spending money

[Chickychoccyegg]

We're going on holiday for 2 weeks self catering abroad in augustfamily of 5, the problem is I haven't managed to save any where near as much spending money as I would have liked, basically we'll have €1400, which needs to cover food/drinks/activities, I don't have a credit card, and no option of getting one due to bad credit, do you think we'll manage? im really worried!

Depends where you’re going. Some places are cheaper than others.

If you plan to cook at wherever you are staying, it should be fine.

It won't cover eating out for five for two weeks and activities.

I think it will be tight.
3 of us all inclusive for a week so no food or drink. We spent 400€ on activities and bits and pieces.

I'm another one for thinking it might be tight. We went self catering in Tenerife for 5 of us for a week and with activities food etc we spent about €1500

that's what I thought too, might have to plan to have majority of meals at the apartment, with the odd meal out, wish I'd been a little organised, it's mainland Spain, so days at the pool or beach mainly, breakfast, lunch and snacks in the apartment, dinner out and a potter about in the evening, kids will have their own spending money and I'm not fussed about buying anything, thanks for your replies.

You still have some time to save up. Can you cut back until you go to up the spending money fund? The ages of your children will I think determine what’s do-able. Teenage boys that eat a lot and want to do activities will be really difficult, if you have under 10s and you’re ok with spending most of your time at the beach/pool and not eating out then you might just manage it.

Are you in employment? Will you receive pay, tax credits, child allowance into your bank whilst you are away? Don't make yourself short but do factor into your calculations what money you would have spent on top of your usual costs of rent, council tax utilities. After all you will have 2 weeks of food budget you won't be spending at home.

all bills etc are paid dd week before I go, and I get paid 2 days after I get back.
hopefully with cutting back now, I can save even a little bit more
kids are dd's 13, 11 and 8.

I think you’ll be fine providing you do mostly self catering
If you’ve got enough luggage allowance you could bring along some stuff like peanut butter, coffee and things with you.
You’ll need to skip trips to waterparks etc unless you can ger reduced price tickets in which case most places do a return visit for a reduced price

Worth researching in advance what there is in the local area so you can decide what you can afford

At the end of the day it will be hot and sunny and the kids will have a great time.

Just got back from Europe SC. Food is pretty expensive (France). If you are going by ferry I would take some non-perishable basics with you (I think you're allowed to do this, but check)

If you are flying I would go to an out of town supermarket as it is a lot cheaper. We took about €1200 for 12 days (family of 3) but we did buy gifts and a few items of clothing for ourselves and we ate a lot of fresh fish which was as expensive as it would be here. Plus DC had 2 ice creams a day sometimes, which is €5 a day and also very greedy! We also bought a case of wine back with us too because it was cheap and really good.

I think it depends on what and where you eat while there and where you buy drinks as they are expensive everywhere.

I think it will be doable on your budget if eating out remains a treat, you shop out of town and take your own drinks everywhere.

On the plus side, the food was more expensive, but the quality was great and the wine was cheap!!

My jaw dropped when I was looking at booking an AI holiday back at the start of the year. Now I actually think it's pretty good value for money if booking out of season (although spending, travel, food and accomodation would have worked out the same in our case) and if I didn't like cooking so much would definitely consider booking AI next year.

Totally doable. Also remember you will have the money you would have spent on food etc while at home in those two weeks so that bumps up your budget a bit.

Buy multipacks of ice creams from the supermarkets (Aldi or Lidl is great for this) rather than at the beach or when out. This saved us loads of money!

thanks everyone, will def book all inclusive next time, will try and save as much as possible before I go, may have to borrow from my parents, but can pay that back the same week as I get back(they wouldn't mind at all but obviously I'm reluctant to do this since I am a grown adult)

If you can have days at the pool/beach plus wander round markets/towns and self cater/take picnics then you should be ok. Sometimes, buying food from markets is cheaper than in supermarkets.

Maybe try to research some free/cheap outings for while you are there.

We went away a few weeks ago for 2 weeks self catering, we took £1500 and ate out every day for one meal (2 adults 2 Kids), plus spent about £100 on shoes due to poor packing!

So if you don’t eat out as much as we did I’d say you’ll be ok.

I'm in the minority but I think it's totally doable!

Get yourself to a supermarket when you arrive and stock up the apartment and have most meals there. You can buy snacks at the supermarket and take these with you when out and about. You can buy an insulated flask each and take water out and about with you, keeping it cool for a while. You can buy a huge bottle of water from most shops near the beach etc to refill.

We went on a lovely holiday recently with a much smaller budget for spending money meaning we couldn't afford many activities at all. Luckily my child was very happy with the beach and pool each day! Can you check if there are any free places nearby such as sightseeing or museums/galleries? If you're taking a car (or would you consider renting?), you should be able to find a fair few that are accessible.

Big activities can be a treat a few times throughout the holiday and it looks as though this would be affordable.

It won't be a lavish holiday, but definitely affordable with some treats!

