea how much other couples spend on dining out. Feel free to enlighten me in the comments. Our total for 2025 was $1,560. Restaurants in South America are generally cheaper than in the US and Europe, so we might have to take a step back in this category. Not that we went wild before.
A wonderful dinner out for my 50th birthday on November 28th
Our favorite restaurant in Santiago de Chile, not that we tried many…
Dinner out in Bonito, Brazil, for Wayne’s birthday
Dinner out in Puerto Rio Tranquilo: : Mark’s (vegetarian) pizza
Our only dinner out (with a friend) during our five weeks in Ushuaia, Argentina
Lunch at a Chilean restaurant in Rapel
Group sushi fest at Hiroshima restaurant in Encarnacion, Paraguay
Ramen bowl for lunch at a fantastic Japanese restaurant in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Ramen at a Japanese restaurant in Yguazu, Paraguay
Under travel ($1,484), we report our plane rides. Last year, Mark flew from Brazil to the US for his annual health check-ups, I hopped on a plane to Easter Island, and we booked two one-way tickets from Santiago, Chile, to Boston, Massachusetts, for the end of the year.
I was the only one on this big, commercial plane wearing a mask
Ready for my flight to Rapa Nui!
Our plane has landed in Hanga Roa, Easter Island
Flying north from Chile to the US- We are the only ones wearing a mask on the plane.
Dog Maya’s expenses hovered around $1,100. The biggest chunk went to vet visits, mostly because of a mysterious pain she developed in her neck in December. This ordeal set us back $500 between the vet in Chile, the one in the US for a consultation, and the drugs she needed. It was the first time in seven years of having her that she needed to see a vet other than for permits and shots.
Waiting at another inadequate vet office in Chile
The vet filling out our health permit in Mendoza, Argentina – and making a mistake!
Maya at the vet for another shot
We also bought dog food for around $400, obtained health permits to travel between Chile and Argentina and then to the US with her for about $150, and bought supplies like treats and toys…
Another massive bag of dogfood for Maya, which we have only been able to buy in Colombia and Chile.
This is the pile of dog documentation/permits after three years of traveling with Maya in South America.
The entertainment category of $800 includes my national park pass for Easter Island and three tours there, our scary rafting trip in southern Chile, a river tour in the Pantanal of Brazil, and entrance fees to other national parks on the continent.
Iguaçu Falls in Brazil
Last shot of the moai of Rapa Nui
Close-ups of two moai on Easter Island
Boat tour on a grey and chilly day in the Southern Pantanal, Brazil
Rafting down more Class IV rapids in different positions, Futaleufu, Chile
Getting closer to the Moreno Glacier via boardwalks in Argentina
Alcohol came in at $768. Mark and I usually have wine, beer, and a bottle of rum around. Quite a few bottles were purchased to share with friends and at a party on New Year’s Eve.
Some of our alcohol bought in August 2025
Homemade pizza with a fantastic bottle of cheap red wine
The best wine we found in Paraguay – from Chile
Happy hour by “our” falls in Brazil
Happy hour with Heather in Paraguay
Happy hour with Larry in Paraguay (Photo courtesy of Larry Tofler)
Happy hour at sunset
Happy hour on our grassy beach along the coast of Brazil
Our utility cost was $541, mostly for internet via our Starlink antenna. Our business paid for half of the monthly subscriptions, so the service is actually twice as expensive as the $435 I mention underneath. Topping off our propane cost $106 for the year.
Our Starlink antenna is a part of our ceiling
Getting our propane tank filled in Santiago de Chile
This propane store does the effort to gravity fill foreign tanks
Getting our US propane tank filled in Brazil is no easy feat.
Topping up with propane gas at a good price in Paraguay
Weighing our propane tank
Getting our propane tank topped up in Argentina
Gravity filling our US-style propane tank takes 30-40 minutes.
Transportation for us means Uber and taxi rides, mostly to get to airports and city centers when camped on the outskirts. The $383 number for 2025 also includes one checked bag fee when Mark brought parts back to Brazil from his US summer visit.
Mark waiting for his Uber driver to get to the airport of São Paulo, Brazil
An exhausted Maya on the Uber ride back home
We ordered an Uber XL to bring us and all our belongings to the Airbnb in Santiago de Chile
Our miscellaneous category shows $380, of which the most painful part ($220) went to a traffic ticket in Argentina. We also paid money for one mechanical check of a Vario campervan we had planned to purchase in Chile, for an online ad to sell Bella (which brought us our buyers), for Mark’s new driver’s license, and for small souvenirs.
Getting our first ever traffic fine (in Argentina)
My Antarctica magnet; the only souvenir I bought on this trip.
Our own souvenir armillary sphere from Paraguay
Maintaining and fixing our truck camper cost $227 in 2025, which is negligible in the grand scheme of things.
Fixing our freshwater pump
We took the camper off to fix something underneath.
Resealing the small back window of our camper
Recaulking all the seams
Mark and I also spent $170 on medical interventions like teeth cleanings (one for him and two for me) in Chile and Brazil and a few medications.
Returning to Puerto Natales in Chile was a big detour, but we had dentist appointments for cleanings.
My dentist in Bertioga, Brazil
Gifts amounted to $165, which mostly went to the annual photo calendars I create for my family.
The computer category was $157, all for hosting fees to keep this website up and running and for our email accounts.
I think most would agree that our drinking-out category is low at $116 for a year for two people. I bet some of you could spend that on one night out at a bar with friends. 🙂 We usually opt to stay in and drink our own cocktails or organize our own happy hours.
Happy hour at the beach bar in Encarnacion, Paraguay
Enjoying a drink at Copacabana Beach in Rio
Our new Belgian friends Marc and Anne-Marie met Larry, Jon, Heather, Mark, Maya, and me at the pizzeria-brewery one evening.
Household supplies came to $103, our annual Chase credit card fee was $95, and we only paid $83 for a year of laundry. Most of our clothes were washed by hand with tap water at campgrounds or river water in nature. When we have the use of a free washing machine (like at our last Airbnb), we go crazy!
Happy with our new camping chairs!
A choice of bread knives in the grocery store
Our laundromat of choice in Bonito, Brazil – good service, despite the little issue we ran into
We did our last Brazilian loads of laundry at this laundromat in Foz do Iguacu at the border with Paraguay.
An efficient, affordable, and clean self-serve laundromat in Brazil
Hanging our laundry to dry by a river in Chile
Hand laundry by the river in Rapel, Chile
Laundry day in Paraguay!
More laundry in Bertioga campground, BraZil
Hand laundry in Paraguay
Mark owed the Brazilian immigration department $80 for a visa, but this allowed him to stay six months. Belgians don’t need a visa, but I was unable to get an extension after our initial three months in the country, so we had to leave. Should I have entered on my American passport?
Family portrait in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro
Driving by Uber to the center of Rio
The two of us with a Rio backdrop
And the last and lowest category of 2025 was clothing. Mark bought a pair of jeans on eBay for $28. We really don’t like shopping for clothes and, for some reason, our gear lasts forever. When we purged in Santiago before leaving the continent, I discarded clothes that were easily two decades old. Friends often offer us clothes that they don’t have use for anymore as well.
Speaking of the generosity of others, some of you sent donations in 2025, which took care of our web hosting, a couple of dinners, and a few bottles of wine. Thank you!
The grand total for 2025 comes to a shocking $19,552, a far cry from our usual average of $16,000. Yes, inflation is a thing and we do realize that life only gets more expensive, especially in Europe. We will see what happens this year.
Could you live off $20,000 a year for two adults and a good-sized dog, everything included? Let me know in the comments.
