# How much Money ?



## jayboy (Mar 9, 2008)

Hi All,

We are very close to renting our house out and doing an extended road trip in the van (hopefully a year)

Could you help in advising how much money per month on average we need to survive whilst touring in the van.

2 adults , dog , medium size van (portugal,greece,etc)

I understand that everyone has different spending habits, but If possible can anyone tell us how much they usually survive on ?

Many Thanks


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## Andysam (May 10, 2005)

Very difficult to answer that. We are 5 and don't have much cash. We wild nearly all the time and normally always self cater. We don't drink much and entertainment is in the van not out in bars etc.

Some people eat out all of the time, some treat themselves once, a week, twice a week etc.

Some use sites, some don't, some will when available.

Tell us your lifestyle to help out.


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## Patrick_Phillips (Aug 17, 2006)

As you say, habits are different. We started off in 2008 and managed happily on £13k and this year it will be nearer £15k I guess. We don't eat out much and if we do it is more likely to be lunch. However, we mostly stay on campsites. Camping cheques when travelling Autumn & Spring. CL & CS when touring UK in Summer and long term stays in Winter.
Here is a detailed account for 2009 if that helps.
http://kvisit.com/SvKmPAQ
If you have the discipline to keep cash available for emergencies, then there are big savings by not insuring everything in sight. Travel, breakdown, health all sound so important but keep, say £10k in reserve and I'll bet you are quids in in 10 years time even at todays interest rates. Insurance companies don't run risks!
Patrick


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

Campsites (if you use them) and fuel are the expenses over above your normal standard of living that you will incur. There is then the discretionary spending on such things as museum entries and meals out etc.. Very much depends on how far you drive each day. Costs of campsites vary and there are discount programmes out of season.

Dick


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I have heard the sum £1000 a month being mentioned quite a lot. We did five months last summer and thats about what we spent.

We both drink but mainly in the van, I smoke but not much and I have a huge weakness for French Markets and cheese treats etc.

We hardly ever stay on sites but we did do 5000 miles in the van and 2000 on the bike. I guess this figure could be reduced by doing less miles which I might if I was full timing properly but if you have a habit of eating out in Europe and staying on expensive sites it will soon go through the roof.


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## jayboy (Mar 9, 2008)

Thanks so far for the replies.

Im not sure if we can afford to do it ?

We hardly ever eat out, maybe lunch sometimes.
We don't smoke.
Wife does not drink at all
I only drink beer...... hardly any when on hols
we try and avoid campsites unless we have to, like in croatia for instance.

We will only have £700 per month to live off 
plus a few grand savings.

Do you think we can do it ?

Many Thanks


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## satco (Jan 21, 2012)

hi jay ,

well we`re touring from march till end of october only , non-smoking, non-drinking , no pets , but frequent "out-eaters" . we frequently use 
Stellplatz` , we did 10K kilometers last season and spent almost 10K-Euro . this amount does not cover technical improvements to the van , nor any maintenance.

regards
Jan


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## VanFlair (Nov 21, 2009)

jayboy, if you aint got it you can't spend it, live cheap, just go enjoy.

martin


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

Just divi up the cash you do have into 12 equal portions. That's it for the month!
After a few weeks you'll have it susssed.

No different from living at home on a tight budget.

If you get a bit low towards the end of the month just sit tight on a couple of free aires - shop in the markets and Lidl/Aldi etc etc

Of course it can be done - if you really want to do it.

Just do it


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

jayboy said:


> Thanks so far for the replies.
> 
> Im not sure if we can afford to do it ?
> 
> ...


Yes I think so but there is always the odd suprise to look out for. Servicing, repairs, breakages. There was a guy on the wild camping forum the other day wanting to do it on £250 a month! He still thinks he can do it as well! Maybe he can.

It would be quite easy to bumble around France, Germany or Italy from free Aire to free Aire or find wild spots for a few days. Dont travel so far and you will save money. There are CL sites in the UK and probably other sites abroad where you could get a pitch for a month for £200 or less if your happy to stay in one place for a while.

I suspect there is a limit where lack of cash makes the whole thing a chore rather than being enjoyable but I reckon you can make it ok on £700 if your careful. Just make sure you have a bail out pot if it all goes wrong.


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## Scattycat (Mar 29, 2011)

£700 a month. A lot depends on how far you travel in a month, whether you wild camp or stay on sites or a mixture of both.

So if you work out roughly where you want to go and then work out the mileage you'll have a good idea how much fuel you'll need. Diesel is around 1.34€ per litre in France at the moment and a bit less in Spain and Portugal.

