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.
Mark, Maya, and I spent the first eleven days of June with our truck camper Thirsty Bella in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On that last evening, Julian, the owner of our storage spot, brought us to Ezeiza International Airport and we flew – via JFK – to Boston, Massachusetts, for the rest of the month and into July.
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
For once, the car category wasn’t the highest one. Maya received that honor. Before leaving Argentina, we needed a health certificate and export paperwork for her (about $40 in total). On our first day in the US, we had an appointment with a vet to administer another rabies shot (the three-year version as that would make things easier for returns to the US) for $45. In South America, we paid between $4 and $7 for this!
We also obtained an international health certificate for Belgium that day, which cost $220 and was valid for one month. This document had to be endorsed and validated by the USDA within 10 days of our departure date and a hard copy with seals had to be mailed back to us (overnight) for another $80 (July expense). We picked it up before leaving the country and made another appointment for September to repeat this process for Argentina. In addition, we bought a bag of salmon-based dog food. I mentioned that Maya would be pricy this summer!
Mark ordered a spare propane regulator for the camper, as well as an improved DC-DC battery charger. The regulator will save us in South America (where it is not available) if the old one dies. Without this, we can’t use our propane tank. The new charger will allow us to put a higher amount of power into our Lithium battery when we run the car, which helps on weeks of little or weak sunshine.
We needed improvements on the computer front as well and ordered two external keyboards and a bigger hard drive for our Surface laptops, a new tablet for the car (which we use for navigation and music), and a router for our home base in Massachusetts.
Testing the new tablet for our truck in Argentina
Our grocery bill was higher than it should have been, based on us finishing all the food in Bella’s fridge and cabinets and Mark’s mom sponsoring most of our shopping trips to Market Basket. We contributed to a family party and bought some goodies once in the US.
Family party – We provided the cheese and salami platter as an appetizer.
Gifts are usually in order whenever we return to our home countries. This time, I bought a few presents for my niece and nephew in Belgium (still to be delivered) and a wooden sign for a friend, we celebrated that friend’s birthday, and we treated one of Mark’s nieces and her husband to a delayed wedding dinner at a Thai restaurant.
Those friends splurged us on a weekend visit, that same niece organized a family party for us, and one of Mark’s nephews took Mark and me out to dinner.
The car category consisted of fuel purchases in Argentina (we left Thirsty with a full tank so condensation – and therefore water – can’t build up) and Massachusetts, where we were fortunate to have the use of my mother-in-law’s car. Parking had to be paid at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires. We reimbursed Julian for the tolls to the airport.
We used the car from Mark’s mom to get around Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
Our annual Chase credit card fee was due ($95), we spent around $50 on alcohol (beer and rum) during our stay and visits in the US, and we managed to order two dinners in Buenos Aires for $35 in total: a pizza and sushi. Both were delivered to our doorstep in one of Palermo’s parks, where we slept.
An Uber brought us and our Dutch friends to San Telmo in Argentina’s capital one day and another one brought us back. We paid Julian the equivalent of $20 for bringing us to the airport, half an hour away.
Moving on to Health & Fitness. I inquired at two hair dressers in Palermo, BA, how much it would cost to get a haircut, since I was convinced it would be cheaper than in our western countries and I wanted to start the summer with a short hairdo. Mission accomplished for $11. The other $13 went to electric toothbrush heads on Amazon.
Our $9 laundry expense was manageable in June and I visited La Recoleta cemetery for another $7, while Mark and Maya waited outside. It was pricey, but I don’t want to miss out on too many things anymore while on this South American journey. The Museum of Fine Art was free.
Household goods we purchased when prepping our camper to be left for multiple months were bleach to attack mold on our walls due to all the condensation and cold weather, and anti-moisture products to keep this issue at bay during our absence.
Apart from one night at Julian’s place for $7, our camping in June was free. We boondocked in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires. Once in Massachusetts, we stayed in the guest room of my mother-in-law’s condo.
Being Amazon Vine members allows us to order a selection of items for free in return for product reviews. Since we have to be in the US to partake, we took advantage of that by ordering as much as we needed this way, which saved us hundreds of dollars.
Mark paused our Starlink satellite internet connection for three months, so that’s less money spent. And, we still have a donation from long-time supporter Marian to use this summer. Speaking of summer, we sure feel like cheating by taking a plane from a chilly winter in the Southern Hemisphere to a hot and humid summer in the US! 😊
While June wasn’t a cheap month, the damage was manageable, knowing how much “stuff” we needed for our return to the camper.
On a side note, Mark and I had a little issue with some crisp US dollar bills we had hidden under the toilet, when our pee container overflew, because the sensor got stuck. The Ziploc bag that held the cash, leaked. We had to rinse each bill and hang it to dry! I guess we need a different hiding spot…
(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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