What 10 Weeks in New Zealand Costs
1 Apr 2014
If you spend much time reading travel blogs (which clearly you do, since you’re here), you’ve heard this yarn before — travel doesn’t have to be expensive, anyone can do it, all you have to do is budget accordingly, step out the front door and strip off the bowlines, set sail, free yourself, etc., etc. blah blah blah.
And, while for the most part I agree with this, I have this little problem where cliches trigger my gag reflex, so I’m just going to skip the bullshit and tell you what I spent living and traveling in New Zealand for 10 weeks. You can decide for yourself if it’s affordable or freeing or whatever.
For clarification, I don’t have a full-time job, but I am also not paying rent or a mortgage and I have no dependents, no debt and no student loans. So what may be affordable for me, may not be for you.
For further clarification, I am willing to sleep in a car, mooch off strangers and eat an absurd amount of pasta and cold baked beans (see above photo). I never go to restaurants, I do almost zero touristy activities and I rarely drink alcohol while traveling. So what might be fun and enjoyable for me, may not be for you.
(*Also, all totals are for two people. I note when something is per person. And yes, we did write down just about every dollar we spent…)
Here is what 10 weeks in New Zealand costs…
FOOD
Total: 2,005 NZ / 1,740 USD
Per person per day: 15 NZ / 13 USD
We were able to keep our food expenses down by purchasing a gas stove (15 NZ / 13 USD) and assorted pots, pans, utensils (70 NZ / 60 USD).
ACCOMMODATION
Total: 329 NZ / 285 US
Over half of this is from our first two nights when we stayed in airport hotels at 85 bucks a night trying to figure out what we were doing. The rest of the time we stayed in free campgrounds, with friends (or, um, strangers who quickly became friends) and in DOC campgrounds that cost around 6 NZ per person a night. I spent one night in a hostel for a ridiculous $33 and then there was that absurd, forty-dollar campsite that Lisa and I shared in Milford Sound. Basically, accommodation can go one of two ways for you in New Zealand — stay in hostels for 30 dollars a night or invest in a car and camping equipment and go the free route. There really isn’t much of a middle ground.
CAR
Original purchase: 1995 Toyota Corolla for 2,900 NZ/ 2,300 USD + 4 t-shirts
Transfer of title and Automobile Association Membership: 60 NZ / 52 USD
Maintenance (new spark plugs, brake fluid and an oil change): 140 NZ / 120 USD
Originally we planned to sell back our car and we probably could have done so for 2300 – 2500 NZ. However, since we’ll be back in New Zealand early next year, it made more sense to keep it. Obviously, had we sold it, our total expenses would have been much lower. Also, yeah, we’re dipshits and didn’t get insurance. Don’t be us. It will only cost you like $70 dollars for 3 months because insurance is way more affordable than in the US. We just never got it together…
GAS
Total: 1,100 NZ / 950 USD
Okay, gas in New Zealand is ridiculously expensive. Or maybe gas in the US is just ridiculously cheap. Take your pick. After much headache in converting NZD per liter to USD per gallon, we decided that it’s about 7 USD / gallon. Haha yup, no wonder people drive small cars.
OTHER TRANSPORTATION
Rental Car: 98 NZ / 85 USD
Ferry x 2: 460 NZ / 399 USD
Trust me, I would have been happy to not pay $400 to barf in front of strangers but unfortunately the expensive (and sometimes nauseating) ferry rides are an unavoidable part of traveling in New Zealand.
COMMUNICATION:
Skype credit: 10 USD
Phone plan: 70 NZ (10 NZ for the chip and 20 NZ/month for the plan) / 60 USD
FUN STUFF
Kayaking in Milford Sound: 150 NZ / 123 USD
Wai-o-tapu Thermal Park: 62 NZ / 53 USD
Gondola-access Mountain Biking in Queenstown: 302 NZ / 262 USD
ANNOYING EXTRA EXPENSES
Parking ticket in Taupo for overstaying our spot by 15 minutes: 15 NZ / 13 USD
Sending my broken camera back to Canon USA: 50 NZ / 43 USD
APPROXIMATE TOTAL: 6,400 USD
Approximate because all of these are calculated by today’s exchange rate and not necessarily what we paid at the time. Also, I left out certain things that I deemed irrelevant, like parts for Macky’s remote control helicopter and some of the prep for our trip to South America. I feel like my average reader doesn’t travel around with a quadcopter drone. (By all means correct me if I’m wrong and Macky will have a field day.)
