Budget 4 weeks Southern Island NZ

Well, we are renting a medium car for a month in the South Island in January, and the all-up cost of the car is $NZ42.00 per day (Shoestring Christchurch), and the cost of a private rooms in hostels (YHA and BBH) is $NZ64.00 per night. Some motels we looked at were in the $NZ70.00-90.00 range in January, but the hostels we have chosen all rated very well. Trust that helps a bit.

Thanks for your reply! Do you have any indication about cost of food and drinks per day?

Well, assuming it's on a par with Australia, if you self-cater totally three meals a day, you could eat quite reasonably for about $NZ20-25 per person per day. A pretty good bottle of wine from a bottle shop at about $NZ10-20, but cheaper wine for less than that. Cost of a satisfying meal in a restaurant, and a pint of beer in a pub - won't know until I get there...

Car hire was more like $58 per day the extra insurance of $20 per day (that is to get something decent medium sized, and I would be paranoid about having to pay $2k if I pranged it so always take the extra insurance) petrol was $1.50 per litre.

We would have struggled to get anything to eat for less than $30-$35 for main meal in places like Te Anau which cater mostly to tourists, Dunedin etc are a bit cheaper, but its not a cheap region to eat and drink.

In fact I bought a round of 4 beers which was the most expensive round of my life, and I have travelled quite a bit in Scandinavia.

A nice cup of coffee also costs upwards of $3.50.

Supermarket food was seemed comparable to Aus, maybe slightly cheaper.

Alcohol was noticeably more expensive than Aus/UK particularly if you want to try the local stuff such as Otago wine (practically nothing less than $30 per bottle) and Green Man beer ($6 for a $500ml bottle) - and these are supermarket prices, though they did have cheaper mass market stuff.

Some idea of prices
Petrol approx $1.65/litre
Dinner in a cafe or pub, maincourse $15-20
Dinner in a restaurant, main course $22 -30
Good coffee $3.00 most places
Muffin or pastry $3.00 in a cafe
Filled bead roll or sandwich $5.00
Handle of beer in a pub $6-7
Glass of house wine $7-$9
Double room with ensuite in a good hostel $60-70
Camp site $20/person/night
Cooked breakfast in a cafe $12-15
Movie ticket $13-15 (go to Dorothy Brown's in Arrowtown) - there is a simlar theatr ein Wanaka but I can't remember The namw of it.
Bottle of wine (buy from a supermarket, NOT a bottle store) $10 and up. Pinot Noir from Central Otago is a must. It will cost $20 - $30/bottle.
Loaf of sliced bread (supermarket) $2.50 - $3.00

You are welcome to PM me if you need any further info.

If you hire a car for 4 weeks you should get a better deal than $58 a day. Try Ace Rental Cars, they have branches all over New Zealand and some pretty good rates. Their website says they guarantee the lowest rates in NZ so you might as well put them too the test.

yeah there is a bit of misguided info here.....
Green man beer is a boutique beer so why complain about it being expensive? You can easily buy 12 beers for $15 or less at a supermarket.
Hostels or backpackers can get you a bed at $20 - $25 (or less) each a night and you can find cabins in campgrounds for around $40.
And dont eat at restaurants as eveningstar has done. Find a cheap asian place or good old fashioned fish and chip shop for meals at $5 or less.
Have fun

It maybe worth your while to book accommodation ahead as Jan/Feb/March are the busiest times for tourism in the summer months.The locals are holidaying in Jan,and the Europeans head south in their winter.Spent a month in the SI from late Jan 2 years ago and if we hadnt prebooked our accomm[mainly hostels] we would have been stranded.