Well, our first six months is up… Tempus ‘bloody’ fugit… there’s no doubt about that! Where’s it gone? It’s gone, that’s where but it’s been a blast. 7 countries in just over 7000 miles. We’ve visited mountain ranges, castles, cities, tourist attractions, rivers and villages and plenty of coastline. We’ve stayed on campsites, marinas, ‘free and not so free’ aires, wild camped and stayed with friends. The weather has been ‘variable’ to say the least and we’ve had a few repairs to make and improvements to install. We’ve met some really nice people and hope to meet a load more. Our digital nomadic lifestyle is well and truly underway.
Just before we left I built a spreadsheet to record our expenses as we go, firstly to get rid of all the receipts and invoices and secondly ( as we’ve never done this before) it’s good to know how much you’re spending and on what. The good thing about spreadsheets is that you type your receipt in once and it does all the calculations for you so in order to get a summary of your outgoings all you have to do is press a button. Et Voilà…..
Et Voilà indeed. Here are the results of ‘the motoroamers’ expenses sheet. Some figures made me ‘grimace and twist my neck’, some I’ve nodded in agreement with and some left me with that ‘pleasantly surprised smug look of satisfaction’… You know the one I mean…
For all you wannabe full timers I hope you find it useful and for those experienced of us will have already been through this process and will have set budgets in place. One’s thing’s for sure though, the next six months figures won’t be the same and 2: we ain’t stopping cos wesa lovin’ it so much we’re just gonna “KEEP ON TRUCKIN’….. TTFN
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Very interesting. Have been following your blogs for about 5 months when I first joined this group. Look forward to read each one. Have you taken insurance personal and vehicle etc. Into account anywhere. Good luck and keep your blogs coming.
Hi Pat, these are just our day to day expenses. We have a full year van insurance and a backpackers health policy which adds up to 100 pcm. Most insurance companies will only insure you for 9 months away and when you add the cost of going back to the UK and then coming out again it worked out pretty much the same. IF you need any more of a breakdown please ask. Myles
Interesting reading. I have just bought ours up to date (we use spending tracker) and our average spend per day has been 65 euros inc all insurances (would be interested to hear what yours is) including those we still pay into as such as life cover etc. Not bad eh although I know for sure by the time we leave the UK that will have gone up considerably. We have already spent more this month than we did in the whole of last month!!! A small price to pay though to catch up with all our friends and family.
We have both got seriously itchy feet to get going again!!
It’s a very interesting exercise that’s for sure. I don’t think in 28 years of knowing each other have we been so thorough in documenting our spending. And it takes minutes per day. I will add all the other costs..storage etc.. and see whats comes out. Looking forward to a nice glass of something together at some point. We are back for Xmas for 3 weeks, back on the ferry on 4th january to denia in Spain.. hope to catch up soon.
Hi Myles & Karen
We are just about to head off on our first 6 month tour of France, Andorra, Spain and Portugal and have found your Blog great reading over the past months and your cost breakdown very helpful in budgeting.
I am curious to know if any of these costs have been offset by any income from your affiliate links. I have just configured my blog to keep family, friends and any strangers updated on our progress and have put quite a few Amazon links on our Blog. We have a separate Amazon Affiliate site http://www.ootdoors.co.uk which ticks along nicely and hopefully will continue to do so when we are on the road with some passive income.
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It’s all a far cry from 1989 when we (me with my then husband) set off for a year travelling around Europe in a thirteen-year-old T2 and a budget of £10 a day for the two of us including fuel etc. Yes, I kept a close eye on every penny and we did the whole year on budget. Of course, there was no internet or mobile phone to consider.
Fascinating to see how things have changed – if only I could persuade my present husband to go, even for a few weeks, but he doesn’t want to drive on the wrong side of the road! And it would mean a lot of eating out, campsites with electric hook-ups, etc. Our T6 barely gets off the drive!
Hi Annie, what a shame you can’t hit the road again although at least you have your memories. Hold the dream. Karen x