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Monthly Expenses of a Nomad (in Mexico) – March 2022

Last month, Mark, Maya, and I happily kept traveling throughout Baja California Sur in Mexico. The grocery and car expense categories battled for the top position. As to be expected, fuel burned a lot of money as we rounded and explored the southern part of the peninsula. The gas prices in Baja haven’t changed much from last year, but they are fluctuating, just like propane. In any case, these prices are less than in the US now, so we will fill all our tanks before returning.

(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)

Filling our tank when it’s close to empty is an expensive endeavor – more than US$100!!

The top price is for gasoline and one of the cheapest per liter that we have found in Baja this year

Gasoline prices in Loreto, one year ago (the top number)

Driving on rough roads is not good for the fuel economy!

Rough road downhill to Agua Verde

Rough road to one of the Pacific beaches

Our utility cost while in Mexico is higher than in the US, because we kept paying for our cheap and discontinued AT&T data plan north of the border and for internet in this country. We also pay for drinking water now and keep having to fill our propane tanks to run our fridge and cook. We can’t wait to get a compressor fridge that works on electricity, which we have plenty of thanks to our solar panels.

Free camping along Camino Cabo Este

Parked for the night at Playa Palmilla in San Jose del Cabo

An entire arroyo, just for us

Boondocked along the road to Agua Verde

Parked in a free public lot in La Paz again, for a couple of nights

Camped at El Canejo beach

One of our favorite free campsites in Baja California

As always, most of our camping spots were free and attractive.

We stumbled upon an international triathlon in La Paz

Baby turtles ready to be released

Turtle release after sunset in Todos Santos

Hiking above Agua Verde

Hiking with friends of the furry kind

Beach walks with Maya

Hiking in Mesquite Canyon, worthy of a separate blog post…

Just like lots of activities we enjoy: witnessing a triathlon in La Paz and a turtle release in Todos Santos, hiking, bird watching, beach and town strolling, hanging out with friends, snorkeling, watching sunrise and sunset.

Van pizza made by Greg and Duwan and eaten with them and our new friend, Gehn

Snorkeling in Agua Verde

Even Maya made new friends: Delilah and Pyros…

… and Lola, the beach dog, of course.

In March we did stay at a couple of pay campgrounds (south of El Pescadero and in Loreto), ordered a part for our awning (which was shipped to a friend in San Diego, CA), and cooked more meals than in February.

Camped for a few nights in Rivera Del Mar RV Park, Loreto

Dinner out with friends, Greg, Duwan, and Gehn in Todos Santos

Delicious fish tacos in Todos Santos – the cheapest we’ve bought in Baja

Homemade pizza in the truck camper of our new friends, Deb and Andy, who have an oven!!!

Sharing a fabulous homemade pizza with Deb and Andy on our beach in Agua Verde

Mark made the most delicious tortilla soup for dinner one evening – with fabulous toppings!

There were also a few smaller expenditures: laundry, new flipflops and a quarterly blood test for Mark (did you notice how cheap these are in Mexico?), a small turtle souvenir for me, and a bone for Maya. All in all, not a bad month…

Walking around Todos Santos

Hotel in Todos Santos

Sunset in Agua Verde

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean, which has bigger waves than the Sea of Cortez

Another sunset over the Pacific Ocean

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.

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean through a cactus

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Monthly Expenses of a Nomad (in Mexico) – February 2022

March 18, 2022 / Liesbet / 34 Comments

Mark, Maya, and I spent the entire month of February in Baja California Sur, Mexico. It was a fabulous time for the mind, body, and wallet, once Mark returned from his 10-day visit to Massachusetts to spend quality time with his dad.

Sunrise in the Sea of Cortez

Our home beach for ten days, near Agua Verde

Walk along the beach and rocks

Beautiful waters of the Sea of Cortez

Maya in the dunes

As a matter of fact, February 2022 was a month for the books – we generally had a really good time, exploring the peninsula, discovering peaceful beaches, spending time with friends, and eating delectable fish tacos. I hope to elaborate on some of our fun Baja experiences in upcoming blogs, whenever resources allow.

Dinner at our place with Jon and Gail

Campfire with friends

Happy hour with Duwan and Greg on a hill – Cabo Pulmo

Our biggest February expense was the car again, mostly because our annual Newburyport residency tax was due. Since we sat still for a chunk of the month, the fuel amount wasn’t too bad. In Baja, Mexico, a liter of gasoline costs around 22 pesos at the moment. This is roughly $4.20 per gallon. Usually, this is more expensive than in the US. While prices for fuel have gone crazy there, in Mexico they have gone up less than 1 peso per liter (20 cents per gallon) since March 2021. Food for thought…

Rock formation with Maya

Rock with a view – Cabo Pulmo

Endless beaches along the Cabo Pulmo peninsula

We didn’t spend a lot on groceries for a few reasons: prices for produce are cheaper than in the US, we don’t care about imported or brand products, and we have eaten out multiple times, which is reflected in the higher than usual dining out category. Once a week, Mark and I order fish or shrimp tacos from a street vendor or at a restaurant. These cost around $2 a piece, of which we each consume three or four. And, there might have been an extra meal or two on top of that.

Mezcal tasting and dinner out with Duwan and Greg

Dinner out in La Paz with Duwan and Greg

Utilities include propane (which, luckily, is cheaper here than in the US), water (which we buy at agua purificado shops that have a hose to fill our tank – average cost is 13 cents per gallon or about $5 for a full tank), discharging our black tank (when we’re careful, it takes three or four weeks to completely fill Temp’s toilet tank; this has never happened – in Zesty we could only go one week), and internet. We keep our US data plan going, even though we are not using it right now. At $35/month for unlimited data, we don’t quite want to give that up, because this particular AT&T plan doesn’t exist anymore.

