I honestly can’t believe how fast this year in Australia has gone! Somehow, I’ve been here for 10 whole months. I don’t know what’s more shocking, the fact that I’ve been here so long, or the fact that I’m still living off my savings and haven’t had to work yet!
This month has been a mix, like December. I spent the first half of the month housesitting around Adelaide, with very minimal expenses. I spent the second half on the road, driving between Adelaide and Melbourne (Geelong), to get the ferry to Tasmania.
I break down all my expenses into four main categories: accommodation, gas, food, and other. I always discuss what makes up the “other” category towards the end of this blog post!
How Much I Spent in Month 10 in Australia
So, how much money did I actually spend this month? Here’s my budget breakdown!
Accommodation: $111 AUD = £48 // $74 USD
Gas: $986 AUD = £528 // $671
Food: $389 AUD = £201 // $256 USD
Other: $935 AUD = £484 // $615 USD
Total: $1829 AUD = £947 // $1203
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Australia Budget Analysis
Overall, I’m pretty pleased with this month’s budget. I had two weeks of housesitting, where I spent basically no money besides groceries, which really helped! I spent most of the time working, and barely drove anywhere. I actually didn’t fill up with gas at all between 15 December and 13 January – such a blessing! While I felt like I was road tripping at a pretty fast pace, the distances driven weren’t actually that far. My super-long driving days across the outback are over – and so are the exorbitant gas prices I paid. Gas has been pretty cheap (under $2.00/L, mostly under $1.80/L) throughout this stretch. Compared to previous months, where I felt like I was just shitting money on gas, this has really helped keep my budget low.
My accommodation this month was all campgrounds after I hit the road. I always prioritize free camps, but sometimes there aren’t any around, or it doesn’t make sense to drive a long distance (thereby spending money on gas) to get to a campsite just because it’s free. But I’ve been really impressed with my free camps this last month, and am glad I was able to keep my budget low. I’m also pretty happy with my food budget! When I have access to a kitchen (especially a fridge), I’d like to spend about $300 per month – so the fact that this month’s is only slightly above that is great! I know next month will be more expensive as I’ll be on the road, without a fridge or oven or real stove. But for this month I’m happy.
Unfortunately, my other expenses this month were super high. The overwhelming majority of this category’s expenses are from getting my car serviced ($475) and renewing my rego ($238). These are necessary expenses that I can’t avoid – although the car service was a LOT more expensive than I was expecting, I think my car really needed it. The other expenses in this category were pretty minimal: I needed to buy 3 more months of birth control ($74), buy some new underwear from Target, get a parks pass for Tasmania, and do laundry. I’m glad these expenses came during a relatively affordable month! I did book a few things in Tasmania in advance, but I’ll be including these activities and accommodation in next month’s budget.
January’s budget was pretty good, thanks to not traveling for half of the month. As with all of my budget breakdowns, I hope this post gives a realistic idea of expenses on the road in Australia!
You might also like my posts:
How to Get a Work and Holiday Visa (WHV 462) for Australia in 2023
Australia Budget: Month 9 (December 2023)
Australia Budget: Month 8 (November 2023)
Australia Budget: Month 7 (October 2023)
Australia Budget: Month 6 (September 2023)
Australia Budget: Month 5 (August 2023)
Australia Budget: Month 4 (July 2023)
Australia Budget: Month 3 (June 2023)
Australia Budget: Month 2 (May 2023)
Australia Budget: Month 1 (April 2023)
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