£££££, $$$$$ and Budgets

When this blog doesn't get updated for a while you'll know work has been busy, the Internet has been down or I simply have nothing to say. But now that Daniel has finished his exams, perhaps we will see an entry occasionally from him too.

I've been looking at Tuesday 13 November's post and thinking about the plan after Estonia. Latvia and Lithuania, these are two countries about which loom large on a map and about which, I knew nothing. On further investigation, what I've found out is that they apparently have more in common with their Scandinavian neighbours than their Eastern European ones. The possibility of cutting down the amount of time we've planned in Scandinavia has been mooted, especially in light of their relative costs of living. Whilst Scandinavians pay up to 60% income tax and thus everything is 'free', this does not translate to a free ride for non tax payers and could be a huge financial drain. Relaxing in the wop wops (that the boondocks or the back of beyond for none NZers) of Latvia and Lituania will help to eek the budget out a little bit longer.

So what is our budget? I hear you say...
Well, we met a couple of other travellers and their camper in Croatia last year, they told us they had spent about £5000 in 4 months. So, based on that figure, we have an approximate budget of £10, 000 for 4 months, 6 months or 8 months or however long it may last. Based on current exchange rates that's about NZ$27000....or a small house deposit.

With a budget of £2500 for diesel, and as long as the cost of oil doesn't massively exeed US$100/barrel, at £65/tank and having an undefined mpg figure, we estimate 400, 450 or 500 miles/tank that's 15000, 17000 or 19000 miles. A more precise figure will be available when we have used up the first tank of gas. Initial forecasts are promising, barring a leak in the fuel line such as the one that the Black Bullet just recovered from, we are on track for at least 450 miles/tank.
As you will have gathered, this budgeting lark is an exact science.