Ordering purified water in La Ribera

In Mexico, we use a local SIM-card and buy internet plans. Our friends Duwan and Greg (from Make Like An Apeman) had extra data the end of February, so they were super generous to let us use as much as we wanted. Most of the time, however, we are not in areas with cell (data) service. Because we make phone calls through Google Voice (over the internet), we don’t need phone plans.

Flor de Cana tasting on the beach

Birthday happy hour on the beach

Happy Birthday, Mark

We started celebrating Mark’s birthday a day early, on February 28^th. I’d bought him a 7-year-old bottle of our favorite rum, Flor de Caña, and we did a tasting – adding the 4- and 5-year-old versions we already had – on our “private” beach in a remote area of the peninsula. Tip for anyone else who likes Flor de Caña rum, which originates in Nicaragua: the 4-year-old one is pretty much the cheapest rum here on Baja, at 160 pesos ($8) for a 75cl bottle!

Sea of Cortez

I joined Duwan and Greg on a day trip to the Sol de Mayo waterfall and a couple of other sites. Dogs were not allowed, so Mark stayed home with Maya. At seven dollars, the entrance fee to the falls seemed steep, but it was worth it. One could spend an entire day there, swimming, photographing, and walking upstream to smaller pools and cascades. Plus, I snuck a shower in the refreshing water!

Visiting Sol de Mayo

Sol de Mayo waterfall

Walking upriver revealed more pools and cascades

Under the waterfall

We managed to camp for free the entire month, finding some amazing places off the beaten track. As always, we couldn’t have done it without our trusted iOverlander app and tips from friends. Special thanks to Jon and Gail and Sandie and Karsten.

Playa Juncalito, south of Loreto

Parked in La Paz with Ballena Blanca for a few days

Sunset at our camp spot in La Ventana – T&T and Ballena Blanca

Camped on the small peninsula of Cabo Pulmo town

Less windy campsite in Cabo Pulmo

Beach-side camping

Beach camping by ourselves

Camped in a peaceful arroyo along the Cabo Pulmo peninsula

Our total expenses were well under average last month and we hope that’s an indication of how we can live and travel south of the border. Once we arrive in South America, we hope $800 (instead of $1,300) can become our new average…

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.

Duwan and Greg also covered their month of February in two blog post: here (part 1) and here (part 2).

Sunset on the sandspit in La Paz

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Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – January 2022

February 24, 2022 / Liesbet / 24 Comments

This monthly expense report is a bit delayed for two reasons: I recently posted our yearly report (and who wants to be bombarded by numbers every week?) and I have taken a step back with internet “chores,” because our data is limited, expensive, and often inaccessible. And, I’d rather explore the Baja peninsula at the moment than sit behind a computer. 🙂

(As always, hover over or click on the photos to read their captions.)

Building a frame for our platform at the Home Depot of Yuma, AZ – another failed attempt as it didn’t support the camper enough

Using 2-inch foam as part of our platform did not work well – it compressed due to the off-set weight of the camper. We needed a new solution.

New platform, which consists of a built-up frame and stall mat

Taking the camper off the truck again in the California desert, to fix the platform

Mark lowered the bumper of the truck to make the camper fit better in its bed.

The newest platform set-up, which is much lower and thinner than ever before.

Mark, Maya, and I started our new year in the desert just west of Yuma, Arizona, getting ready for our postponed multiple-month trip in Baja California, Mexico. We had to fix a few more things on the camper and the car, like rebuilding the platform that goes in the bed of the truck for the umpteenth time and making sure the “basement” was secure. We eventually ended up dropping the bumper of our pick-up truck and taking the clearance lights off, after another improvement attempt on another Home Depot parking lot failed.

Greg helps Mark inspect the “basement” of our truck camper

Mark takes off the clearance lights on the truck and needed electricity from inside the camper to drill out the holes in order to plug them.

Thirsty without the orange lights on top of the cab – we’d already put black caps on them as a blend-in mechanism right after buying the truck.

Mark assembles the truck’s interior parts after the job is done.

While the camper was off the truck, we decided to go on our first off-road adventure to explore a bit of the area, like the “Valley of Names.” What a bouncy endeavor that was! None of us can say we actually enjoyed the jerky experience…

Our first time “off roading” in Thirsty

A bumpy ride

Extinct volcano along the way to Valley of Names

Valley of Names

Walking by hundreds of names formed by people using rocks

The Valley of Names stretches for miles!

I also needed a dental check-up (and a $10 haircut apparently) right across the border in Los Algodones before we could really head south. Luckily, none of these visits and repair tasks were expensive, so we were off to a good year, moneywise, despite a few more delays. Having friends around made everything more fun!

Strolling in the border town of Los Algodones, famous and popular for its amount of dentists and pharmacies

Walking around Los Algodones

Long line at the border to cross back into the US

Short hair again, for $10

Visit from Patti and her dogs, in the desert near Yuma

Maya had doggie friends visit.

Our friend Greg, from the blog “Make Like An Apeman” joined us for a little while as well, in between house sits.

Life in Mexico is cheaper than in the US, so we had high hopes for a less-than-average month as far as living costs were concerned. We knew gasoline would be pricey (the equivalent of $4/gallon) and ended up driving bigger-than-planned distances from the start.

Our first boondocking spot in Baja California, at Shell Beach, half an hour south of San Felipe

Sunrise on Shell Beach, along the Sea of Cortez

Expansive and pretty Shell Beach

Walk along Shell Beach

Bounty after a long beach walk

We arrived in Baja on January 12^th and soon realized that Mark should leave the country for an impromptu visit back to his parents in Massachusetts. The price for that “detour” resulted in an extra $530 for flights, public transportation, parking, a Covid test, and a ten-day campground stay for Maya and me in Loreto. All our other camping spots last month were free.

