Did our $700 a week actually hold up?

1 Oct 2026

Inside this newsletter👉

• The five lines our $700 a week was actually split into
• Why the fuel figure is so low, and the driving pattern behind it
• The costs that don't appear in any weekly travel budget, ours included
• Want to grab the updated Go/No Go Calculator?

Good morning from rainy Adelaide!

We budgeted $700 a week for our family road trip, and in the first three months of living in a caravan we didn't actually hit that figure once. Some weeks that was a win. Other weeks the money just moved from one category into another, which is its own kind of useful to know.

So here's what that $700 was really made of, and the bit we've never put in writing before.

The five lines the $700 was split into

Food around $200. Fuel around $200. Accommodation around $180. Maintenance around $100. Activities and everything else, about $20. Food, fuel and accommodation are always going to be your three big items, and the last two are the ones that catch a lot of people out.

Why our fuel line looks impossible

We get told the $200 must be a typo, and the arithmetic behind that is fair. What explains it is the kilometres. We do about 200km on a driving day, maximum, and a driving day only comes around every couple of days.

We travel that slowly because we like to really explore the little areas we get to, and Hema's Big Lap Bible is what we use to work out where those short days can actually stop, and because the kids don't like the car.

Western Australia is where it changes, you do get those large gaps, and the WA road and 4WD atlas is worth having for them, and those weeks the fuel bill goes up.

A quick word from our sponsor today:

What the $700 does not cover

This is also the important part:

Everything above is travel, the van and the experiences. It does not take into account living expenses, and we all have those. A phone plan, an internet plan, health insurance, a house back home if you've got one, storage if your things are sitting in a unit somewhere.

None of that is in the $700, and none of it pauses while you're away. Add your own on top rather than reading our number as an all-in figure. This is also the part that is very different for everyone.

​Find your numbers today ​

Have a lovely day
Margie

PS if you'd like to pop your own numbers in and see your real weekly figure, our paid Go/ No Go Calculator finds all the answers for you :)