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Original poster

We’re going on holiday on Monday and an emergency bill has just wiped out our spending money - will we be ok with what’s left?

27 replies

WhatchaLookinAtBabs · 27/07/2019 16:42

Family of 4 - primary age children .

UK caravan break Monday to Friday.

I had saved £400 but an emergency bill has just cleaned us out Angry

We have £150 for the whole break .

Most of the big activities are paid for luckily.

There’s a swimming pool onsite and it’s free.

Food shopping is also paid for but we are planning to eat out on the last night.

I’ve already got sweets and treats with the food shopping .

We only need to pay for treats at the attractions and any bits of tat the DC want .

Friday we travel home and only lunch to buy.

I keep telling myself £30 per day will be enough.....

Thoughts ?

OP posts:
wherehavealltheflowersgone · 27/07/2019 16:44

£30 a day on ice creams and treats? That'll be plenty, that's our family budget too! Enjoy!

Villanellesproudmum · 27/07/2019 16:45

Does it include travel to and from costs, otherwise from what you have said you should be fine.

Sunburntnoseandears · 27/07/2019 16:46

Send dh off site to find a take away or pizza shop instead of the site restaurant!

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letmepeeinpeace · 27/07/2019 16:48

Same thing has just happened to me!! I took food from my cupboards which helped loads!! You will be fine!

Ragwort · 27/07/2019 16:51

Of course £30 a day will be enough if is just for ‘treats and tat the children want’, sounds a lot. No need to buy ‘tat’ at all.

How old are the children? If over 6 surely you can give them each £10 and tell them that’s the pocket money for the week and they must learn to budget accordingly.

Original poster
WhatchaLookinAtBabs · 27/07/2019 16:51

Travel costs are already paid for .

£150 is solely for ice creams , treats , drinks etc .

Great idea about taking food from the cupboards !

I’m relieved to hear it’s plenty good .

OP posts:
AuntieAvocado · 27/07/2019 16:51

£30 per day sounds like loads for ice creams/bits of tat.

Does that leave you with no cash though?

Tbh I’d spend no more than £10 a day on treats, take snacks and bottles of water out with you as much as possible. Don’t buy any tat.

That way you’ll save £100 in case of emergencies.

floatinglily · 27/07/2019 16:55

I agree with the others. You'll be fine. Take packed lunches, bottled water etc. You don't have to have ice cream or tat every day. Change your plans for your last night. I know eating out is a nice thing to do but I like the PP suggestion of sending DH out to a takeaway, it'll be much cheaper and there's normally one nearby if you're willing to drive.

EmmaC78 · 27/07/2019 16:56

I agree with Ragwort. If the children are old enough I would give them money at the start of the week and let them decide for themselves what they spend it on during the week.

Bunnybigears · 27/07/2019 16:57

More than enough

CassandraCross · 27/07/2019 16:57

Providing you've factored in costs of transport to and from the destination and to any activities you should be okay, it means being strict and careful and only buying what you need not what you want. 'Treats' can work out very expensive so you will have to limit them accordingly especially at activities where you are effectively a captive market.

Agree with Ragwort give the children £10 each as their spending money for tat and once it's gone it's gone it is never too early to teach children how to budget!

IHaveBrilloHair · 27/07/2019 16:59

It sounds like more than enough, you'll be fine.

Chasingsquirrels · 27/07/2019 17:03

Mine pretty much never got "tat" on days out, and now avoid the gift shops themselves.

Ice creams we'd often pop into Iceland or similar and get a box of 4. Once they wouldn't agree on what they wanted so we got a box of each and all had 2 Ice creams each. Was still only £2 and for years afterwards they remembered it saying "can you remember when you let us have 2 icecream??" 🙂

Take reusable drinks bottles.

Sounds totally doable to me.

user1493494961 · 27/07/2019 17:06

Yes, give the kids £10 each for the week and maybe buy them an ice-cream. Have a great time, hope the weather's kind.

IHaveBrilloHair · 27/07/2019 17:10

Get the Robinsons squash thingies, that you take out and squirt into water, plus a reusable bottle each, Poundland probably have both.

letmepeeinpeace · 27/07/2019 17:19

I just made good use of the on-site facilities and the beach. Didn't spend much at all! Don't forget petrol money though

NeedAUsernameGenerator · 27/07/2019 17:22

If you can get to a supermarket then on some of the days you could get a 4 pack of ice creams instead of paying £2 per person at a stall or cafe. Take a picnic on the last day. Also limit the kids' spending money. Mine get quite a generous amount of pocket money (£4 a week if they do all their chores, ages 8 and 9) so I don't tend to top that up.

huggybear · 27/07/2019 17:25

Sounds ok but I'm a bit confused. Are you saying you now only have £150 to your name or that you'd hadn't allocated more and you're wondering if you should?

Likethebattle · 27/07/2019 17:29

Have you got water bottles? Take them so you can spend less on drinks.

MyDcAreMarvel · 27/07/2019 17:29

You say most big activities are paid for? Which ones are paid for and which are not?

Original poster
WhatchaLookinAtBabs · 27/07/2019 17:30

Thanks everyone for the tips . I’ll be using those Smile

huggybear We have £150 allocated for the holiday .

All bills and food for the month are covered .

OP posts:
ysmaem · 27/07/2019 17:31

You should be fine with a £150

huggybear · 27/07/2019 17:33

Ah ok you should be fine. Have fun! Where are you going?

IHaveBrilloHair · 27/07/2019 17:35

Is Haven or similar?
I've been a few times when Dd was younger and you can get away with spending very little.
My friend and I didn't as we didn't have much to spend.

notsodimwit · 27/07/2019 19:23

You will be fine... Enjoy your holidays 😊