The dunes of Guerrero Negro were our second stop on the peninsula, before heading south to Loreto.

Hiking in the sand dunes of Guerrero Negro

Maya digging a hole to cool off – or have fun, or get me all sandy!

Funny girl!

Resting on the dunes with my pup

Nope, we are not in the Sahara Desert…

From 2022 on, we are splitting the camper category into two parts – car and camper – to keep better track of those expenditures separately. Our Mexican car insurance was higher than stated below ($442 instead of $113), because it incorporates the refund for our American insurance, which we paused.

Camped for free in Mulege, the last stop before “settling” in Loreto for twelve days

The mouth of the Mulege River

Moonrise in Mulege

Delicious dinner after finding clams at low tide on a rocky beach in Mulege

Ospreys are abundant in Mulege

The grocery category is lower than usually, as food is cheaper in Mexico and we eat out more often for the same reason. Since our favorite rum (from Nicaragua) is available on the peninsula, we splurged buying several bottles of Flor de Cana instead of Bacardi, hence the pretty high number for alcohol. For now, we kept our affordable unlimited (and now unavailable) $35 AT&T data plan in the States, on top of buying data for our Mexican SIM-card ($27), which explains the larger number in the utilities section.

T&T in our preferred campground in Loreto

Rivera del Mar RV Park was much busier this year than in 2021.

One of the bathroom buildings at the campground in Loreto

Tourist cards for Mexico cost about $33 a person, which created an extra expense category this past month. Other than the money needed for Mark’s trip back to attend to a family situation, January had us on track for an average $1,300 month… February – so far – is looking much better. ????

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.

Donate to Roaming About to help maintain this website.

Annual Expense Report of a Nomad – 2021

February 1, 2022 / Liesbet / 25 Comments

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, and our total costs for 2020 are documented here.

In 2021, Mark, Maya, and I traveled in our campervan Zesty for three months (in California and Mexico) before selling it, drove across the USA in a rental car for one week, lived in the “room above the garage” at my in-laws in Massachusetts for five months (to change gears), and headed to the southwest again in our new-to-us truck camper T&T (Thirsty the truck and Temp the camper) during the last four months of the year.

(As always, click on photos or hover over them to read captions. Note: a bug must have slipped into my most recent WordPress update, because I can’t move photos around within my galleries anymore. The result is that my images are not shown in chronological order. My apologies.)

Camped at the beach in spring, Bahia Conception, Baja, Mexico

Back on the road – waterfalls in New York state

Boondocked in Colorado on the way west – happy our Alde heater works at this altitude

Boondocked in the fall

Snow in the Black Hills of South Dakota

The badlands of South Dakota

Approaching Chicago, Illinois

Despite our fears of spending way more than our annual average in 2021, because of inflation and the rising costs of living and fuel, our final sum is pretty close to that of the previous year. The reason: we received a few thousand dollars in credits after issues, claims, customer support calls, and points from using our trusted Chase credit card. Years past, these points went to flights which then didn’t get recorded in my expense reports. Last year, they went against groceries (during the height of Covid) at 1.5X their value and towards credit card payments. If you’re interested in a new credit card that offers 60,000 points (a value of $600) when you spend $4,000 in the first three months.

Many projects occurred before we left New England again…

Mark installs the tie-downs for our truck camper

Mark cleaning up the wiring in the lithium battery he built

One of the many attempts – and expenses – to build the right platform to rest the camper on

Our friend John helps Mark figuring out an issue with the battery

Fixing some issues with the bathroom sink

Our main expenses, just like other years, were the camper and groceries ($328 a month, which appears pretty high). The biggest chunk of vehicle money went to fuel, insurances, parts, and maintenance. Why is the maintenance amount ($53) so low then, you ask? Because we received $1,907 from a claim when a third party put a scratch in the side of Zesty. We managed to buff it out ourselves and used the money against other camper projects. We also sold $1,600 worth of accessories that came with our “new” truck and our camper.

The new set-up is complete! Picking up the camper in Vermont, last August.

The pick-up truck came with a nice Tonneau cover, which we managed to sell separately.

The new owner of a big storage box, we sold off our truck camper

Getting more fuel in a small town in the Midwest

Pemex fuel station in Loreto, BCS, Mexico

A lot of “cash” went to plane tickets (to Belgium), our trip across the country in a rental car, a root canal and crown for me (which I had done in Mexico), an early Covid test for me, and a Shingles shot for Mark (both in Arizona). We hope to cut these kinds of expenses down in 2022. But other surprise costs will pop up, no doubt!

Driving east into the sunrise…

My new dentist is located in Los Algodones, Mexico

My first Covid test ($75) in January 2021, after feeling flu-ish. It was negative.

Our crappy rental car with a crappy bike rack we had to buy to transport our bikes back east.

Catching up on work and research after a full day on the road.

We stayed at pet-friendly Morel 6’s along our drive across country, last April.

Driving across the country from west to east again, in a rental this time

Did you know that taking care of one dog can cost upwards of $800 a year? The dogfood category was higher than usual, because we stocked up on bags of it for our trip in Baja, where they don’t sell high-quality kibble with salmon. Of course, Maya is worth every dollar!

Fish oil, a lovely (but costly) supplement for Maya

Birthday gift for Liesbet

Taking my mom out for dinner in Belgium for her 70th birthday

Going out for Mexican food in Benson, Arizona, to treat our friend John.

