The Bills That Follow You on Your Big Lap: Back-Home Costs and Staying Connected
When it comes to big lap planning, everybody talks about food, fuel and campsites when it comes to budgeting. Nobody really talks about the sneaky, hidden costs that can easily blow out a budget in no time. Two of the biggest ones don’t have anything to do with the road at all, they’re the bills that keep turning up whether you’re there to see them or not.
Just because you’re going on a holiday doesn’t mean you get a holiday from your bills back home, and it doesn’t mean your phone and internet costs disappear either.
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Your House Doesn’t Stop Costing You Money
If you’ve rented out your house or you’ve simply locked it up while you’re away, you’re still going to have your rates and taxes, your insurance, and all that stuff too. Don’t forget to factor in your back-home costs when you’re working out your overall budget.
If you’ve sold your house, you still might have particular costs like your health insurance and your Medicare levy, or whatever the case may be for your family. You’ll probably still have costs associated with typical day-to-day living, so don’t forget about that one either.
Why This One Catches Families Out
It’s easy to plan the trip itself, the fuel, the campsites, the food, and forget that life back home doesn’t pause just because you’re on the road. Those costs keep turning up on the same schedule they always did. Get a proper list together of every back-home cost before you leave, not a guess, it’s one less surprise waiting for you a few months into the trip.
Phone and Internet Cost More Than You’d Think
Myself and Tim run different phone providers, I have Telstra and Tim’s on a different network, and we’ve decided to do that so we can get the best coverage possible between the two of us. We’ve found it’s a bit hit and miss, Tim will have coverage and I won’t, and vice versa, many, many times, so we’ve just decided to do it that way.
We also have Starlink. When you’re travelling, Starlink is crazy expensive, but we would not be able to travel without it, because we work on the road and we also homeschool our kids. It’s also just a nice piece of mind having that connectivity. It’s way more than the standard $80 NBN plan you’d have back home, so just a heads up on that one.
Our Thoughts
Neither of these categories feels like a travel cost, which is exactly why they’re the ones families forget to budget for. Real money keeps leaving your account for your house and your connectivity regardless of where you are, so both belong in the same budget as fuel and food, not off to the side.
Work out honestly how much your family actually needs to stay connected, and get a real list of your back-home bills before you leave. Together they’re one of the bigger sneaky costs on this list.
- The Sneaky Everyday Costs That Blow Out a Caravan Trip Budget
- Your Big Lap Buffer: Budgeting for Maintenance Surprises and Bucket-List Experiences
