I started cheap not knowing what I was doing and whether I would enjoy touring. I did. In hindsight, I wish I'd spent a lot more up front on quality stuff. But, how's one to know that at the onset?

One approach would be to buy quality up front. If touring turns out NOT to be your 'thing', then quality is easy to resell. Would be like you had rented the gear. A set of slightly used Ortlieb panniers would sell immediately on Craigs or on www.crazyguyonabike.com. You could maybe recouped 60-70%.

Figure on minimum of $15/day, free camping, no restaurants. That's with a bit of discipline, no surprises, tour time only. More realistically, $25 and up, depending.