Unlike our drinking out category, which is minimal, dining out (on patios and take-away) took a big bite out of our budget. This has to do with birthday celebrations and reconnecting with friends. We also spent quite a bit on gifts in 2021, part of that for an Airbnb “weekend” in Bahia Concepcion, Baja California, Mexico, for Mark’s 50th birthday.

Dinner with friends at Mi Loreto, our favorite restaurant in Loreto, Baja California, Mexico

Friends’ get-together in Massachusetts this past summer

Celebrating New Year 2021 with friends in the desert of California

Street tacos for lunch in Baja

A fancy bottle of whiskey for the anniversary of my in-laws.

64th anniversary party organized for my in-laws

Family visiting in Newburyport, MA

Utilities are what they are. We are bummed about the high propane costs, because we prefer a fridge that works on electricity; hopefully we can solve that issue later this year by replacing it. Internet is what keeps us connected and in Mexico, we pay for drinking water. I decided to add our Arizona campground expense from December to this report (and updated last month’s as well), to avoid “hidden costs.” Sure, we usually don’t stay in RV parks and this amount was incorporated into Mark’s wages, but it was still something we paid for. Hopefully, never to be repeated.

Huerta Don Chano, a lush campground in Mulege

Laundry prices at Rivera del Mar in Loreto, BCS, Mexico

Propane filling station at Leaf Verde RV Resort

Our home for a few weeks in Arizona, while Mark worked the night shift at Macy’s warehouse in December

The other two categories we might be able to do better with this year are household and alcohol. The first one contains items we needed to equip our new camper (which will only be repeated somewhat if we change gears again). As for the booze, beer, and wine, we are social drinkers and enjoy a glass on the weekends and when hanging out with friends. No excuses needed. I’d say we did pretty well with the bottom part of the report underneath. Who else spends $30 a year on clothing? 🙂

The new bike rack solution allows us to carry our bikes with the new set-up.

Mark installed a new battery in his phone. Yes, there was smoke involved!

In conclusion (and to our relief), 2021 seems to be another average expense year, in which we succeeded to live on around $16,000 a year, which amounts to $1,333 a month. It proves to be a feasible goal, especially when we leave the first world…

Cheers to friendship, with Denise

2021 Overview:

Camper (fuel: $2,760; ins.: $1,281; reg.: $152; maint.: $53;

tolls: $40; parking: $14; credit: + $3,507):

Groceries:

Travel (plane tickets, rental car, motels, camping Mex.):

Medical (root canal L in Mex., shot M, meds):

Dog (food: $339; vet: $262; supplies: $254):

Dining out:

Gifts (B-days, Christmas):

Utilities (internet: $478; prop.: $123; water: $45; Skype: $11):

Rent (Leaf Verde RV Resort):

Household (tools, supplies, battery parts, bike rack):

Alcohol:

Health & Fitness (haircut L, vitamins M):

Customs & Immigration (new passport M, visas Mex.):

Entertainment (whale watching, parks):

Bank charge (Chase visa card):

Computer (phone batt., router, domains):

Laundry:

Clothing (flip flops M, T-shirts L):

Drinking out:

Postage:

Miscellaneous (carwash, copies):

TOTAL:

Credit:

TOTAL:

(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.

Donate to Roaming About to help maintain this website.

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – December 2021

January 14, 2022 / Liesbet / 25 Comments

Mark, Maya, and I were supposed to spend the entire month of December at an RV park in Buckeye, Arizona. But, as with many of our 2021 goals and intentions, this didn’t happen. Mark was let go from his seasonal job at Macy’s warehouse two weeks prior than promised and expected. (There was not enough work anymore.) Despite having paid up throughout the month, we left the campground a week early after finishing several camper projects. We didn’t like it there.

Campsite #25 was our spot

Our home for four weeks

Crowded RV park with big rigs

The RV park was our highest expense in December. It was “part of the deal” and expected from the start. Most of the fuel cost went to Mark’s commute to and from Goodyear, where the warehouse is located. For anyone interested in trying the Get Upside app, which saves you money with every fill-up, follow this link. (Enter the code FE3MM7 when signing up to receive $2.22 back if you spend $10 by February 9th.)

The money going to camper and car projects (tire installation, spare water pump, hardware) could have been so much more, last month! First, we were sent a free solar panel and wiring by Bouge RV, which we installed at the campground. In return, we will compose and publish an extensive review, planned later this month. If anyone is interested in checking out Bouge RV’s website and gear, click on this link (which will bring you to their solar equipment). Use our coupon code ROAM12 for a 12% discount on any product.

Mark installing the new solar panel

Our new 180W solar panel

Secondly, we bought four Pirelli tires through Amazon and Walmart over a period of multiple weeks, which cost us tremendous time, energy, and aggravation. Everything went wrong. What a nightmare that was!!! The positive outcome was that we only ended up paying a fraction of the price we had in mind, due to Amazon’s generosity with refunds. That made up some of the income missed out on by Mark. We also used Amazon gift certificates for a bunch of household goods. The credit you see in the camper category underneath is a refund from our US car insurance after we made changes to go to Mexico.

Four tires, delivered!

Unwelcome message that did not make sense…

“Hiding” four new tires, before finding someone to finally install them.

Local Mexican tire installer

Waiting for the tire job to be done as dusk sets in

Our robust Pirelli tires

New tires – installed!

The grocery and dog categories are unusually high, because we kept stocking up on specialty items for us and dog food for Maya to consume on the Baja California peninsula this winter. Mark and I agreed to spoil ourselves with take-out once a week, while he worked the night shift. The second time this happened, our friend Greg paid us a quick visit in Phoenix. We only had a couple of hours to catch up, over a late lunch, but what a nice distraction this was. No more “dining out” afterwards, as Mark was not employed anymore. The second photo is of a cheap, healthy, vegetarian, easy, and tasty Mexican dinner: tostados with chopped vegetables and refried beans.