Sit down tonight and google places local to the apartment that you can get to by public transport that are free or very cheap. These can account for a few days of your holiday.

Google big activities that you definitely want to do and work out how much needs to be kept for this.

Google the local supermarket and set yourself a budget for 2 weeks of shopping.

Decide how much spending money you want to give the kids each day (there's plenty of time before you go for them to earn this).

Basically, just sit tonight and allocate your money to: food/snacks for the apartment, transport, spending money (toys etc for the kids), and places you want to see (free/cheap).

Then see how much is left over.

Is there enough there to eat out once or twice during the hol? (Google some local restaurants and check their menus for prices). Is there enough left to do one or two big activities? Is there enough left for extra spending money which can be used freely e.g. on extra drinks/snacks while you're out.

This is how I plan every holiday and it makes me feel much better knowing how much I have for each 'holiday area'.

You're definitely doing the right thing not putting any of this on a credit card by the way! I know it's tempting, but please don't start to go down path. I only ever use my credit card for absolute emergencies as it is so easy to see it as 'free money' and get trapped in debt.

thanks everyone, I feel a bit calmer about it, with lots of organisation and planning it'll be fine.

Go on Trip Advisor Forum for where you are going. That will help you to budget for food.

Plan your activities, but with three DD's and other preteens, they may be happy to spend a fair amount on the Beach/Pool, anyway.

As said, take what you can with you, including inflatables etc.

It's easily doable, if you SC. If the children have their own spending money, I don't think that you have anything to worry about, tbh.

Lend off your Parents, if you need to.I'm sure they won't begrudge that.

We've been to the balleriacs for the last few years, average spend was £100/£120 a day for 2 adults 2 dcs (that usually eat kids meals), That includes croissants for breakfast, a French stick/ham/cheese/crisps/fruit for lunch, ice creams, dinner out and a couple of drinks. We buy lots of big water bottles in the shops and refil small ones to take out and about. Also buy tubs of salted crackers/nuts/biscuits for mid afternoon munchies.

Find a supermarket and buy cereal, milk, fruit and Yoghurt for breakfasts.

Buy softdrinks, alcohol and snacks from the supermarket - it will be considerably cheaper than at a shop on the beach.

You could take some food with you like coffee, tea, the tesco value bags of pasta for cheap lunch/dinners.

Buffet restaurants (tend to be chinese/Indian) may be better value for eating out. Some restaurants may do free kids meals (particularly British style places). It might be cheaper to eat out at lunch using a set menu rather than dinner.

Waterparks are sometimes cheaper if you go after 3pm.

Where are you going? It might be worth looking on Facebook to see if there is a group (last year we went to Salou and there is a large fb group called 'Brits in Salou' with a wealth of information. Other people may be able to point to free/cheap attractions and restaurants)

Does your hotel offer all inclusive? Sometimes it's not that expensive to upgrade

If things get tight get the kids to make a little extra money. My parents used to get me to play my clarinet on the water front and make some pennies though that was back in the 70s.

It’ll be doable. Spain is full of Aldi’s and they have a more more ‘exotic’ selection than here so you still get a different experience.

Try to avoid small shops and definitely avoid British brands as they’re far more expensive.

Fresh fruit and pastries are brilliant for breakfast.

Baguette and cheese/ salami etc for lunch with crisps and more fresh fruit.

Then scope out reasonably priced restaurants for dinner.

Stock up on bottles of water so you don’t have to buy expensive ones while out and if you have a freezer, freeze them to keep them cool while out. Also buy ice lollies to keep in the freezer if you have one and Spanish sweets from Aldi for treats.

Will be tight but I’ve holidayed on less budget pro rats for two of us.

Eat exclusively at “home”and save your money for excursions and activities. Take picnics. Make sure you find the cheapest supermarket, for instance in France Monoprix is much more expensive than Carrefour.

Do really thorough research about where you’re going - public transport costs, airport transfer costs (often really, really high...), look up all the free things you can do and make the most of them. Work out a couple of contingencies for rainy days. Find the parks. Research deals for sights you want to go to. Be prepared to not go to anything expensive. If you must, plan it for the end of the holiday so you know you’re not going to be stuck for the next ten days with limited funds. Walk wherever you can if public transport is expensive.

Give each child a small, set budget for souvenirs - usually 10 euros for me - and stick to it.

I actually find holiday on a budget quite fun - you turn into adventurers/explorers and often see more of where you go than you would do on the tourist trail!

Do a supermarket shop for breakfasts, lunches and booze.

Borrow a few hundred from your parents (work out what day trip you would all like to do, figure out how much it costs then ask them).
Take tea bags, sugar, washing tabs, squash with you if you have them in the house and you have a good luggage allowance.

Set the expectations with the kids that there won’t be money spent like water. Do they have any pocket money they can exchange for Euro’s for pool inflatables etc?

Do research about meals out at night ahead too. Take games/cards for something to do in the evening.

You will have a fabulous time, think of the sun, spending time as a family and a few cheeky drinks. Enjoy!