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I was reluctant to write this post, Im not sure why. I think I just didn't want people knowing our business. But hey if you have read the rest of my blog you will see it might be a bit late for that!!!!!

I took one of the kids to a birthday party on the weekend and was chatting to a Dad about our trip. Obviously a figures man, his first question was 'So, how much is something like that going to cost you?' 

This wasn't the first time we have been asked. So if anyone else is wondering, here is a rough answer.

Hmmm.... let me see.......

The truth is we really have no accurate figure as we have never done a trip like this before! So we are running on estimates.

I am shocking with maths so I leave all the calculations to Craig. That is his forte.  He has read a few articles and made a few scribbles on paper and has come up with a magical number of  $1,000 a week for us to spend on our holiday. 

We are going for six months (24 weeks) so our budget for this trip is $24,000. Which Craig then rounded up to $30,000 to include things like break downs (I think he was talking about the car but maybe he was talking therapy for me). And unforeseen things like if we need to fly home for anything or if we need to stay in a hotel for two weeks because I can't cope with a camper. 

Anyways, his $1,000 pretty much comes from adding up how much food we eat, accommodation, fuel and spending money. 

We have averaged it at:

$250 per week in groceries which is what we spend now. I doubt that is going to change much on the road, unless our kids decide they want to increase their appetites!

Fuel is based on $100 per tank but we may get it cheaper in some places. And we will be filling up around two times a week. So $200 a week. This will be more or less, depending on where we are and how many KM we travel per week. But this is average. 

Caravan Parks are roughly $50 a night. Give or take. So that is $350 per week if we stay in paid accommodation every night. We have over budgeted here as some nights will be free camping. And we haven't added in the fact I have pre paid a large amount of our accommodation from Perth to Darwin already.  Anyways its good to over calculate.

Spending money, dunno how he worked that out but its roughly $200. 

Which is a grand total of $1,000. 

I also have a money box at home that I have been throwing $50 a week into, its called the 'ice-cream' money and it is for us to waste on roadhouse pies, ice creams, shitty souvenir t shirts, etc. 

And I have been putting together coles myers vouchers to chuck in the glove box so if we go over budget one week we can dip into our vouchers and buy fuel or food. 

We also have a container full of $1 and $2 coins for the washing machines. I estimate that I will do four loads a week (I am hand washing some stuff but still need the machines for towels, sheets and heavy items like jeans). So 4 loads at $3 a pop is $12 a week. Times that by 24 and my gold coin container will need to be $288 heavy by the time we leave in April! Im going to have to hide my washing money somewhere safe so no one steals it. Hmm maybe I should get Craig a bum bag to wear it around his waist?!

Before we leave Perth we will already have pre paid most of our big bills like insurances. We will have a telephone bill per month and our HBF. But apart from that we won't have any other outgoings. 

We also have a few costs associated with our investment property here in Perth which we have already set aside money for so this doesn't come into our holiday budget.  We also have a empty credit card with a $6,000 limit so this can be our back up should any shit hit any fans while we are away. 

Craig had a chat with a guy who did the same trip in the same amount of time, they spent $12,000 plus their food. So it can be done much cheaper than our $30,000. Baring in mind these people had one less kid than us and did it two years ago. 

When we return from travelling we will have a little money left and then a fair bit of equity in our investment property so hopefully with us both working we can purchase a family house to live in within six months to a year of returning. In the mean time we are happy to rent somewhere when we return to establish ourselves again. 

Also, just wanted to add..... were not handed any of this money on a silver platter, we have not been given any big breaks nor are we lucky. We have worked BLOODY hard and our family has gone without so we can prepare for this trip. This is a once in a life time holiday so we want to enjoy it. I don't see spending $30,000 as a waste of money, I see it as an investment into our kids memories. 

Once the trip is over I will do a post about the actual costs and link it with this one. I will be a bit wiser by then!