Our friend Greg came by for a very quick afternoon visit one day.

Easy, delicious, and healthy!

December is gift month, but we did pretty well here. I created, ordered, and shipped my annual calendars (with a photo of our little family in different locations for each month) to our loved ones in Belgium and the US. I still had the refund of my unusable Plunge banner from Vistaprint (see this writing update post) for the US versions of the calendar. And, for my birthday the end of November, I was promised a shopping spree at Trader Joe’s for goodies we never buy, namely unhealthy snacks! I spent half of my $50 allowance and am still enjoying the splurges now, after sharing the dessert items with friends earlier this month.

Trader Joe’s bounty for my birthday

A full tub of cookies!!!

Opening Christmas gifts, sent across the country by our good friend Denise

Maya loves her new toy, sent from Massachusetts by our friend Denise

Our other expense categories were reasonable. Mark finally bought a drill, which has come in really handy. I found extra t-shirts at a thrift store and did a few laundry loads, we topped off our propane tanks, and Mark took Thirsty to a carwash.

Filling our propane tanks was easy.

Convenient laundromat – if only all the machines would work!

Sparkling clean truck!

On Christmas Day, we finally had a fun afternoon outing away from the RV park. Our trio went for a decent hike in White Tank Mountain Regional Park, where a trickle of a waterfall became our destination.

White Tanks Mountain Regional Park

White Tank’s waterfall – albeit a small one – after a heavy rainstorm

Happy Maya

Sunset on Christmas Day

Like I mentioned before, I am now adding the credits from our Chase card (money earned back by using our Sapphire Preferred card) to our final total. If you’re looking for a new credit card that offers you 60,000 points (a value of $600).

Stay tuned for our annual 2021 expense report in a couple of weeks!

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.

Donate to Roaming About to help maintain this website.

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – November 2021

December 9, 2021 / Liesbet / 32 Comments

Mark, Maya, and I spent the entire month of November on the road in T&T (Thirsty & Temp), exploring New Mexico and Arizona, which explains our high fuel cost. Camping in nature was free, as usual. This was NOT what we had in mind when we left Massachusetts mid-September. It was the start of a new string of negative developments that would affect our decisions and continue well into December. Let me explain…

Nice and private free campsite in Gila National Forest, NM

Camped on BLM land near Espanola, NM

Another peaceful free campsite in Arizona

Before we hit the road in our new set-up, we had a two- to three-week house sit lined up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for home owners and dogs we are familiar with and have done repeat sits for. The owners asked us back, were going to pay us, and wanted to meet Maya. We had a destination and a time frame (mid-November), came up with a loose route, and would enjoy two months of travel and sightseeing until the sit started.

As our trip progressed, Mark and I made plans (yep, the P-word that we should ban from our vocabulary!) for our stay in Albuquerque. Other than taking care of the dogs, the home, the mail, and the yard, we looked forward to sitting still for a couple of weeks enjoying the luxuries and comforts of a fabulous house, dealing with much-needed camper projects (making adjustments to our camper platform, equalizing the cells in the lithium battery Mark built, fixing the bathroom sink, modifying parts of the interior), doing promo work for my book, focusing on freelance work, creating an annual calendar for my family, and getting some administration in order.

We did stop in Albuquerque, NM, for an afternoon at Home Depot, for platform attempt #2.

So, when this sit was cancelled, we lost more than the prospect of extra income. We were pretty bummed, but more imminent and important, we needed to figure out where we could work on the camper for a few days. Luckily, we have a friend in Benson, Arizona, a fellow Westy owner, who agreed to our presence in his driveway for a couple of nights that turned into four. Not only did we have the space we needed, but John is also a wealth of information with a wealth of tools and scrap materials!

John, a battery expert, helps Mark diagnose what’s wrong with the individual cells.

Mark working on the sink contraption

Attempt #3 (and more money invested) for a camper platform that works

Extra project, yet tricky and time consuming: cutting the long cupboard lids in three pieces

John helped Mark with many of our projects

The separate parts are easier to open and close

A new spigot in the sink

Some of our expenses last month are related to this stay, as we – again – attempted building a different platform to rest our camper on. Maybe the third try is the charm? We modified and fixed a few camper items and installed new faucet in the bathroom. We took our friend out to a fabulous lunch at Mi Casa restaurant (look at those reviews and check them out if you pass through!) as a thank you and cooked an extensive Mexican dinner for him as well. It was a productive mid-week.

That’s not Zesty! It’s John’s Westy. We traded ours for a truck camper…

Fish tacos a la Mark in Temp – our first dinner guest!

Lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Benson, AZ

Look at those dishes! Not only tasty and filling, but pretty too.

Good find, John!

A few of November’s categories are high as we started stocking up and preparing for our winter trip to Baja California, Mexico (which has now been postponed, but more about that in another post). And we purchased special ingredients for two celebratory dinners in Temp: Thanksgiving and my birthday.

Chicken instead of turkey – the camper way….

Thanksgiving dinner, most of it made from scratch

We bought extra food for us and Maya and we took our dog to the vet for her annual check-up and a couple of vaccines. Mark needed his second shingles shot as well, which we had to pay out of pocket as we have Massachusetts health insurance that only covers us elsewhere for emergencies. On the same topic, Mark and I also received our booster shots for Covid, which were free. The family is all set for Mexico!

View for a week from our bed – Saddle Mountain BLM

Scenery along our hike

And, some saguaros here too.

Taking a breather in the shade of the mountain

Hiking in the rocky desert of Arizona

Found it! Petroglyphs at Saddleback Mountain.

It was very rocky and not ideal to walk, especially for Maya.

