Weekly Budget??

Having spent 11 months on the road over 2006 with a camper trailer, you'll find there's not really much difference in costs of living either on the road or in a house. In fact being on the road is probably a little more costly. I kept a comprehensive spread sheet of our daily costs and found the results surprising. More so now with the 5 years of price creep to add on. You'll find you won't get to free camp as much as you'd like or expect to especially if you have kids along. Our expenses only had to cover the two of us as well.

If it costs you a thousand a week to live paying rent etc, it'll be the same on the road, the rent being replaced by fuel/vehicle expenses and caravan park fees.

Good luck with it all.. It's a fantastic experience.

Cheers Mick

Have a friend who just bought a Winebago in Canada. Their plan is to travel Canada, USA and Mexico for 12 months. Plan for about 300K/day.
Vehicle is 30 foot motorhome powered by a 7 litre V8 petrol, does 2 KPL!
So it will be using 150 Litres per day at present cost over there $1.28 litre = $192 per day = $1344 per week - JUST FOR FUEL!

Food, trailer park fees, entry into places of interest, vehicle service costs and sundries all on top.

Suggest you may need quite a bit!

A $ a K for every K travelled would be a start

We are now into our 4th month travelling around Australia having left Sydney on the 14th Feb. I thought about $1000.00 a week but spending more than that. We went to Tassie for a month which was $700 each way on the Spirit of Tassie then Kangaroo Island $650.00 return so it all add up. At Hamelin Station South of Monkey Mia now. Will be back in Sydney late September. So far our rig which consists of an 09 Triton diesel duel cab with a cavalier soft floor camper is using 15 litres per 100km consistently. So 60 litres for every 400km at between $159.00 per litre to $210.00 on the Nullarbor averages to about $100.00 per 400km

Hope this helps

Dazza

Been travelling for 9 months with wife and 2 kids, 6 and 2yo. Average $1000 per week. Including $2200 return trip to Tasmania with car and van.

Hi Wayne

Your budget will be what you have available to spend. You food and general costs will be similar to home, but add a bit because you will most likely be purchasing in some out of the way places with higher costs, and you won't be able to buy in bulk and store like most of us can do with a big freezer and pantry at home.

Will you still have a home with normal household bills such as rates, electricity and insurance etc? You will also have licensing and insurance costs for your rig.

If you have little available for fuel, you will stay until you can buy the next fuel and move on, and fuel will be dearer the further away from major centres that you get. You will know what your fuel consumption to work out costs, then double that to allow for maintenance (which includes tyres, servicing and minor breakdowns). Have a sum set aside in reserve should you have a major breakdown eg an engine replacement, or even gearbox replacement can be expensive.

If you have plenty of travelling money, flights and cruises at key places will be an option - otherwise perhaps only a few lower cost short ones, if any, will be considered. Entrance fees to places along the way can vary, from higher fees for larger well known don't miss type places, to a few dollars for a small town museum, and it is worth looking at a few of these local ones from time to time for a different experience and to gain an insight into the locality.

For tips on reducing costs on the road see: Keeping costs down


Motherhen

We have spent about 2 months travelling in the outback each winter for each of the last 7 years. For the first three of these we drove a Landrover Td5, subsequently a Prado diesel. We do not tow, we either free camp or stay in cabins, rarely eat out or buy takeaway meals, and always have the vehicle serviced halfway through the trip. Our total costs have gradually increased from 70c/km to $1.20/km. Last year the fare to cross Bass Strait increased significantly, and if you exclude the boat fare the cost would have dropped from $1.20 to $1.10/km. The fuel costs have generally increased from 15c/km to 20c/km, although when refuelling in very remote locations such as on the Anne Beadell these have been in the region of 40c/km.

We have spent about 2 months travelling in the outback each winter for each of the last 7 years. For the first three of these we drove a Landrover Td5, subsequently a Prado diesel. We do not tow, we either free camp or stay in cabins, rarely eat out or buy takeaway meals, and always have the vehicle serviced halfway through the trip. Our total costs have gradually increased from 70c/km to $1.20/km. Last year the fare to cross Bass Strait increased significantly, and if you exclude the boat fare the cost would have dropped from $1.20 to $1.10/km. The fuel costs have generally increased from 15c/km to 20c/km, although when refuelling in very remote locations such as on the Anne Beadell these have been in the region of 40c/km.

Over the years, I have worked out our daily travelling expenses- I just like playing with numbers. In 09, our daily average was $47, last year it went up to $68 per day. Those costs include everything, big and small expenses. The regions travelled were roughly the same here in W.A: as far up as the Pilbara, east to Goldfields, back home to south coast.

The question is as you say wide open , on our travels in 08 we allowed for $1000.00 per week or roughly $1 per klm , 26 weeks and 23,000klm and we had gone thru $30,000 , but by the same token we met overseas travellers doing the same circuit as us on as little as $1000.00 per MONTH , admittedly they 'lived' on 2 minute noodles for dinner and Nutella on bread for breakfast each and every day , ,,, since 08 everything has increased in cost so now would be budgeting at a minimum of $1.50 per klm.