Aussie Working Holiday Visas are the ultimate way to properly explore Australia {as its massive} and earn some money in the process. You’ll hear that Aussie is expensive, but we’ve pulled together all our knowledge to give you our best money saving hacks. From beautiful beaches to quaint and quirky towns and never-ending sunshine (most of the time, depending on where you are… haha), Australia has so much to offer.
We’ll be sharing with you:
- How to be savvy whilst you are travelling
- Our tips and tricks for your working holiday visa
Travelling Australia can be made easier if you budget and be pretty savvy and plan ahead. Here’s a few RatPack essential travel hacks to help you save money $$$ on your working holiday in Australia.
Click images to see more.
Wallet-friendly accommodation
Hostels are THE place to stay when you’re starting out as you’ll get to meet similar travellers and of course, if you’re happy to bunk up in a dorm room you can save a money on accommodation compared to private rooms or hotels. Dorm accomodation is the way to make friends, have banter and learn how to sleep through someone snoring. Not only are you saving cash but you’re getting the actual backpacker experience, you’ll learn great travel tips and will make memories that will last forever.
Another option if you’re a solo traveller and only staying in a city or town for a few nights or more long term is staying in a room through Airbnb. This is a great option as you can meet locals and expats, get a taste for what it’s like to really live in the place and you’ll be with people who could help you find your feet quickly.
If you’re feeling a little more like getting the true aussie outback experience and planning on being in more regional areas, you could give camping a go. This will save you some serious dollaaaaar and you’ll get to enjoy some time in the famous Australian bush…
Just be careful and make sure you’re prepared as we all know Aussie’s wildlife are not always friendly.
Food and Drink
Cook your own food before adventuring for the day
Bring some home cooked food or enjoy the free public BBQ facilities at parks. To enjoy the facilities at the park, just bring some meat and veggies and start grilling! It may not be fancy but it helps you save money. Get some sandwich ziplock bags or tinfoil and you could bring along a packed lunch {your mum will be proud ahah}.
Bring out the Bevvies
Get your share of booze at the “Bottle-o” aka “bottle shop” aka “liquor store” aka “wine shop” or the good ol “off Licence” for the brits amongst us ‘the offy’. Alcohol at the bottle-o is way more reasonable than at bars so starting your night off at the hostel or your house will save you a ton of cash. And no doubt, you’ll learn about the world famous ‘Goon’.
Here’s a proper RatPacker tip for you: Goon is a common choice for the ultimate budget drinkers. It is wine packaged in a box. Its cheap and does you the same justice as any other alcohol drinks but for less cash. WINNING! Warning – goon causes great {terrible} hangovers and if you mix it with juice it will taste WAY better.
Venture around Australia by Campervan
If you are traveling in a group or solo travelling around Australia, then here’s a little tip for ya: get yourself a campervan to drive, relax and enjoy the beauty of Australia. For example, if you fly into Sydney you can buy a campervan with your savings, you now have a mobile home and somewhere you can call your own. You’ll save a heap load of cash on accommodation, transport and you’ll be able to participate in car pooling where other backpackers will share your fuel cost in return for a ride.
Of course driving across Australia will take more time but there’s loads of opportunities to find work across the country and experience amazing activities like learning to Surf, Sailing the Whitsundays, Bungee Jumping and 4WD on Fraser Island.
An Aussie roadie is a great way to travel the country, save money and make the most of your working holiday visa, a year will go faster than you can imagine!
Get to work
You might be thinking we’re mad when we say you can actually leave Australia with more money than you arrived with but savvy backpackers will finishing up their working holiday in Australia with some extra cash in the bank.
If you complete your farm work you’ll have a whole extra year ahead of you so earning is the one! Another great tip here is to buy a camper or decent size car or van that you can live in while on the road.
This will save you a load of cash on accommodation and transport and you can sell it when you’re gone. The final stage of the money saving guide is to secure your superannuation refund when you leave Australia.