Free entertainment came in the form of dog walks in the desert, soaking in natural hot springs, and finding local and cultural treasures.

Black Rock Hot Springs

Maya remained on the rocks

A cold river next to comfortable hot springs

Gila Cliff Dwellings, New Mexico

Without friends inviting us to use their washing machines, we have to pay for laundry again. 🙂 The amount we spent was actually higher than mentioned in this overview, but we had extra quarters left from a previous laundry expense category. And last but not least, because of our credit cards and cash back program, we received a bit over $50 back. From now on, I am incorporating these amounts in our totals, something I haven’t done in the past.

(The Chase offer of 100,000 bonus points I mentioned a few months ago is not available anymore. When signing up for this credit card now, you can earn 60,000 points when following the directions here.)

Free camping next to Saddle Mountain, AZ, for one week

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.

Plunge – One Woman’s Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary

Available on Amazon and elsewhere

eBook: US$ 5.99

Paperback: US$ 13.99

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – October 2021

November 12, 2021 / Liesbet / 47 Comments

Mark, Maya, and I spent the entire month of October on the road in our truck camper, getting from Illinois to New Mexico with stops in Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Colorado. Lots of driving and extra gear were the main source for our high expenses. We bought a new faucet for the bathroom, latches for the drawers (we had three break in one week – what to do with all their contents while we drove?), a grease gun, and a battery monitor. I have to stop stating that it was – yet – another costly month and face the fact that life has gotten incredibly expensive in the US. And I’m not only talking about fuel.

(As always, hover over or click on photos for captions.)

New faucet for the bathroom. It was cheaply made, so Mark needed to replace the O-ring and make adjustments to it.

Maya at the reservoir of Shep Canyon, where we stayed multiple nights.

In 2020 (and previous years), our monthly average expenditure was around $1,300. We met this goal only twice in 2021. Prices of products in grocery stores and online have risen and the cost of fuel – which I realize is still much lower than in Canada, Belgium, or Mexico – is becoming cost-prohibitive for us. Now is NOT a good time for a cross country road trip or camper life as a nomad. It’s not that we can cut more in other categories as we’re pretty careful already. Mark and I have daily discussions about our options. Sitting somewhere for longer periods of time? Finding “real” jobs for a bit? Changing gears once again?

Camped at Oliver Reservoir Recreation Area, Nebraska

In the past, readers of this blog and people following our adventures have asked us how they can support us. Why don’t we have a tip jar, pizza/beer/coffee fund, ads on the website, or a crowdfunding platform? Apart from a few affiliate links, we are staying clear of any of this. So far. The best, easiest, and most rewarding (and beneficial to you) way to support us, is by buying my book – via links on this website, as a hard copy from me personally if your address is in the US, or elsewhere online.

Trying to save money has caused us frustrations in October (and this month too). Usually, we use the free app GasBuddy, but with prices fluctuating from hour to hour, we often show up at a station to a price that is 30 cents a gallon higher than last reported. This means we drive to a different station on the other side of town, costing us more fuel – and time – to get there than it is worth buying gas for a few cents less. If the price at station #2 is, in fact, lower. More often than not, it isn’t and we end up paying a premium anyway, despite the detour.

Getting expensive gas in Bayard, Nebraska

GetUpside is a wonderful alternative. This app gives a discount at certain stations and seems to be more reliable these days. If anyone is interested in signing up, feel free to use the promo code FE3MM7 or this link. It should give you a discount of 15 – 40 cents per gallon of gas or diesel on your first fill at participating fuel stations.

Another problem is our dismal fuel economy. We only get 10 miles to the gallon in this pickup truck, which is less than half of our campervan Zesty! This reduces our radius from 500 miles to 300 miles before we need to fill up again (despite the bigger tank), is twice as expensive as before, and makes us plan our routes a certain way (as in, avoid the Rocky Mountains in Colorado). And that’s with Mark not using cruise control and being extremely aware about how he drives, which is exhausting. Even then, our fuel cost last month was outrageous – over 1/3 of our total expense – and so was the expense for propane, which also has gone up substantially compared to six months ago.

Maya with her new tracker

Maya’s big container of fish oil

Parked overnight at the Bas Pro Shop of Colorado Springs, Colorado. They allow RVs to spend one night a year here.

What else did we spend money on in October? We bought a new gps tracker for Maya. Tractive (a company Mark researched in the past) had a special, offering the device for free and an annual data fee for $84. We switched from Whistle, because Tractive provides coverage internationally and has more usable features. We stocked up on the fish oil supplement for our dog as well. This container should last at least six months.

Tasty and healthy lunch on October 1st, in Wicker Park, Chicago, provided by Peta and Ben (Photo courtesy Peta Kaplan)

Appetizers and dinner at Keith & Kavita’s place in Chicago

Alcohol was high, because we visited friends and brought stacks to share and leave. We also treated our friends in Chicago to a Thai take-out meal. On the flip side, wonderful friends treated us to lunch (thank you, Peta and Ben), dinner and fresh veggies from the garden (thank you, Gail and Jon), and other food (thank you Keith, Kavita, and Margaret).

Our TV swings out from the bed area towards the dinette.

Mark convinced me to get a Chromecast device on sale. For about $20 we managed to snatch the last one at a department store and now we actually use the TV that came with our camper by pairing it with a tablet and streaming Netflix, etc. to enjoy a bigger screen; luxury!

Entrance sign to the national park

Driving through Badlands National Park

Enjoying the American Badlands

We bought a few new items for the camper household (our cereal bowls broke after I forgot to latch one of the cabinets; our drives are VERY rough and often on bumpy dirt roads) and shorts for Mark. We also paid the $30 entrance fee to Badlands National Park and renewed one of our domain names. Phew!

