Obviously your budget will depend on the places you're going to, because some are going to be far more expensive than others, and also the standards you seek - again, that'll have a huge impact on the money you'll need. But, we've been to parts of South America, Australasia, Asia and Africa and we've found that a good average for a budget backpacking trip is about £1,000 per person per month for all expenses whilst you're there. But that really is going pretty budget a lot of the time (although not extreme!).
How we do it:
Accommodation - we try to find the cheapest bed we can in a decent location. Usually through Hostelworld, Booking.com or Airbnb, this often means shared bathrooms/dorms and usually a bit of a run-down feel - but we won't stay somewhere if it has overwhelmingly bad reviews. Our rule is to keep to less than £10 a night per person wherever possible and if you can get something for half that then do, rather than maxing out the £10 somewhere nicer. If you're looking for a bit more of a communal backpacker vibe with popular hostels you'll likely need to budget more.
Food - we try to do a bit of a walk around whenever we get to a new stop to compare prices for meals in cheap-looking eateries. This gives us a marker for what we should spend on lunch and dinner and we always try to stay in those parameters. That way, if we happen to be in an expensive part of town another day we know our budget and have to order our food to match it, sometimes sharing meals if that's what's equivalent to the average we should be aiming for. We also rarely order any drinks with our meals, instead usually just having water from a supermarket. Breakfast may be skipped, or often it's a biscuit, pastry or free toast at our hostel. Eating out and enjoying local dishes is an important part of the experience for us, so we'll always treat ourselves to the must-try drink, street-food snack or sweet dessert when we're loving the flavours of our destination.
Transport - when we travel we always ask at our accommodation or information centres how those individuals would travel to where we need to go - that way you usually get the cheapest option used by the locals. Taxis are only used if there really isn't much other choice and we walk far further than we would be prepared to do at home. If there are choices between classes or companies then we don't compromise on safety just for a cheaper option, but we do always take the cheapest acceptable method of transport. This means every couple of days we're often getting up before dawn to catch an early bus, or spending the whole day travelling - so if you want to go a little quicker or more comfortably you'll need to budget more here.
Fun - a hugely important part to us, we don't want to miss the well-known experience in the area, or a unique opportunity just because we're trying to keep our funds tight. That's why we try our best to save money on the other elements of travelling. We won't do every activity on offer; we'll often read lots of reviews, look at others' pictures of the experience on Instagram or Google and think about if it's something we'll remember in five years' time. We also consider if it's something we'll be able to do later on our trip, as it could be cheaper in a different country. Then we walk around town to find the cheapest provider offering what we're looking for, seeing if we can haggle them down a little but not pushing hard. Often hostels will have great deals and lots of local knowledge, so are good places to start. This £1,000 a month doesn't include any major flights travelling vast distances across continents, nor does it account for other expenses you'll have if you're going travelling like vaccinations and insurance etc. We also think that making sure you have 30% extra contingency in the bank, so you can afford little extras here and there or are covered for unexpected eventualities, is a must and makes the whole experience a lot more comfortable. This is the budget we're using whilst traveling across Africa, Asia, Central America and North America for a year and so far it's going to plan - averaging out across the destinations.
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