What do you think? Could you travel like this? What is your budget when you travel? Did I miss anything?
Love, love this breakdown! I think y’all did really well considering NZ’s prices. I’d definitely do the whole car/campground route as well – it’s worth it if it means you get to stay longer/see more. :)
Everyone travels with a quadcopter drone! Duh! Otherwise airport security would be too easy…
That’s just foolish, I never travel with a quad-copter, I ONLY travel with my cinco-copter, it is at least 25% more reliable. How did the price of peanut butter compare to the US prices?
Well, Macky loves you for that comment. And PB is a little bit more expensive than in the states, but not bad. The cool thing is that even the cheap stuff doesn’t have any high fructose corn syrup nonsense in it!
So total is about 320 USD per week per person? That’s affordable if we consider that a car was included in the deal :)
Yup! Probably should have broken it down a bit more at the end. Since 2300 of that last number was a car that we still own and will use in the future I would say it’s a pretty good deal. It would have easily cost us more than that to rent something for 10 weeks and this way we still have a vehicle!
Great stuff, Syd and Macky! You’ve done a fantastic job of drawing me to NZ! And with much more confidence than I would otherwise have in undertaking such an adventure. Looking forward to seeing you both back stateside! But first, best of luck in Chile!
Thanks, Derek! Glad we could be of some inspiration ;)
Thanks for the transparency, Syd! It’s crazy how everything adds up, isn’t it? I’m not sure why people say travel is so cheap – I guess you can make it that way if you don’t do anything, but what’s the fun in that?
Yeah, frankly life in general isn’t “cheap.” I live on a pretty tight budget regardless of where I am, so I might as well be traveling and not paying rent every month!
This was really useful. We are currently planning a trip to NZ for the beginning of next year so it is handy to see how much things could cost. We are very much a camping couple so its great to hear about others that have chosen to camp around the country rather than stay in hostels/hotels.
OH yeah the camping is great! Check out campermate.co.nz for a map of free/cheap campsites :)
Great breakdown. It definitely makes going to New Zealand a lot of achievable. It sounds like getting a car was the way to do it. I have no plans yet to go, but I’m hoping one day!
Do itttttt! :)
We just had a month for New Zealand when we traveled there, so we couldn’t risk buying a car and then get stucked there because we can’t sell it, but it’s definitely better way than renting. Moreover we were there in winter, so we didn’t have other option but renting a campervan to avoid freezing. I liked so much your other post of leaving your heart with your car in New Zealand, I felt the same when we left, I still daydream a lot about this wonderful country. Have fun in South America!
It is special, isn’t it? And yeah, buying a car is obviously less than ideal for shorter trips, because you don’t want to spent your entire time dealing with logistics. But it is WAY cheaper.
What excellent practical information! I really enjoyed reading your article!
That’s 6,400 USD for 2 people? I think that’s really pretty excellent.
Yeah, not bad, huh? Thanks!
Pretty good budget considering the price of New Zealand!
We always consider that buying your own transport makes things much cheaper and easier, it can be a pain (I guess you too broke down a lot on an empty road?) but it so much fun!
You’ve done a good job guys! I guess you can’t wait for January now!
We actually never broke down. Flatted the battery a couple times but otherwise, no problems!
I wouldn’t mind doing it your way and roughing it in a car… it actually seems like fun and a great adventure. Dang parking tickets are cheap in NZ!
Haha yeah I guess compared to a big city. They are only $10 in my hometown in the US though! (I know, because I’ve accrued quite a few…)
i envy you, you are able to travel and enjoy yourself and such a tight budget, i cant seem to bring myself to backpack or camp but i do enjoy camping now and then. I cant imagine caming in NZ, its blood cool all the time!
haha it wasn’t THAT cold! At least not in the summer….