# How much money do i need to travel Australia for 7 months?



## kasyapa_lk

I am going travelling in Australia on the 04,2010. Starting in cairns then moving down to sydney etc. I am going with my other half and we would be staying in hostels etc backpacking around. I was thinking around £2000 each for 7 months is this enough. any help is more than welcome.

Cheers 
kasyapa


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## Wanderer

I do not think that 2000Bp will be anywhere near enough for 7 months, 7 weeks perhaps but even that would be on a tight budget.

You need to look at hostel dorm room beds averaging out at ~$25/n minimum and that's conservative for cheapest 4 bed dorms in cities would be $30+ with few exceptions.
But at $25x 2 /n and say $50/d for meals/drinks with a high reliance on self catering, that's $100/d before any transport, trips, entry fees etc.
So $700/w for food and accommodation and say $300 for transport etc. [very conservative], you have spent $1000/w.

2000Bp x2 =4000Bp = ~A$7000 on current exchange rates, enough for 7 weeks on a fairly basic budget.

If you want to do it for less, like on a shoestring [and have a read of Free Spirit by Kinga for the tightest of examples], you might be able to do it a bit cheaper - have a look at some threads in our Australian travel section for links to good deals and cheap travel.
. bus passes
. campervan relocations and free overnight stops
. tent camping
. use of free food at hostels when using those in cities.

You could by really scrimping and not paying for trips that can cost over $100 ea. [other than some specials like the GBR] try and budget $400 - $500/w but that is still only a bit over three months and would take some discipline to achieve.

If by looking at Bp you are in the UK, are you eligible for a Working Holiday Visa and even if not, you could stretch the time a bit more with WWOOF Australia and Help Exchange work for accommodation and food in Australia New Zealand Canada Europe not wwoof.
And for a cheap airfare if in UK consider Welcome to AirAsia.com, The World's Best Low-Cost Airline for ex Stansted via KL - register with site for email notification of specials.

.


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## AdamR

I got by on 50$ a day, you get discounts if you book 3/4/5/6/7 days at a time, and i always found it easy to find a cheap hostel, although i went in the winter. food/drink wise, I could easily get by on 10-20$ a day, although that obviously depends on your appetite and budgeting, going to supermarkets etc.

you're still looking at 350-400$ a week, and lets say you spend 200-300 on travel per month, you're in the 2000$ region, which after exchange/fees will be about £1000... for 1 month. 

If you want to travel for 7 months on that kind of budget I dont think Australia is for you... maybe somewhere in asia.


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## eford33

Hey there,

When I travelled from Gold Coast to Cairns we only went for 3 weeks and spent around $3200 for 2 of us. That was on a tight budget! We rented a wicked camper as that worked out to be the cheapest for us. Australia is expensive for some things, good luck!


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## elkitten

A lot of the people who I knew that traveled to Australia came with about $7,000 worth of Aussie dollars....all of them ran out of money quite quickley and worked to try and get some back. Thing is, it's all very well and good to be on a budget, but you want to have enough to do all the cool trips and all that.

In saying that, I lived in melbourne on a budget of about 1,000 a month.... then again i was paying bills and i wasnt traveling and seeing cool stuff.

Basically, save up as much as you possibly can--means more time without working!


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## bambu

I would add:

Never...ever...hitch-hike.


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## keri

well i just got close to 2500 british and hopefully will be staying to full two years on my whv, this should be enough surely accompanied by work pay?


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## Wanderer

keri said:


> well i just got close to 2500 british and hopefully will be staying to full two years on my whv, this should be enough surely accompanied by work pay?


That's a good base to start from Keri and seeing as you're thinking of two years you plan to do some regional work so you ought to pick up on the cheaper ways of travelling
. share accommodation or camping can be ~$100+/w cheaper than hostels
. tap water just about everywhere in Oz is OK so no need to buy bottled
. you'll find when working/travelling shared transport is common and if you have a drivers licence you could consider doing a few campervan relocations - Rental Relocations Australia New Zealand United States Canada - Hire Now at StandByCars
. when not working, WWOOF Australia can also offer some good travelling experiences at reduced cost.
. a night out at a pub/club can be expensive just like anywhere so check out what pubs have happy hours, trivia nights etc. and take home grog to have a barbie with friends is always far cheaper and often safer too.
You can get a 4L reasonable wine cask for $10-15.
. if you end up with a travelling buddy, 241 meal deals via Coupons, Vouchers & Dockets: Australia's Leading Discount Coupons can mean two can have a good meal at half price each.
. buy some bulk nuts/nibbles at supermarkets and have a container to keep them in, a bigger one and a smaller one for daily nibbles.
. if you're on the road for a bit, check out the rail/bus passes and deals that might be available through Australia's Best Backpacker Hostels - YHA Australia and if wanting to zip about the south east a bit for a couple of months, backpacker air passes with Regional Express :: Home are a good deal.
. there's regularly airfare sales on with all airlines and Welcome To Tiger Airways are paticularly cheap so a bit of planning ahead can help snap up some good fares too.
And check out the free travel magazines guides by TNT, The Word for ideas and vouchers, Safari Petes pocket size guide real handy, all usually available in hostels and quite a few hostels have their BBQ or Curry nights, pancake Breke days etc. and if staying in a hostel, the freebie shelves can often hold free surprises!
Everybody wants to hang out in Sydney a bit and www.sleepingwiththe enemy.com makes for a good hostel alternative if unable to get other share accommodation.
Flatmates.com.au - Australia's biggest free site for flatmates, share house, share accommodation in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. and Free Classifieds | Buy, Sell, Jobs, Property & More | Gumtree Sydney are sites that could help.
Get a weekly travelpass, www.131500.com.au for Sydney and pay the little extra to include zone for Manly ferry - best way to see the harbour.

*Edit:* Just added following for another keri and same could apply to you.


> The one thing I would add for younger people with reasonable finances is to keep that knowledge to yourself rather than attract parasitic flies and a good Mantra to learn by rote is _" It's tough, not much brass and gotta budget and work hard or I'll be sleeping rough and eating grass _"


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## thebadmilk

About 250 US a week when you live like a backpacker..dont take buses or trains unless you like that kind of thing.. Flights are much cheaper.. especially mid week early morning


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## jcljones

It depends what you want to do, you could live very cheap by free camping at places. Cairns is hard no free camping around, but the rest of the way down the coast does. However if you want to do tourist activities these are very expensive.


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## scottalen

Agreed With jones Its all depend on you.If you want to live a backpacker Try to using flight instead of train or buses.In £2000 is enough money to spent I think so..


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