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 and possible.
January was a bit different than other months, since Mark, Maya, and I were stationary at the Las Lomas Campground in La Paz, Bolivia, with our truck camper, Thirsty Bella, for 26 out of 31 days. One of the reasons we took on the managing position for this property was to save money – or better, not spend much. But there are always extra expenses. Always. All in all, it was a decent month, though.
Surprisingly, the car category was still the highest. Fuel was manageable, since we sat still for so long and didn’t top up our tank until we left.
When we arrived in La Paz, however, we noticed sparks in our engine. Mark diagnosed this as corroded ignition coils. He managed to clean a couple, but we had to buy two new ones in Bolivia – one in December and one in January. Since they were of inferior quality, he also ordered two better ones in the US, to pick up later. Hence the $200 amount for repairs. We happily discovered the source of the rust, so this problem shouldn’t be repeated.
Tolls in Bolivia are affordable and you can sometimes reuse a ticket on the same highway.
The grocery cost was average and our exquisite dining out expenses affordable, because we were treated by others, in person or virtually. I promised previously that I’d mention the prices of our gastronomy delights in La Paz in this report.
At Gustu, the #23 on the 100 Best Restaurants of Latin America list, tasting menus cost the equivalent of $65 per person for a 7-course meal. We used gift money from my parents for that splurge.
Ancestral, the #62 on that list, offers 8-course tasting menus for $42 a person, plus $26 per wine pairing, which we split per couple. Our friend Brandon treated us here, because Mark helped him set up a new phone for an entire day, after his old one was stolen at El Alto Market on New Year’s Eve. And, we used the last bit of our gift money – and some of our own earnings – for a second dinner at Ancestral, just the two of us.
At Popular, the amazing restaurant in downtown La Paz, the set gourmet lunches cost $12 per person. We paid for that, although we received one tip from a friendly camping couple and put this towards that meal. Plus, one of you sent us a dinner donation, the day we went out for an amazing pizza meal in Uyuni! So, in January, we almost ate out for free! 😊
Mark needed to get blood work done, six months after two values were off in the US. Since it had been one and a half years since I had any tests done, I ordered a full panel at the same clinic. All these blood tests set us back $61. I wonder how much this would cost in other countries, without health insurance.
Our alcohol expense was average in January. With four small tiendas near our campground, all we had to do was walk a few minutes if we wanted to drink wine that night. Decent bottles of red, like Campos or Tentación, and white wine, like Terruño, cost the equivalent of $4 here. Beer in the grocery store is pricy at around $1.50 a can, and rum is cheaper than in the surrounding countries.
Because fuel is tricky to purchase as foreigners in Bolivia (more about that in a future post), Mark and I decided to buy an (expensive) jerry can in La Paz for the rest of our road trip through this country. We also obtained a new, small, plunger for the camper as the original one didn’t suction well anymore.
Traveling with a fuel can in the car – not ideal!
Our monthly Starlink fee remains the same at $35 a month (of which our business pays the other half). Turning it off during our stay at Las Lomas, which offers free WiFi, would turn into a hassle, so we kept paying our subscription. While settled at the campground, we used colectivos (minibuses), cable cars, taxis, and Uber to get around. The total for those services amounted to $24.
We bought a couple of things for the camper, like electrical cleaner spray (at a local store) and a door strut (on Amazon – packages in the US are piling up again), since the current one is broken and Bella’s door doesn’t stay open anymore. I had my cheapest, fastest, shortest, and best haircut in South America for $3. And, we took Maya to the vet.
The day we arrived in Uyuni, Maya was bitten by a loose dog (more about that later as well). Luckily, its owners took responsibility and paid the first vet bill of $16. We covered subsequent check-up visits, one of which still took place in January. Luckily, animal clinics are affordable here.
From Las Lomas, we left with full tanks of potable water and propane gas, and clean clothes after doing laundry. These services were free for us as camp hosts.
Once back on the road, we boondocked on the way to and in Uyuni, meaning that we didn’t spend a dime on accommodation in January. We are happy with a total of under $900, but had hoped to do better while “sitting still.”
(It might be easier to read the table when turning your device in the horizontal position.)
Find all our expense reports here. To learn what other full-time nomads spend each month, check out the blogs of our vanlife friends Duwan and Greg at Make Like An Ape Man.
