I landed in Sydney on 28 March 2023, ready to start a year-long whirlwind adventure in Australia! I really had no plan and no idea what I was going to do. But I knew I needed to be quite good with my budget in order to stretch my money as much as possible, and make my savings last. I figured it would be useful to do a budget breakdown each month.

I keep track of every single thing I spend money on when I travel, and this adventure in Australia is no different. As I went to add up my spending for the month, most of my expenses were in three main categories: accommodation, gas, and food. I’ve decided to stick with these three categories for my budget breakdowns! I’ve also included currency conversions from AUD to GBP and USD, just to give a frame of reference.

How Much I Spent in Month 1 in Australia

So, how much money did I actually spend? Here is my budget breakdown by category for my first month in Australia!

Accommodation: $456 AUD = £242 // $302 USD

Gas: $406.56 AUD = £215 // $266 USD

Food: $506.97 AUD = £269 // $332 USD

Total: $1369.53 AUD = £726 // $900 USD

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Australia Budget Analysis

I’m extremely fortunate to have been able to stay with friends for the majority of my time in Sydney. This saved me an unbelievable amount of money, plus gave me an address to use for important documents to be mailed, my SIM card, my bank account, and generally a relaxed way to get settled into life in a new country. I am so, so grateful to Julia and Utsho for putting me up!!

I also made the decision quite early on to free camp as much as possible. This saved me a LOT of money on accommodation, as I made an effort to stay at free campsites wherever possible, or cheap/low-cost campsites if no free sites were available nearby. I can happily go a few days without a proper shower, filling up with drinking water, or charging my devices, so it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make for the overall budget!

One of the toughest parts of this month was food once I hit the road in my car. I don’t have a fridge or a stove, which means I’m spending a lot more on food than I’d like. I didn’t have access to a kitchen very much (besides my time in Sydney) and spent a lot more on food than I would have liked!

How Much I Spent Buying a Car in Australia

Of course, this doesn’t include the main expenses of the month – namely buying a car, and kitting it out to live in it for the year!

I spent $3400 AUD on my car, plus a significant amount on comprehensive insurance ($534 AUD), breakdown assistance ($214 AUD), transferring the registration ($137 AUD), getting my pink slip ($43 AUD) and my green slip ($430 AUD) in order to renew the registration for the year, called “rego” here ($400 AUD). Some of this was technically spent in the first week of May, but I consider it to be part of the expenses associated with buying the car and getting it ready to go.

Besides the $3400 AUD (£1782 // $2216 USD) car itself, I spent approximately $1758 AUD (£921 // $1146 USD) in the other expenses (listed above) associated with driving it. Not to mention about $500 AUD (£262 // $326 USD) in stuff I bought (like a mattress, bedding, etc) to get it ready to drive/live in it full time!

I did have some other small expenses that aren’t included in my main three categories, mainly public transport (taking buses in Sydney), sightseeing (a museum in Sydney, national park fees, etc), and miscellaneous things like laundry and vacuuming my car. But in the grand scheme of things, besides accommodation, gas, food, and my car, I really didn’t spend much.

Overall, I’m pretty impressed with how I managed my budget in Month 1 – particularly with accommodation. I think my car will be a huge investment in my year, and already I know it’s definitely worth the up-front costs. I hope this helps give some information on how much money I spent on my first month in Australia on a working holiday visa!

How much would you estimate you’d spend on a monthly basis in Australia?

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