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.
After we returned to Thirsty Bella in Argentina, Mark, Maya, and I needed about three weeks to find our travel groove, get readjusted to the lifestyle, prep for new adventures, and see friends before new horizons lured. The first week of October, we headed north in Argentina and on October 9th, we crossed into Uruguay, a new-to-us country. We stayed through Halloween.
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Despite Uruguay being a very expensive nation – even by western norms – our monthly budget stayed below average. Why? Mark and I were super careful spending money, stocked up in Argentina, drove slower than usual, deliberated detours, and focused on free camping and what we really wanted to see.
The car category was the highest, as usual. Over half of our total! With fuel costing $7 a gallon/$1.80 a liter in Uruguay (diesel is 40% cheaper), it is no surprise that we spent around $560 on gasoline, despite topping up in Argentina (at $4/gallon) and filling our 5-gallon jerrycan before crossing the border. I wonder if this has been an all-time monthly record. We complained about expensive fuel in Peru – where we drove around for five months – at $5 a gallon!
The other car cost went to toll roads, which were pricy in Uruguay as well. We joked that we had to pay $4 an hour on the highways. There are five “automatic” toll stations; an ordeal for foreigners.
You’re supposed to register your license plate and car (which we did), put credit on your account (we had no idea how many tolls we’d need, so skipped this) or pay at an office (which we did each time), and a camera would read your registered plate, take the correct credit off your account, and open the gate.
That last step NEVER worked. Now that we know how many tolls there are along the highways in Uruguay and that the cost is the same at each one, we would put that amount on the account and only be annoyed once at each booth, when the gate remains closed and some manual action somewhere happens.
Our grocery expense was on the high side, due to needing a lot still after coming home to an empty camper, cooking every meal at home, and preparing a handful of dinners for friends. Monthly rates for our satellite internet subscription have gone up. We now pay $80, half of which is fronted by our business.
We also opted to top up our propane tank before crossing the border – due to higher costs for everything in the neighboring country – but are not sure now this was the best plan of action. It seems that no matter where and when we add a few kilos of gas to our tank in Argentina, we end up paying for a full tank, just for the privilege, setting us back $15. Drinking water was free everywhere.
After the hassle and vet costs traveling back and forth to the US and Belgium with Maya, we weren’t done yet. Before entering Uruguay, she needed a new health certificate, export permit, and negative blood test for Leishmaniasis. We had all that done in the Argentinian town of Gualeguaychu, over one vet visit (when Maya got attacked again) and two SENASA (agriculture department) stops. We also got some of her shots updated at the vet, adding that bill up to $53. Being patient regarding the export permit meant that part only cost $2 (processing time of 72 hours) instead of the expedited, one-day fee of $30.
We are back in wine country! Despite everything else in Argentina steeply going up in price, wine seems to have been spared. We also bought two bottles of discounted rum to last in Uruguay. We never went out for drinks.
Another one of our three website domains was due last month ($22) and we couldn’t avoid laundry in Uruguay. In Colonia del Sacramento, I inquired at three laundromats. The price was the same everywhere: $7.50 for a tiny load of 2-3kg. Yikes! We had a lot of dirty stuff. The solution: drop off the most difficult items to hand wash (sheets, towels, jeans, and shorts) and wash everything else (about three big loads) by hand. The price was high for the convenience, but the savings were even higher!
Here is the truth about our dining out experiences: Mark and I had not gone out to dinner, just the two of us, since April of this year. Before we left for the summer, restaurant prices kept going up in Argentina, so we stuck to a few take-out meals. In Belgium and Massachusetts, it just didn’t happen. Back in Argentina, we didn’t have time, plus, many restaurants don’t open until 8pm. And in Uruguay, it was too expensive. We do have a couple of donation amounts left, which we look forward to splurging with soon.
All that being said, I did treat Mark to one dinner in Punta del Diablo, Uruguay, because the photos on Google looked super appealing for a place called Cardamomo and I had some money set aside from Belgium still (the last funds). Maya was welcome and, while pricy, the food and drinks were tasty and the atmosphere delightful.
The $5 we did use from our account went to a portion of fries from a food stand to complement a homecooked fried fish dinner. And, we needed a new plastic ladle/spoon as the old one was shedding and were surprised by its affordability ($2) in a Uruguayan grocery store.
One saving grace in Uruguay were its inexpensive – or free – attractions. More about that in my upcoming post. I climbed two lighthouses for stunning views, which only cost me $1 each time. Mark was not interested. And, both of us visited the impressive and well-kept Santa Teresa Fort near Punta del Diablo. All this for the equivalent of $4! A dam tour and Piria Castle were free to enjoy.
Last but not least, one of the most appealing things about that smallish country is its plethora of free, attractive camping spots, especially along the coast!
We also camped for free in Argentina; our friend Brandon paid for the three nights at Punta Viracho.
And that wraps up our relatively low ($1,135) and relatively enjoyable month of October.
(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.
Next up: A three-week discovery of Uruguay
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November 10, 2024 at 11:26
Hi Liesbet! It looks like you are doing well in spite of the high prices–and the weather looks nice so that would make the adventure more fun, right? It is so interesting to see how different gas prices and everything else is in different countries. And you do seem to put together some tasty meals wherever you go! And it’s always nice to see you having fun and getting together with friends. Enjoy your time and thanks for sharing your adventure! ~Kathy
November 11, 2024 at 08:55
Hello Kathy,
We love food and Mark is adamant about cooking healthy meals, which is sometimes easier than other times. Fresh produce can be hard to find. We are getting a little tired of cooking and doing dishes every single day. And, we’ve run low on food on multiple occasions in Argentina. It remains a third world country, something we seem to forget at times. I am craving mushrooms!
Meeting friends – especially good ones – is super special and precious and that, indeed, resembles fun. We hope Patagonia will bring us excitement and good times as well. As long as we can deal with the heavy winds and frequent storms.
November 10, 2024 at 12:03
I know I sound like a broken record, but I am always amazed at how you two manage your finances. Amazing!!! Jim
November 11, 2024 at 08:57
Thanks, Jim. We tried hard in Uruguay to keep our spending to a minimum. It helped when we ran out of cash a week before leaving the country and didn’t find it worthwhile to take more out of the ATM, haha. We will loosen up again in Argentina. The good news: fuel seems to be a bit cheaper in the southern part of the country. We will need a lot! 🙂
November 10, 2024 at 12:09
Fascinating as usual.
November 11, 2024 at 08:58
Thanks, Jacqui. We try to be inspiring and fascinating. 🙂
November 10, 2024 at 14:22
You guys live well and “on the cheap” this month once again.
Thanks for displaying your solar & wind-powered clothes drying! 😀
November 11, 2024 at 08:59
Hi Marian,
That’s right. You are a fan of my laundry hanging to dry, haha. I almost forgot. 🙂
We are happy with last month’s budget and hope to stay below average the rest of the year. We shall see. We have a lot of driving to do to reach Ushuaia.
November 10, 2024 at 15:35
Hi, Liesbet – October looks like it was a fairly good month all around which is nice to hear. Wishing you a wonderful remaining November (which is slipping by shockingly fast)!
November 11, 2024 at 09:02
Hello Donna,
Like you, I have a hard time grasping how fast time flies. Jeez. The year is almost gone again.
To be honest, we’ve had some tough times with things breaking, Maya’s issues, sleepless nights leading to exhaustion, and our mental state. We hope to soon find more excitement and interesting sights to make this trip and lifestyle worthwhile. To only be driving, running errands, fixing things, and working is not quite why we are here.
November 10, 2024 at 15:46
I take it due to the costs you’re not lingering too long in that country? That is crazy high for gas.
Seeing the sights in England and Scotland are also cheap like that, especially compared to how much American sights cost.
November 11, 2024 at 09:03
Correct, Alex. After three weeks in Uruguay, we have returned to Argentina. We did enjoy our visit to that country and are happy we went, but there’s no reason to return. 🙂 Sometimes, expensive countries have nice surprises like cheap or free attractions. Hurray for that!