You know how much you spend on food and household goods at home so if you allow the same amount you should be quids in. Eating out can be cheaper than in the UK as long as you don't dine out a al carte.

It then depends on what entertainment you want, and that's as long as a piece of string.

I'd make sure I've got a few grand put aside for emegencies, but I wouldn't do as has been suggested and not take out health and repatriation insurance.

I don't know about other european countries but here in France if you haven't got insurance the bills even for a short stay in hospital can be expensive, emergency treatment is covered but drugs, dressings and food are generally not. Yeah, I know under EU rules you get emegency health care but if anything serious happens and you have a problem that needs long term treatment the cost does mount up and repatriation for you and your van ain't cheap and if you need an air ambulance . . . .? I'm not trying to scare you but I know someone who has had such a problem. The cost of the insurance is a fraction of what it could cost if things did go wrong. What price piece of mind?

For me, I'd just go and enjoy the experience and when you get halfway through your cash just make plans to turn around and work your way back. Simples! 8)


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## Zepp (May 14, 2009)

We did our last trip around £1000 a month 


You can cut this down by wildcamping or using aires etc and if you find a good free camping spot stay there for a couple of weeks.


We met some people who had a budget of 20 euros a day and they coped ok even ate out once a week and used campsite for one or 2 days to catch up with there washing etc 


Paul


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## Andysam (May 10, 2005)

I would say that bimbling around the usual Eurozone €700 should cut it. Your sticking point is travelling to Greece- a lot of miles for just the mainland and/or ferries and realistically your pushing it. We could bimble around allowing for 500 miles week for €700 but then we are tight! 

We go places to see the places themselves and not the "things" like insides of restaurants, bars etc.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

I think renting the house is a two-edged sword, and needs to be carefully considered. :?

On the plus side I would expect it to fund the trip quite easily. _(The average monthly cost of renting a house would terrify me if I had to do it!!)_

The possible downside if it's rented for a set period is . . . it precludes the obvious strategy for the trip, which would be to carry on until the funds run low, then come home!

In any event, although we haven't done it, I reckon we could manage fairly easily within the suggested budget.

Dave


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## jayboy (Mar 9, 2008)

Many, Many Thanks
for all the advice.

Just had the letting agent around to view house.
£800 per month.
so happy with that.

I would pay for all my insurances , holiday, van etc before I leave.
hopefully no breakdowns or repair bills on van as still new.

I thought about having to stop in one place for a while whilst waiting for rent to be paid so that we could move on. 
No problem, has to better than going to work ?

Another problem, I just thought about is the van insurance.
I think I can only leave the Uk for 90 days at a time.

How do I get around that ?

Thanks


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## satco (Jan 21, 2012)

you shouldn`t tell anybody....
and: who`s going to control where you spent your time ???

Jan


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## Addie (Aug 5, 2008)

We've been travelling through 18 countries for 10 months and our spend is under £30 a day, bearing in mind that in that time we have done over 20,000 miles. Diesel counts for 40% of our spend so you can work out the rest, this is using only 14 nights on campsites during that period.

Here in Morocco we are doing it on less than £20 a day as use sites every night since they are less than £5 (we usually Wild Camp in Europe) and diesel here is 54p a liter.

Cost of food and diesel is CHEAP in Eastern Europe - The Baltics, Romania, Bulgaria but then of course you have to get there first.

The cost of everything is expensive in Scandinavia and now Greece, unfortunately.

Safeguard and Comfort both offer Motorhome policys with 365 European cover both insurance and breakdown.

Get in touch via our blog if we can be of any further help: www.europebycamper.com


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## Patrick_Phillips (Aug 17, 2006)

We are fulltimers. We split our time between 5 different "activities". Each has its own costs per day. They include everything including a contingency for unforseen emergencies but nothing for eating out or paying for museums etc. We are a couple in a 7.3m LeVoyageur towing a 4m trailer with a Smart and a 4-man folding boat with outboard engine. We insist of internet wherever we are. Home is an apartment in Tenerife but we don't spend much time there. 2nd home is a good campsite near Leeds.
The figures are:
1. 52 per day Touring campsites in the UK during Summer 
2. 48 per day Touring generally in Europe Spring & Autumn
3. 37 per day Winter sun campsite for 30day + stays. Little travelling
4. 24 per day in own apartment in Tenerife
5. 20 per day Staying with friends on their ground or wildcamping
Costs have risen about 5-10% in the 4 years since we started but actual costs have remained fairly static or even dropped as we have learnt the ropes and places!
Patrick


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

If renting out your house dont forget that

1. The letting agents will take a bite out of that (10-12.5% is the norm)
2. You MUST tell your house insurance company you have let it out (they WILL want more money out of you)
3. Likewise your mortgage company (if you still have a mortgage)
4. You will be responsible for repair to ANY of the fitted appliances (CH boiler etc so you will have to leave a "contingency fund" with someone such as the letting agents to cover such expenses)
5. Re-direct ALL of your important post (Vital, just think ID theft!!)
6. Health and breakdown insurance are vital especially full health cover. (I would also insist on breakdown cover, just think how much it COULD cost you to get recovered to a place of safety)
7. Dont try and get away without telling your insurance company you are abroad for a long time. One of the first things they will ask for in the event of a claim is PROOF of when you left the UK (ferry ticket etc) If you keep information from them they will drop you like a hot potato. You could be stuck many hundreds of miles from home with a wrecked van that your insurance company will do nothing about. So thats the value of your MH gone combined with the cost of getting you and your property back home. Can you afford to just write off the entire value of your MH??? didnt think so

From a few years experience of a month away at a time I would think £700 is a bit on the tight side, not saying it cant be done but its not a lot of money for everything INC maintenance etc. Try doing at home for a couple of months to include everything except council tax, gas, leccy etc. That should give you a feel for if you CAN do it.

Good luck, I REALLY hope you can, but you do need to be very realistic about expenditure (especially if you are away over the winter, its frightening how quickly you can get through your gas supplies if its cold !!


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## waspes (Feb 11, 2008)

Renting out your house sounds a good idea, as long as your tenants pay the rent !
We have been renting out several properties for the last 9 yrs and boy we have had some nightmare tenants and thankfully some good one's. When they dont pay its not easy to get them out and very costly with court costs and baliffs. Then you have to decorate and repair any damage that they might cause. 
I do hope it works out for you but just keep this in mind as it is not all as straight forward as people think.

Peter.


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

jayboy said:


> Thanks so far for the replies.
> 
> Im not sure if we can afford to do it ?
> 
> ...


I would say YES - at least that is what we are hoping. We leave first week in April for a minimum of six months 

I reckon with a 50/50% free vs campsite and lots of eating in/bbq (which is our preference) I was hoping £600 a month would nail it. I'll pop back in June and let you know 

A lot must be down to how you live whilst you are away obviously but we did bump into a couple who travel the UK and they were fine with that same figure.


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

jayboy said:


> Another problem, I just thought about is the van insurance.
> I think I can only leave the Uk for 90 days at a time.
> 
> How do I get around that ?
> ...


Saga do a 365 day a year insurance - just checked it out for our trip - they even offer to help towards us cancelling the Caravan Club insurance (who cant cover us for the loger trip)

PM me if you want any more info but they quoted us £350 ish for a year with ful 365 day breakdown cover


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## goldi (Feb 4, 2009)

Eveninig all,


Sell up and move on , Life too short for effin about .


norm


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

barryd said:


> ... I reckon you can make it ok on £700 if your careful. Just make sure you have a bail out pot if it all goes wrong.


I'd second that. We were away for 6 months and spent an average of around £850 per month. We were on campsites only a handful of times, using aires and France Passion mostly.

We do have a fondness for sitting outside cafes drinking coffee and watching the world go by and I guess we could do less of that if we had to.

Our figures include the extra expense of crossing the Irish Sea (very expensive compared to the channel).

Go for it, and tighten your belt if you have to - I'm sure you'll still enjoy the experience.


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## jayboy (Mar 9, 2008)

Saga do a 365 day a year insurance - just checked it out for our trip - they even offer to help towards us cancelling the Caravan Club insurance (who cant cover us for the loger trip)

PM me if you want any more info but they quoted us £350 ish for a year with ful 365 day breakdown cover [/quote]

Thanks will look into that today


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## jayboy (Mar 9, 2008)

Just read my Motorhome Insurance policy 

I am covered for 12 months in the EU (providing I am resident in the UK) 
They don't cover full timers.

I think that should cover me
I will confirm with them today.

From everyones comments, Looks like we gotta do it !


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

jayboy said:


> From everyones comments, Looks like we gotta do it !


Just don't get old and then say "I wish we'd..........."

You get but one crack at this life - you can't come back and have another go.

Just go and do it and keep us posted.


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## neilanddot (Apr 4, 2008)

Good post Jayboy and thanks everyone for your very informed responses. Some I will print and file (as I know in 3 months time I will never find them)! MHF is ever helpful, now where was I on reversing cameras ??
Neil


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