Moldova actually felt a bit pricier than Ukraine, though looking at this it overall shouldn’t have been.  Though I couchsurfed for all but the first night (because nobody wants to receive a guest at 4am), there was a pretty nice hostel in Chishinau for 100 Lei/ night. I’m told that Transnistria is cheaper, but there doesn’t seem to be a hostel so accommodation costs would go up for anybody wanting to spend nights there. Cognac is said to be about $5 a bottle, though!

While traveling (especially long-term) expenses like the jacket/computer charger/ phone battery do come up on occasion, so they deserve to stay in these budgets for practical purposes.  It was pretty uncommon, however, for all three to happen in the one week I spent in Moldova.  For the first my poor planning was to blame, but I really hadn’t expected to be in Eastern Europe as winter set in.  The other two are China’s fault.  Chinese electronics are cheap and break occasionally.  I really ought to know that by now.