1

If that is for two of you it is very little for 6 months. Brazil, Argentina and Chile are expensive countries. Perú and Bolivia are much cheaper, with Bolivia being the cheapest. You need to seriously up your budget or shorten your stay. You could stick to the cheaper countries in South America and avoid the most expensive ones, which would also help.

2

Also Colombia I would consider really cheap either.

$5000 for 6 months equals around $27 per day. Yes, some days this will be all you spend or less. But when you want to go see Macchu Picchu or see Boca Junior play a soccer match in Buenos Aries, these are the things your budget will not allow.

Travelling from A to B will most likely take up much of your budget. If you have experience in hitch hiking then it may be something to consider to reduce the budget. May be look up www.hitchwiki.com for info on hitching in South America and the difficulties involved. It is personally not what I would do, but I would rather give you the info to consider yourself then not at all.

I would be reluctant to recommend Couchsurfing to you if you are just doing it to save money, but it can save a few dollars here and there. Couchsurfing is a cultural exchange where locals host travellers and both get to know each others cultures. it is a good way to meet local people when travelling. There is the unwritten expectation you give something back to your host for letting you stay for free in their house and sharing their lives with you. It came be giving them a gift from your country. Cooking them a meal, taking them out to dinner, doesn't have to be expensive just a token that shows them your gratitude. www.couchsurfing.org

Hitching and Couchsurfing are both ways to reduce your costs, but ideally I would agree vehemently with vnrose and say it would be better to save more money or reduce the length of the trip and number of countries you are visiting.

3

Sorry, I meant to say I WOULDN'T consider Colombia cheap either.

4

If that is $5000 per person, it will be tight, but you might be able to spin it out for 6 months if you stick to the cheaper countries (Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador really) and take some of the advice above.

If you mean $5000 for both of you, you need to have a serious rethink.