November 11, 2024 at 16:48
A great wrap-up, Liesbet!
Argentina has gone up in price since I travelled there in 2011and it was expensive back then when we travelled by buses.
November 14, 2024 at 14:21
Hi Nilla,
It would be interesting to compare the prices of 2011 to the ones of today, in Argentina. People enjoyed traveling here, just one year ago, because it was so cheap. Dining out, buying groceries and fuel, entering national parks… It all cost peanuts not too long ago (basically just before we arrived), especially because of the strong exchange rate. Now, this country has become even more expensive than Chile, which is saying much. We will have to skip national parks as we are not paying the equivalent of $60 to enter a park for just one day. 🙁
November 18, 2024 at 20:04
Hi, I would need to dig out my diary from 2011 but not sure if I still have it in storage.
On the Australian dollar, nowhere apart from SE Asia is cheap, even Japan was expensive last year.
Wow, $60 to enter a national park—that’s crazy! Maybe they don’t really want tourists at those prices.
November 12, 2024 at 13:30
I really miss camping on the beach! Those burgers look amazing!
You would think with the price of gas and tolls that Uruguay would have better roads. Poor Maya. Bumpy roads have been making me feel nauseous lately. We flew down a bad road yesterday in the back of a truck. I felt queasy the rest of the day.
Those strawberries look great. The ones we get here in Ecuador are so much better than the ones we got in Colombia. It must be because of where they grow them.
So nice to see discounts for Jubilados! We have gotten the tercera edad discount a few times in our travels here in SA.
Greg did laundry on the boat one or two times before he said never again. That looks like it was a lot of laundry to do by hand. But $7.50 for a small load is crazy! I make sure we book accommodations with at least a washer every 7 to 10 days.
I’m glad you were happy with your total this past month. It appears that you got a lot out of Uruguay without breaking the bank.
November 14, 2024 at 14:31
Hi Duwan,
I’m getting hungry. just thinking back about those burgers! That was our first and last meal out in two months and it’s been a while again. We’ve tried to eat out – or get take out – three times now, back in Argentina, but we failed each time. We are starting to miss Colombia, where it was easy and cheap to go out for a meal. And restaurants opened before 8pm!
Sorry you got car sick, the other day. Welcome to my world! 🙁 If I were to travel by public buses, I’d have to sit in the front to not puke.
When we stayed in Airbnbs in Peru with my cousin, we tried to get a washing machine once in a while as well. So welcome! And, yes, that was a lot of hand laundry I did that day, but at least we had unlimited water at that campground. I’m on the lookout for a laundromat yet again, at the moment.
When we are super careful spending money and nothing unexpected happens or breaks, I think we do alright, even in expensive countries. Especially if we can stock up ahead of time. I still remember one month in the Bahamas being our cheapest one ever, at $300. Because we just came from the US and the boat was stocked up! And, French Polynesia was affordable for us as well, because we just bought subsidized foods and ate what was affordable and local.
November 12, 2024 at 19:51
You guys are managing to still live cheaper than anyone around the globe, lol. And I couldn’t get over those annoying tolls! Welcome back to life on the road. <3
November 14, 2024 at 14:33
Hi Debby,
I’m sure there are many people in the world who live on a lower budget than us. Here, on the road, that’s debatable, however. Pretty much anyone we meet is living on a higher budget than us (but they usually travel for less long), except the Argentinians themselves.
November 19, 2024 at 10:20
I’m glad to hear that the campsites with those fantastic ocean views were mostly free, Liesbet. Everything else seemed expensive, apart from your new plastic spoon, but I had heard that Uruguay was an expensive place. However, I’m glad you visited it and also took advantage of the inexpensive or free attractions.
You mentioned Halloween briefly. Was it celebrated as in the USA, or was it more about the following day (the Day of the Dead)?
Sorry to read that Maya got attacked again. I feel so sorry for her, but I’m sure she’s having a great time travelling with you guys.
Can’t wait to find out where you will be for Christmas (and your birthday).