Spending money

[minimammy]

I know this has been asked a lot of times and it depends on tastes and things but.....
Me, my dh and 2 dc are going to Portugal for two weeks in the summer.
We are just planning to be at the beach, apartment and generally relaxing. We'll have breakfast and lunch in most days and hope to eat out most nights. Maybe a couple of drinks when out but obviously not too late as we have the children.
How much would you take as a minimum? I know everyone's budget is different, just ask a guide.
Thank you.

if you do a supermarket shop when you get there and buy lots of frozen lollies ( if you have a freezer) that will keep costs down also what do you all eat? are you fyssy? will you need mo ey for day trips, water toys etc i would take adleast 1000 euro's, i normally take 250 per day and we budget separately for days out etc. we do s big shop when we get there. spend about €300 this includs lots of drinks. ice pops good food and stuff.

we eat out every night and spend between 50 and 150 euros.

some time we just get a pizza and salads some sofe drinks then go to a ice cream bar on the beach thats about €50 ish

I want to go on holiday with pumpkintree if you have a budget of Euro250 a day! Last summer in Siciliy we had apartments, used supermarkets and ate in breakfast and made up sandwiches for lunch and ate out in the evenings. Our budget was 60-90 Euro's per day for 3 of us, sometimes we spent more sometimes less.

@SJane45S I'd live to come in around your budgeting. We have got a freezer so I'm definitely at least getting ice pops and lollies for cooling down.
I've looked at local restaurants for the nights and some more touristy ones.
I know we will certainly have nights when certainly my daughter who is older will have lots of stamina and other times they'll have none, hoping I could just have some wine on the balcony then.😄
We are 5 minutes walk from a small super market, I don't think my children would really ask after lunch out but probably sweets and ice creams.🙏🏻

I am pretty much a cheapskate but our budget was essentially £20-30 per person per day. If you’re getting lunch & breakfast and alcohol at the supermarket it’s do-able and eating out can be as sophisticated as takeaway pizza’s on the beach at sunset with beer!

We normally go with £100 per day for our family of 4, kids are 11 and 13, so eat adult portions.
We buy loads of drinks in the supermarket and ice lollies.
We are off to LA this year and are taking £2000 for 2 weeks, which is more than normal, but we are going to universal, a water park and want to do some shopping, so the extra money is factored in for that.
I'd rather take more and come back with a head start for next year (which we always have left) than not he able to do what we want when we are there.

We always go SC on holiday and I plan around €100 per day for all 4 of us (dc are 5 and 2). We will do a couple of supermarket shops so we have things in for breakfast and lunch, and eat out every night, with occasional lunch out too. We will drink alcohol when out but then also buy it from supermarket and drink at the apartment once kids asleep. Some days we go over some days we are under but think 100€/day is a good guide.

However we don’t take this as cash. I have a Halifax clarity CC which charges no fees etc for use abroad and you get the best exchange rate on the day (recommended by Martin Lewis as the best way to spend money abroad). Will probably take €300 or so as cash only.

That's a great tip @bettybyebye
That's about how much we are planning to go with, just so I don't have to overthink it too much.
When we've been away before ( camping) some nights the children just want to go somewhere and have something super simple like dish fingers, other times they are fed up of the 'children's menu' and want something random.
My Son some nights just wants cheese on toast.😄

not sure how much id recommend but i would second taking a card and not loads of euros, we use a caxton card which was recommended the best at the time, i have an app on my phone so i just transfer more when needed but there are loads of different cards out there im sure

We have a Halifax Clarity card and a Santander Zero card and use these to pay or withdraw cash (always pay in euros etc not pounds, as you get a really crappy exchange rate and watch out for unscupulous merchants changing it to pounds for you, they're not supposed to but some do as they make money out of it). You get the bank exchange rate without charges on both, which is cheaper than exchanging money here.

Another way to save is to eat out at lunchtime, which is often cheaper ify you can get a lunch deal and then just have drinks and snacks like bread, ham, cheese, olives and crisps on the balcony in the evening. Can be a good option if the DCs are tired after a long day out and about and aren't up to sitting through a restaurant meal.

@BarbaraofSevillle that sounds about right for some nights.
I'm going to have to look at these cards as I'm not entirely sure I understand. Is it just like when people put money on an Asda card for example and it can be just used like a debit card ?

We take a toastie machine with us ( a wee one!) and it saves us loads as my dcs are teens and just live off them! I take around £1000 for the 3 of us for 2 week's but eat in for breakfast, snacks etc and some lunches. We eat cheap lunches if we go out - €2-2.50 for Greek gyros. Dinner we do both cheap and expensive and always drinks!! Never feel as though we are budgeting.

The Halifax clarity card is just a credit card so need to pay off in full when you get home to avoid interest charges. I only use this for purchases and not for withdrawing cash. Sounds like the card a pp mentioned might be a pre pay card?

I also have the Halifax card. You do get charged interest on ATM withdrawals, but it's much lower than other cards.

I check the balance on the app every couple of days and just transfer whatever it is from my current account.

Purchases where you sign/PIN are interest free (and you get a fab exchange rate) I think, as long as you clear he balance on the due date

@jocktamsonsbairn
That seems like a good plan.
I do think If they've had lunch out they won't want to go out again at night! So snacks/ toasties and the like might be a great choice.