Camped along the badlands of South Dakota

Little Swan Lake, Iowa

Oacoma Flats, South Dakota

Camped south of the national park, before a rain storm

Camped at Shep Canyon National Recreation Area, SD

Camped at our friends Gail & Jon’s house in the Black Hills, South Dakota

Camped for one night in the prairie of Monument, Colorado

Camped at Mountain Home State Wildlife Area in Colorado for a couple of nights

As usual, we camped for free in the most amazing places. Imagine we’d stay at real campgrounds with fees of $20-$40 a night.. We definitely wouldn’t be able to afford this lifestyle anymore! Hurray for boondocking spots and the American west that is full of them. 🙂

One of our favorite campsites, in Colorado, last month. Happy to report our heater works at 8,500ft altitude!

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.

Plunge – One Woman’s Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary

Available on Amazon and elsewhere

eBook: US$ 5.99

Paperback: US$ 13.99

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – September 2021

October 13, 2021 / Liesbet / 24 Comments

Mark, Maya, and I lived in a guest room in Massachusetts for the first half of September and returned to the road, in a new-to-us camper after that. The second part of the month was spent driving through and/or visiting the states of New York, Ohio, and Illinois, arriving in Chicago by the end of the month.

Free overnight parking in Chicago, at Lincoln Park

Those first two weeks of September were quite hectic, as we prepared for our trip, installed more parts to make our mobile lives easier or more comfortable, and I aimed to get to a stopping point with my book promo. Mark added an inverter and charger to our home on wheels and rewired parts of it to suit our homebuilt Lithium battery.

(As always, click on or hover over photos to read the captions.)

Rewiring the camper for the new battery and adding a charger and inverter

Tweaking the Lithium battery Mark built

Maya resting in the garage, as close to us as possible!

The most tricky – and annoying – task was figuring out a way to bring our e-bikes with us, now that an extension swing-out hitch and our original bike rack were not an option anymore. We ordered durable hooks, a backing plate, hardware, and straps to come up with a decent solution. This configuration on our ladder had to be changed – in Massachusetts and on the road – multiple times to avoid chafing and reduce damage on our bikes. It’s been an ordeal!

Installing straps and hooks on the ladder to carry our bikes

Protecting the carrier rack and adding a layer to our bikes in order to barely rest them on the back bumper.

Figuring out a new way to transport our e-bikes – not so easy without our swing-out hitch and rack from Zesty.

We covered about 1,000 miles last month, which is reflected in the high fuel cost, but is nothing compared to this month. Our fuel economy is terrible! Even worse than we expected. This is hard to swallow for us “thrifty travelers” as we are still getting used to our new camper set-up and weigh the pros and cons compared to a campervan. That topic will be for a future post!

Driving through the countryside in New York

Passing by Cleveland, without stopping

Driving through the countryside of Ohio

Figuring out how accurate the fuel gauges are… And, yes, our fuel economy is HORRIBLE. More about that later.

Approaching Chicago the end of September

Now that we live in our truck camper, we needed to change its insurance policy to reflect its higher value. We also bought more household items, like an outdoor mat, shower curtain, towel bars… Our first propane refill was expensive. Hopefully this is related to us messing about with the refrigerator setting. This fridge, unfortunately, runs on propane.

Remember that pricey Mexican lunch last month? The friends we treated back then, covered our part of a take-out dinner before we left on our trip. Hence, no dining out category for September. Since we mainly drink in company these days, the alcohol cost is for beer, wine, and sangria that we brought to “parties.”

Saying goodbye to good friends before we take off indefinitely

A spread of fabulous food and drinks over Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day Weekend get together with friends

Fabulous pasta dinner at our friend Sean’s place in Schenectady, New York

We pretty much cooked all our dinners in September

Our favorite, affordable wine – a red blend from California, available at Trader Joe’s (depending on the state)

We decided to spend money on entertainment this time around, by visiting two of New York’s most iconic state parks, sporting loads of waterfalls and hiking trails: Watkins Glen SP and Letchworth SP. You can read more about those sites here.

Watkins Glen State Park, New York

Letchworth State Park, New York

And, some attractions are free, like Indiana Dunes National Park, where we hiked, biked, and even spent the night! 🙂

We passed this attraction on a previous cross country road trip

Small snake on the path

Happy Maya on the beach

The biggest dune in the park

Deer along our bike ride

A twenty-mile e-bike ride to stretch the legs – after a five-mile hike…

Scaling a dune

Sandals do collect… sand!

Finding a massive body of (fresh) water and white, sandy beaches that resemble the seaside is strange.

In true Liesbet and Mark fashion, we once again boondock every night. This means camping without hook-ups or – usually – facilities. It’s also called “dry camping” or “wild camping” and is often (in our case, always) free. We use the no-cost app iOverlander (for campers by campers) to find suitable locations to spend the night. We also contribute to this service by adding new places, reviews, photos, experiences, and updates.

Our first night boondocking (in nature, not in driveways) in the truck camper

Free camping in Watkins Glen, NY

Parked overnight at a rest area – not sleeping well those days

Camped at the MH/RV Hall of Fame in Indiana

Free overnight parking at the visitor center of Indiana Dunes National Park

This expense report was a tricky one to create, because my accounting is different than Mark’s, who actually keeps track of everything in Quicken. His total expense for September 2021 resulted in a negative number, because we – finally – sold many valuable items that came with the truck and camper that we didn’t want. The idea being that this amount went towards our expenses for the truck and camper. Based on that math, the first category in my list underneath boiled down to only $20. Yes, we sold $990 worth of stuff. Most of it last minute!

The truck came with a sparkling, fancy Tonneau cover, which we tried to sell for months

The swing-out rack and massive storage box that came with our camper sold within a day of posting the ad!

