well, after reading all those posts Im starting to wonder if you have all lost the plot....whats it all about? isnt it everyones enjoyment of this great country to explore in anyway possible whether we eat noodles or lobster, fillet steak.. walk the same tour or pay $$$$ for someone else to tell you what you see and admire.I love meeting all the people out there doing their thing ..someone in a tent camped next to a million dollar motorhome...guess what! we are all doing the same thing and loving it and the cost involved will vary from person to person

I have been travelling with breaks for living for several years now . When the ready was getting short I'd look for a bit of work and rebuild the cash reserves and off again.
If your living /travelling as intended for years the only way I found to find the real Auz is to work in small towns and even volunteer where needed.
Just a thought as to how it was done on a string budget.

Ron

I have been travelling with breaks for living for several years now . When the ready was getting short I'd look for a bit of work and rebuild the cash reserves and off again.
If your living /travelling as intended for years the only way I found to find the real Auz is to work in small towns and even volunteer where needed.
Just a thought as to how it was done on a string budget.

Ron

Thats $350 per week - I would hope to come in under budget.I find the grocery bill less when we are away than when we are home cos I'm not popping to the shops when I run out - we make do and plan ahead

After the bills, phone, internet and a few little ones I bought with me are paid I have $600 a week to live on. If I run out I camp up if I dont I roll the money over for something else. Life is to short to worry about what you spend your money on. I reckon the only people who really should worry about a budget are those going on holidays and have only a limited time.
Then again I'm probably to lazy to bother

Most of you are factoring costs that you would have if you stayed home.

You would still eat at home and still have most of the same expences.

The cost of the trip is really only the costs over normal living?

Like extra petrol and and extra service.

or have I missed something?

No Hawkie, you haven't missed anything, seems like some people don't know how much they spend a year at home. its just the little extras that you buy or the tourist attractions that you end up being disappointed in that cost extra, not all but some.

Geez! for a while there I thought I was alone in the wilderness.
As I said before in my previous post...Iraj knows what his normal living expenses are at home..He simply wanted to know what the (extra) costs would be to travel around Oz.!!
I mean.. really..we've had debate about factoring in Birthday/Xmas presents, trading in vehicles, spending vast sums of money doing touro trips etc. etc. etc.
I'll also say again...our 24,000 kms trip around Oz last year for 6 months did not cost anywhere near $1.00 per km.
It probably would have if we factored in the irrelevent (to the trip) costs like Insurance, Council rates on our home, depreciation and on and on.
We did some great sightseeing trips, helicopter rides etc. etc. and did not do the Horizontal Falls bit..decided that, for us, too much money.
well said Hawkie
jock

Hi guys,

I'm not in the same league as some of you full-time tourers (lucky so-and-sos!), but I recently spent a few months on the road, touring and working with the family (I was writing travel stories for the mag). I did a thorough budget analysis before we left as it was essential to balance income against expenses.

I found that the cost of touring would be exactly the same as living at home, with three key differences. One is that caravan parks are cheaper than renting (in Sydney at least!) and services (electricity, water, gas), so we saved money there. Secondly we would drive more, and use more fuel because of the towing. Thirdly, putting our furniture into storage would cost us a little bit per month.

If you own your home, you save on storage costs but park fees will be a significant extra over your normal 'at-home' budget.

Unfortunately, all the costs like insurance, rego, phone, internet etc don't go away. Well, you *could* cancel the lot, I guess ...

So my approach to budgeting was to use my 'at-home' budget as a baseline. I adjusted the weekly rent based on park fees averaging $30/night and our storage costs. I knew exactly where we were going, so could easily estimate how much money we needed for fuel. Whatever money was left (let's just say that journalists work for love, not money, and leave it at that...) was for fun!

As an aside, if you are locked into a fixed line internet plan, then mobile broadband will be an extra cost, too, but probably only around $10/week.

Cheers!

(Full Disclosure: I'm the ex-production editor of C&M; and now a freelance journalist. Please don't hold this against me

I'm with u L&Ca;, thank goodness, I was starting to get put off here, you are right, we are all out there doing the same thing, whether we have money to spare or not. If we all waited till we had enough money, the right van, the best tow wagon, till we are the right age, lose weight, or whatever, we would all die wondering. I say get out there and do it whatever way you want. Enjoy yourselves while we are still upright and lungs are pumping air in and out and heart beating !!!:rolleyes: