or a tight arse to be thinking of packing some kelloggs variety boxes in our suitcases for when we go on holiday?

[tinymouse]

just trying to write a list of all the things i need to get buy or do before we go to cyprus at the end of may.

so far have booked the airport parking, and found three bottles of almost empty suncream

anyway, i was thinking should i pack a few of those kelloggs mini variety cearals.
we are staying in an apartment for the week.

we usually stay in a hotel but this was the best deal.

Soltan currently have their holiday packs of suntan lotions for about £12 -£16, cant remember exactly, but it was £12 last year! It has four bottles in the pack, 15,25 and 50 spf iirc and an aftersun which I always use even if no one gets burnt (not on my watch, its a matter of pride!) as its a lovely way to cool down and keeps skin from dehydrating.

In our case it's a necessity. DS couldn't eat any of the bread in France as it all had milk in, so if we hadn't taken any cereal he would have had nothing to eat for breakfast.

Have you tried to buy baked beans in france Whatme? They cost a FORTUNE! The british aisle at the supermarket near our S/C place had an average price of 4 times what things cost here, although the marmite was a steal at £5 a jar :o

Sometimes eating out is too expensive or you just cant be bothered and beans on toast is a nice easy supper.

Whenever we go away I plan for about 3 months or so in advance and I buy a ocuple of extra items a week in my shopping and usually take about a weeks worth of food with us for a 2 week holiday. Saves money, makes our spends go waaaaaaay further and it means that in the event of mummy cant be arsed as she is getting pissed on the patio emergency we have something quick and easy to eat. Win win.

What I dont get is why wouldnt you?

I should say though, that we always go to France (always, get me! the last time was 6 years ago) and i drive us there and back so space isnt such an issue as it would be if we flew.

But isn't half the fun of going self catered nosing around the local shops for things you wouldn't think to eat/buy at home? I can understand taking things with you if you have allergies or very fussy children, but if that's not an issue... Then again I've never stayed in a 'resort' type place where the prices would be really inflated, we're usually in towns or villages and thus shop wherever the local residents do. I usually take enough to tide us over until I can get to a shop, especially if we're arriving late or on a day shops won't be open, but other than that, I buy locally.

I agree that it is Naoko. But in our case, doing that meant we could have a holiday where we could have fun day trips etc instead of spending half of our spends on meals. It just made sense to me to take a weeks food and have that money to for example, got the Eurodisney for the day, than buy that weeks food there and not have that day trip.

Naoko of course the fun is looking for local produce and supporting the local economy but I resent spending my holiday money on mundane essentials that are not going to be used up in the week

Sis and I usually go to Greece, so far we've been lucky in finding the local bakery in every place we've stayed and nothing beats the fresh fruit and veg from local farms
oooo tomatoes that taste like I remember in childhood, knobbly cucumbers, peaches, kumquats, lemons, pomegrantes fresh from the trees.
I still have some "home pressed olive oil " from a wee farm in Kefalonia that I rate more precious than gold

But if I was going self catering with kids, even in the UK, I'd pack tried and tested stuff

The only things we take (if flying) tend to be things that you don't want to buy a whole bottle/box/packet of when you're on holiday as you'll only use a fraction of it eg. salt, pepper, tea (especially my Earl Grey), sugar, herbs (hence my post earlier about being searched at customs!), washing machine/dishwasher tablets etc.

See if you have a washing machine. I took two doses of washing powder on my last holiday and fewer clothes than normal. I'd definitely wash beach towels if it was easy as I always feel they get a bit minging.

Whatmeworry Why anyone would take voluntarily British food to Europe always amazes me, I knew people who took baked beans to France on holiday. To France

And why not? We have driven to France for the last 3 years and are going again this summer, so like bogey space is no object. I take as much as I can feasibly can - tins, packets, sauces etc. We never eat out - our children would never eat the fancy food in the local (expensive) restaurants, Im quite a simple plain eater to...plus we like to have our meals outside our holiday cottages.

I plan dinners for the week and take what we need e.g casserole mixes, tuna etc so when we shop we just buy the fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and bread we need. Saves a fortune to. My kids like beans with their dinners so why not?

I usually have teabags, couple of sachets of instant coffee and hot choc, variety cereals (as a treat and so we definitely have something the first morning), washup liquid, small bottle olive oil, sachets salt and ketchup (I hoard these from McD's etc) and some seasonings in my luggage.

If SC and travelling by car, I'd plan to do a proper shop near to the destination, but tend to have things I'll only need a few of with me (say a few washing powder tablets, dishwasher tablets etc) rather than buying a whole box there. I have a SC shoebox, which has useful things like matches, couple of nightlights, pot scrubber and a J cloth, tiny oven gloves (silicon), small sharp knife, corkscrew (!!), salt and pepper (little mini-mills), few stock cubes, 250ml bottle olive oil that I fill before we go, small chopping board, small wooden spoon, small bottle washing up liquid, couple of both dishwasher and clothes washing tablets..... the sorts of useful things that we use a lot and that have often been absent when we get somewhere - and you mightn't think of when sorting the clothes and toiletries in the packing. I try to remember to restock that when I get home rather then when we are leaving (except stock cubes and oil), so I can mostly just grab and go.

I hate the small cups you usually get too, sometimes I will bring a mug - but usually I take the opportunity to expand my home collection instead with something nice but cheap from local market (I have more room in case on homeward journey!!).

I can understand packing such things as tea, coffee, sugar and washing up liquid - stuff that is compact and that is usually sold in packets that you will not be able to use up in a week. But breakfast food? Surely one can find a shop that sells bread and butter/jam that would be loooaads cheaper than tiny Kellogs boxes in Cyprus. Why not just use local shops and cook with local food? How much are you really going to save (if anything at all - Kellogs variety is def not the budget option) as opposed to inconvenience of dragging more luggage with you (and possibly paying for it)?

Glad others do this as mh OH thinks i am mad ... we always stay in a villa so items like the small tins of beans/sausage, pasta shapes as they are ideal for lunches when you can't be bothered to go out, i also take carton of drinking chocolate powder, tea bags and sugar ..... we are quite particular about the taste of our tea and hot chocolate!
the villa also has a washing machine so I take a few washing tablets for laundry so we take less clothes and usually they come back clean too.
I remember when I was little that my mum/dad use to take a pack of frozen bacon!

Take them.

We went to Paphos a couple of years ago...and didn't see a decent supermarket all the time we were there.

Also...the exchange rate for the Euro is not great....so makes economic sense to take them. They are light...so won't weigh much!

is it even legal to pack frozen bacon and sausages in suitcases wehn going abroad?
isn't there some sort of food restrictions? or is that just on hand luggage?

I take loads of food, ahve even pre cooked whole meals and packed them!

We drive, and have been away for nearly three weeks sometimes. It gets expensive buying everything there, or eating out constantly. Or when we are only in a place for a night or two it isn't very practical. I love trying out different foods, but it's just cheaper and easier to take some stuff from home.