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February 7, 2024 at 12:32
Well done! Hopefully this month will offset some of your more expensive months.
How does one send a dinner donation? If your web hosting is paid up, consider my recent donation for dinner.
Those were some expensive meals. But I imagine they are way more expensive here in the US. They were beautiful. I hope they were as yummy as they looked.
Poor Maya. In the picture it looks like she behaved well at the vet. What a trauma for her.
What is up with the rusty propane tank? Hard to believe it doesn’t have any holes.
Thirsty Bella needs some spots on her roof!
Looking forward to reading about the gas situation in Bolivia.
February 8, 2024 at 09:43
Hi Duwan,
Thanks again for your donation and generous gift. 🙂 I’ll have to check the donation button to see if it’s easy to pick the purpose. I think there’s web hosting support, dinner out, and dog…
I agree the tasting menus at the fancy restaurants were expensive and real splurges. But we thought that if we ever want to eat multiple-course dinners, we’d have to do it in cheaper countries. In Lima those were also unaffordable.
Equivalent meals in the US would run into the hundreds of dollars per person. Some of the dishes were exquisite in their flavors, others were very experimental and less our thing. Such is the risk with tasting menus. That’s why, for one evening, we ordered from the a-la-carte menu in Ancestral. To really order what we wanted. 🙂
Marcos only seems to have rusty propane tanks. That’s how they get swapped by the propane tank truck. No holes, luckily, but we did discover a leaking valve during our time there. So, as often with house sitting opportunities in the past, Mark spotted (heard) the issue and fixed it. Disaster avoided.
Yeah, Maya was a good sport at the vet. She did get anesthesia before he stitched her up and another shot of antibiotics. Getting the shots hurt her and she whimpered throughout those experiences. It sucked.
I don’t think we will put cow spots on the roof. Nobody ever looks there, haha. Bolivia was a hassle, especially getting fuel, so we are happy to leave soon. But, we are ending our time here in peace, beauty, and remoteness! 🙂
February 7, 2024 at 13:41
Well done! Love that you had that campground management job to give you some breathing room. And it sounds like you had some great dining experiences for practically nothing! (Foodies that we are, eating out is a huge part of our travel budget.)
And FYI, the blood work prices sound about the same as those in Colombia. Sometimes when we don’t want to go through the hassle of the public system, we go to a private lab. I had a round of thyroid tests (3, I think) for about $60. That’s a fraction of what we would pay out of pocket in the states.
February 8, 2024 at 09:49
Hi John and Susan,
The campground job came at the perfect time. If we can do something similar (like house and pet sitting) once in a while, it helps to charge the batteries and take a break from the challenges of overland travel.
Who would have thought that La Paz, Bolivia, has a popular – and famous – food scene? The only way we could afford it all, was because of gifts from others, though. Without that, we would only have visited Popular and maybe eaten one “fancy” a-la-carte dinner. 🙂
I’m happy to read that private health care in Colombia is affordable (I appreciated and enjoyed reading your blog post about that). I think Mark’s part of the tests (to check two values) was about $12 and my full panel was close to $50, which I balked at, at first, but then decided to go for it. Happy I did, because it told me a few (bad) things about my then diet.
February 7, 2024 at 14:21
As always, the food caught my attention. It looks delicious! What is the story behind the scary gun-toting robot and his robot dog?
February 8, 2024 at 09:52
You and I, we LOVE (good) food, Diane!
Those statues are metal art works, created by local artists with scrap metal. Maybe the more testosterone the artist had, the more gun-toting sculptures were erected? I looked closely at the head of the dog, which is built with screws and bolts. I’ll post more photos in the future of this little free outdoor exhibit in Uyuni, where we happened to camp for way too long.
February 7, 2024 at 14:59
Looks like you certainly ate well! And it must’ve felt weird staying in one place so long.
February 8, 2024 at 09:55
Hi Alex,
It did feel a bit strange at first not to have to move within days, but one gets used to that – and the unlimited hot showers and available washing machine (only cold water) – very quickly! And, yes, if we splurged on one thing in La Paz, it was on excellent food. We were told by many travelers that they got sick from eating out in Bolivia, so we avoided the street food and went overboard with the fancy food. 🙂
February 7, 2024 at 15:33
What gorgeous, well-loved wood tables at Gustu–and I like your hair cut!
