£5k Budget Breakdown – October 2022

Well, October has been a spenny month! Only two months into my year-long gap year and I have already spent over 20% of my £5k budget. Just writing that percentage down is a little panic inducing BUT surprisingly my projections have me still in budget!

New here? Let me give you a little context...

I have just graduated from uni and have chosen to take a gap year before deciding what to do next, career wise. I will be spending the entire year travelling and have set myself a strict £5k budget which needs to cover all costs and last the entire year! Seem a little tight? Check out this blog post on how I intend to stay in budget!

Disclaimer – This post contains some affiliate links meaning I may get a commission if you use them. This is at no extra cost to you <3

Before we get into exactly how much I spent and on what, let me first tell you where I was in October.

WHERE DID I SPEND OCTOBER?

October was my last full month in the UK and I had a couple of housesits as well as some gaps which I filled by going to visit friends. Number one perk of going to uni, is having friends spread out across the country and a few dotted around the world. Always someone to go and visit 🤩. I also popped home for a few nights to look after my dad who had just had a hip replacement.

Itinerary:

Chester (1st-3rd) – visiting friends

Malvern (3rd-7th) – housesit

Home (7th-13th) – looking after my dad

Thame (13th-20th) – housesit

London (20th-22nd) – visiting friends

Buckingham (22nd-29th) – housesit

Northampton (29th-31st) – visiting friends

I find all my housesits using the site Trusted Housesitters which is a great site for people who love pets and travelling! Fancy giving it a go yourself? Sign up using my link to get 20% off 🙂

Right, now you know where I spent October, let’s get into how much I spent 🤑

DAILY SPENDS = £416.59

Oooff that is a lot more than my £10 per day budget BUT it was all planned for! I ate out a lot when staying with friends, went to the zoo, saw a musical in London and booked Lizzo tickets for next March 🤩 But I kept my spending low when on my housesits so it all evened out.

Daily Spending Breakdown:

Eating Out ~ £118.15

This not only includes meals out when I stayed with friends, but also any food I bought on the go. Like meal deals – the best picnic – and these incredible loaded doughnuts I got in Chester 😍.

Entertainment ~ £109

This was spent on tickets to see Lizzo next year (£54), admission to Chester Zoo (£30) and rush tickets for Heathers (£25).

Drinks ~ £53.74

Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic! I went out for drinks a couple of times when visiting friends. I even ended up going for drinks with one of the pet owners I housesat for. The total also includes £11.19 spent in cafes as I have re-found the joy of working in cafes – something I avoided after working as a barista for so long.

Transportation ~ £49.66

Total spend for all bus, train and tube tickets when exploring. Costs getting to and from new locations are covered in my separate transportation budget.

Groceries ~ £43.46

Happy with how low I kept this category! Having access to a kitchen is going to save me a fortune over the next year.

Travel ~ £19.74

This was the fee to get a US tourist visa.

Household ~ £12.85

I picked up a few things for my mum on the way back to home, like dog food. So I have categorised this mini shop as a household expense.

Shopping ~ £8

I had to replace a dog bowl I accidentally dropped on the floor. The owner did offer to give me the money but I felt bad so I didn’t accept.

Personal ~ £1

Auntie Flo surprised me when I exploring London so I had to grab a pack of pads.

Gifts ~ £0.99

This was for a card I sent to a friend.

TRANSPORTATION = £397.87

Hefty transportation spend this month!! Over half of this spend was down to me trying to get organised for my 3 months in the USA. I booked my flight back (£133.14 – absolute bargain) and a 17 hour overnight-train from NYC to Chicago (£83.40). The other half was spent on transportation costs for the UK leg of my trip, which included a £71 bill for temporary car insurance!

ACCOMMODATION = £0

Whoop whoop!! Another month with zero pounds spent on accommodation! Very happy that I haven’t paid for a single nights accommodation so far this trip 🙌🏻

This is mostly down to housesitting but also taking advantage of having uni friends spread across the country that have been kind enough to put me up! However, this category won’t stay at zero for long as I have booked a hostel for the two nights I am in NYC next month. This was booked through Booking.com meaning I don’t have to pay until I get there – cash flow win!

MISC. = £149

I’ve secured a job working as a camp counsellor next summer in the US. This is a paid role but due to needing a work visa I have to pay some fees up front. So far I have paid the first two instalments totalling £149. I have another £200 left to pay which will be due in the next few months. This is a cost that I will recoup but not until next August so I am still counting it as part of my £5k budget.

TOTAL SPENT IN OCTOBER = £963.46

TOTAL SPENT OVERALL = £1220.70

BUDGET LEFT = £3779.30

Well those totals look kinda depressing this early in the trip! But it includes a lot of upfront costs so my spending for the next few months will only be daily spending plus the few tickets I haven’t booked yet 😅

What do you think? Reckon I’ll stay within my £5k budget?