The second “discrepancy” (a credit of $857) came from our Chase credit card points that had a value of 1.5x the amount if we used them before September ended. We still have another $300 (at 1x the amount) left for this month. If anybody is interested in checking out an incredible credit card offer – 100,000 free points (a value of $1,000 at 1x the points) – this is my Chase referral code: https://www.referyourchasecard.com/6c/PR3FJUQ8CP.

Maya loves her new home and can’t wait to start another adventure

Completely ready to leave Newburyport, Massachusetts!

Telling the readers of this blog that we spent -200 dollars wouldn’t make any sense, so I decided to itemize our expenses like I usually do and the credits and returns on our money will be incorporated in our yearly report. Now, let’s hope that we can finally bring our costs down to the $1,300 monthly average soon!

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.

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – August 2021

September 8, 2021 / Liesbet / 29 Comments

Apart from two days with friends in Vermont (picking up our camper), Mark, Maya, and I lived the entire month of August in Newburyport, MA, in our room above the garage at my in-laws. We had a busy month with work and prep of our new camper set-up (see this post for more project photos and this post about how we found our pick-up truck). Just like with Zesty, the camper category is often the highest expense, especially when first equipping our vehicle and living space. That’s also why the household amount is high.

Our new camper on the driveway of friends

A quick glimpse at Vermont scenery

Going for a hike with Maya, Max, and Dixie in Vermont

Dixie and Max welcome Maya in their home

Enjoying cooler evening temperatures on the porch

Maya makes herself at home on the bed in our truck camper. She loves it!

Everything else is pretty much “average,” except for the renewal of my driver’s license, I bought the book of my colleague at the Yankee Homecoming event, and dining out. We did our best to keep last month’s expenses reasonable (other than camper necessities), but then decided to treat good friends for lunch. Who would have guessed a simple Mexican meal (burritos and tacos) costs over $100 for four people? Newburyport is super expensive – another reason to leave soon.

Our truck camper parked on the condo driveway in Newburyport

Protecting the car and camper from paint

Mark spray paints the (rusty) bottom parts of our four jack stands

Replacing the fan in the bathroom

The new vent ($225) on the top back right corner of the camper. Mark is re-caulking the roof edges.

On the positive side, a few months ago we decided to obtain a new credit card to benefit from Chase’s generous offer: receive 80,000 points (which, when transferred to Mark’s account rewarding us 1.5 times the points, means a value of $1,200) if you spend $4,000 the first three months. We had trouble getting there at first (in Belgium multiple places didn’t accept Visa), but once we found our truck and bought car insurance, we were all set! During the summer, the extra points (money) could be used towards groceries, hardware, and dining out as well. so, of the $1,200 we received, $434 went to last month’s expenses, so theoretically, we spent $1,093 instead of $1,527. 🙂

Maya always curls herself around chairs…

Family visit in Newburyport

Maya trying to sneak into the kitchen of my in-laws

If anybody is interested in checking out this offer, which – believe it or not – they have since upped to 100,000 points (a value of $1,000 at 1X the points) – this is my Chase referral code: https://www.referyourchasecard.com/6c/PR3FJUQ8CP.

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.

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – July 2021

August 14, 2021 / Liesbet / 42 Comments

The first two weeks of July, Mark and I visited my family and friends in Belgium, while our good buddies Greg and Duwan (of Make Like An Apeman) took good care of Maya in Newburyport, Massachusetts. We splurged on goodies from the grocery store, alcohol to share, and gifts to thank our generous hosts in my home country and our friends back in the US.

Liesbet and aunt Nicole

Flowers for aunt Nicole in Oostende

Plenty of different flavors for a fun night with family

Our fancy credit card allows for free access at the airport lounge – more splurging!

Mark’s last Belgian beer for a while in the airport lounge in Brussels

The two of us also went out for food and drinks one evening to celebrate our fourteenth wedding anniversary outdoors in Oostende. Where did the time go?

Liesbet and Mark in the summer of 2007

Wedding night dinner at a bar – you can read in “Plunge” why we didn’t go out for a fancier meal that night. 🙂

Upon our return to the US, Duwan and Greg stayed on a few more days. Fun! We ordered pizza one night – they treated – and the following night, we splurged on Thai food – our treat. Life was good last month, socializing and catching up with friends and family!

Duwan and Greg in our room – Maya’s new best friends!

The last ten days of July, we tightened the belt for common expenses, as a new money pit arrived! Firstly, we had to order a new passport for Mark and – with the delays – we hope he will receive it before wintertime, when would like to return to Baja California (Mexico).

Truck shopping in Rhode Island

Checking the engine compartment when inspecting this vehicle for the first time

When we bought the truck, it came with a Teneau cover, which we are trying to sell now.

More importantly, we found a pick-up truck! More about that in a next post. Owning a vehicle again means expensive insurance, extra (used) parts to add a truck camper, and relatively pricey improvements. As always, we do all the work ourselves, so only spend money on materials, which Mark researches and buys at the best quality/price ratio. And, of course, there are fuel costs – for our new “thirsty” vehicle and for the one of my mother-in-law.

Our new vehicle

Ready for some car jobs

Adding the rear tie-downs – previously sanded and painted

Wheel well covers for the back

July 2021 was a super expensive month, but for good reasons! 🙂

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.

Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: fuel cost (page 4 of 5)

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad (in Mexico) – March 2022

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Monthly Expenses of a Nomad (in Mexico) – February 2022

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Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – January 2022

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Annual Expense Report of a Nomad – 2021

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Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – December 2021

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Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – November 2021

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Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – October 2021

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Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – September 2021

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Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – August 2021

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Monthly Expenses of a Nomad – July 2021

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