February 8, 2024 at 09:55
Jacqui, you always spot the details! I have been feeling high-class at those restaurants and with my new hairdo. 🙂
February 7, 2024 at 16:13
Congratulations on living well under $900.00/mo.
I’m glad Maya is healing well. And I must say some of the dishes you feature here look like they’re from Michelin-star restaurants! 😀
February 8, 2024 at 09:58
Hi Marian,
Especially Gustu and Popular could be one-Michelin-star restaurants, based on the creativity of the dishes, the care of the assembling, the visual attraction of the presentation, the level of professionalism of the staff, and the flavors used in the dishes. But, if that was the case, we could definitely never afford eating there. 🙂
February 7, 2024 at 16:33
I got a bit stuck at the desserts section … they looked amazing!
February 8, 2024 at 09:59
Haha, Anabel. I know from your posts that you have a weak spot for good, tasty food splurges as well. Especially desserts… 🙂 Or afternoon pastries.
February 8, 2024 at 10:08
Busted!
February 8, 2024 at 15:09
Haha!
February 7, 2024 at 16:53
Another month we’ll done! Those multi-course dinners look so good.
February 8, 2024 at 10:01
Hi Janis,
We really wish we could make this amount our monthly average, but have been unsuccessful. Yet, it’s a good start to the new year, so we will see what Chile and Argentina bring. The first country is claimed to be very expensive, especially the fuel; the second one was super cheap for ages, especially for foreigners with US cash (which we brought for that purpose), but now that the new president has devaluated the money so much, prices have reportedly gone up a lot and life has become more expensive.
February 8, 2024 at 10:18
Very impressive month. I am glad to read that Maya was a great sport at the vet. I hope that she has been mending well.
Wishing you smooth travels ahead!
February 8, 2024 at 15:10
Thanks, Donna. Maya is healing really well. You can barely see her wound anymore, except for the bald spot in her fur. So, we are super happy about that. With the vet health certificate in hand, we are now aiming for Chile.
February 8, 2024 at 14:56
Amazing how you are able to have a few wonderful meals and still come under 1k. It all looks fantastic.
February 8, 2024 at 15:12
Hi Margie!
Thing is, if we would have had to pay for all those excellent, exquisite meals ourselves, we would have ended up well above 1K – and, most likely, wouldn’t have splurged (as much).
February 8, 2024 at 17:46
And that, my friend, is the beauty of your life style 💜
February 10, 2024 at 14:34
🙂
February 8, 2024 at 19:00
I noticed the haircut before I clicked on the caption. Very nice. Everything on your plates looks great. Nice that you could splurge a little. Especially if it helped to avoid getting sick on street food. I have a glass stomach, so anything out of the ordinary (most street food) makes me ill. Great job on the budget.
February 10, 2024 at 14:37
Hi Suzanne,
I’d like to believe that I have a stomach of steel (just like my dog), because I have pushed “the limits” throughout my life as a backpacker and an RVer, but of course, this is not the case as everyone always gets sick on “tropical” long-term journeys.
I really like my haircut this time, even though the bangs are not even, haha. This happened before once and I asked Mark to fix it, but that never happens. Nobody is around to criticize me anyway, so who cares? 🙂
February 20, 2024 at 07:51
Did you do more eating out in January more than usual? I guess having no accommodation expenses helped, but I don’t blame you for eating out where the food looks amazing and mouthwatering, Liesbet. And the prices of the wine are excellent.
So sorry about Maya being bitten but good that the owner of the dog that bit her paid for the first vet visit. I hope she has mended well and that it’s not made her frightened of other dogs.
February 23, 2024 at 13:01
Hi Hugh,
We didn’t necessarily ate out more in January than usually, but we did splurge more, meaning that we frequented fancy and highly rated restaurants. So, our tastes and quality of food went up a notch. Or, ten! Those days are now long gone, though… And, yes, it did help that we didn’t have many other living expenses.
Maya has recovered nicely. Her hair has even grown back by now, but she is very apprehensive of other dogs since the incident and that will take a while. Her new and extra frightened behavior also has to do with our (temporary) changed behavior and mistrust of loose dogs. Hopefully, all that will settle down in Chile and Argentina. So far, Northern Chile hasn’t had the dog problems we faced before.