If you’ve already left Australia or if you have a friend who’s left recently, check out the RatPack’s Super Refund page, fill out your details and we’ll find out how much cash you’re owed then you can start planning your next trip yewwwwwwwwwwwwww.
About the Author: Sammy
with RatPack Travel?
5-Star Google Rated
From our RatPackers
Ben was amazing and went above and beyond to find us amazing deals and exactly what we were looking for. He did it all in record time too! We were very close to our travel date and Ben was doing so much for us so quickly! Definitely recommend
Mikey was fantastic from start to finish. He was so efficient and easy to talk to. 10/10 for him, would highly recommend the service. So happy I chose to go with RatPack Travel.
Friendly helpful and accommodating. Thanks Ryan. You made it all very easy.
Great service from Ben, came back with answers within minutes and walked us through the process, great experience, thanks Ben
George was fantastic, I came in very vague and he gave me the time and examples to lock in what we were looking for. He found great deals and was easy to talk to - he was able to give tips about the process without putting any pressure. Would recommend using Ratpack.
Ben made it so fast and easy for us to reserve our camper van for our trip in the fall! Excellent service!’n
I had a call with Ryan who was super nice, knowledgable and made me feel really at ease with making my decision. He asked me all about what I want to do and achieve on my trip, although I didn’t really want to pack too much in… nor gave much detail on what I want to do, he gave options and ideas for me to look into. He used his own experience as an example which was really helpful to hear and made me feel like I’m right at home with RatPack, I knew then I was making the right choice by talking to him. He answered any questions I had, even if they seemed like silly questions to ask. The booking process is really easy and straight forward, they do all the hard parts for you. Once Ryan talked me through my options, I made my selection and all I had to do was enter my card details for the deposit and I was done! Thanks to Ryan’s detailed and calm approach I knew I was booking with the right company/team. I can’t wait for the next step!!
George has been amazing. He put together the costings for our trip, and then I changed the dates completely and he redid everything and said it wasn’t a problem. I felt that he worked hard to get me the best deal, advised me which pickup town was the best deal, when was the best time to travel, and how I could save money by adding a day to our trip (yes, it was cheaper to go for 21 days than go for 20!). George sent through mountains of advice on travel destinations, camping sites etc. I would definitely recommend RatPack Travel and George.
The Ratpack team and specifically Ryan f were great for booking our dream New Zealand campervan trip. Ryan worked hard over several days trying to find the best possible deals for us and the communication was great with updates regularly. He was able to get us 2 vans that out did any other quotes that we received and we are really looking forward to our trip with Ratpack being by our side. Thanks a lot Ryan F!
Lovely people, more than helpful.
I am so stoked with the service I received from Ryan at RatPack Travel. He was so proactive and on the ball to help me with all my questions and variations. He gave me several options and gave me other things to look at to make sure I had all that I needed. Ryan did all the legwork in following up the availability of the type of van I wanted. If you are wanting to go on a Campervan holiday no matter how long or short, I would recommend RatPack Travel! They will be you support in every step of the process, in the lead up and while on the road. Thanks Ryan! You're a legend! They are a one stop shop when it comes to sourcing campervans and motorhomes from different providers! I nearly forgot to say - he got me a great deal on a newer model. ;)
Thijs and Gemma were just so lovely to communicate with and explained everything so well. Booked us our campervan seamlessly, and with a great deal too 😊 10/10 service from them both!! Couldn’t recommend more! 😊
Ben was super helpful, easy to deal with and always got back to all my questions nice and quickly, with all the campervan options out there we really didn’t know what one to go with but Ben did all the searching for us and made the whole process really simple.
Amazing and outstanding customer service, Ryan exceeded all expectations, he and his team found the perfect deal for us, if you are looking for renting a campervan in NZ or Oz, don’t look for more! Go straight to them and you’ll see you are in the best hands! 🙌
Greg was superb! We told him what we wanted in a camper van. Even with less than two weeks notice, he didn’t disappoint. We loved our camper van and it was perfect for the two of us!
