How much spending money for menorca?

[Tropicaliyes]

I'm visiting menorca in 5 days with my infant and we are doing self catering. I'm unsure how much money to exchange over to spend there, if I exchange too much then I'll loose a lot trying to change it back to £.

We will be going for 7 days, I will mainly be cooking all our meals in the apartment however I do plan on taking my son out to eat maybe twice while there (he has allergies hence self catering and not eating out much). I don't really plan to do any excursions as my son is too young to enjoy most things and Mahon seems a bit too long on a bus for my son to tolerate so I'm not sure if we will go there, but if we do, it will be by bus both ways and I would be spending very little there.

How much money would I need to do a basic shop for 7 days for all 3 meals? I will add a little extra on for just in case and extra spending money.

Thanks in advance

We did a bread, dips, ham and cheese lunch most days and it was a little under uk prices (ie Tesco) at the supermarket if that helps?

you could get large packs of pasta and sauces fairly reasonably.

i guess anywhere from £200-£350 for the week for all meals and drinks depending on your tastes and what shops there are near you.

We always seem to need about £200 more than we ever budget for..!

Order a Monzo or similar card so you’re not exam changing money until you actually spend it. I’ve just been abroad for the weekend and put £200 on my card. I only spent £100 so I’ve transferred the remainder (which is in sterling) back into my normal account.

I never understand these questions, because it depends what you want to do/eat etc. But Menorca is a mainstream destination, so you don't need to "exchange" money- - just pay for stuff by card, as you would at home, or stick your card in an ATM if and when you need cash.

Take 100 euros then mainly use your bank cards. It’s not sensible to be carrying all your spends around with you,

Check what your bank charges for debit or credit card use abroad before spending on it or withdrawing cash!

Where are you staying in Menorca? There’s a Lidl, Aldi and Mercadona in Cuitadella which are all a lot cheaper than using the supermarkets in the resorts. When we did self catering, we’d shop in Lidl for breakfast and lunches and eat out at night. It wasn’t particularly expensive at all. A lot of the items we bought in Lidl were cheaper than here, tbh.

Yeah my bank obviously charges to use the card abroad, I'm with Halifax and the only way around that is to pay £7-something to use the card abroad for a week which I was also considering doing however I was thinking I may be able to take a certain amount just incase somewhere doesn't take card or if I was to loose my card (which hopefully doesn't happen.)

I looked at monzo but they was saying that monzo would have to be my main card (which obviously Halifax is) so that was out of the window.

We are staying in Son bou, so it's a bit away from the nearest Lidl and similar and Google is saying a taxi there and back can be up to €60 + each way which is crazy (I don't drive so can't hire a car)

https://www.tui.co.uk/holidays/budget-calculator I use this for when I go away and then make sure i have access to other funds just incase of emergency like credit card

Try Starling bank instead. Their card doesn’t have to be your main account, it’s no fees at all and instant transfers. If you do use the card you have now, remember to always select to pay in Euros. That will be cheaper than Pounds. Have a lovely holiday.

Google is showing several supermarkets in Son Bou!

Oh I tried using the tui site a few days ago, and it told me I need to take over £900 for just 7 days which seemed really excessive! I even put 0 meals, 0 drinks, 0 excursions.. 0 everything and that's still what they said! In the end that's why I came herd because that don't seem right at all, I shop with Ocado and don't even spend that in a month let alone 7 days! I can't find much online about the prices of the supermarkets in son bou either but I keep getting told it's a resort that will have everything I need.

Thanks, I'll look at starling bank and remember to switch to euros of I use my own😬

Spanish supermarkets are usually cheaper than ours, especially drinks, fresh fruit and tomatoes etc. Things that are more expensive tend to be brands from home like Cadburys, Nutella etc. Menorca is beautiful ❤️

Basically you can expect to spend about what you would spend on the same things in the UK. You might have a bit left over from that, but not a lot, as the Balearics are not cheap by Spanish standards. Almost everything apart from fruit and veg, eggs, and chicken comes in by boat from the mainland, although on Menorca milk and cheese are produced locally - it used to be said that there were more cows than people. Nappies are quite a bit dearer than the UK (if you use Pampers, they are called Dodot in Spain, for obscure historical reasons). One thing that is quite a bit cheaper where you are going is drinks out (€2 for a coffee, €4 for a glass of wine), but with a small child you might not be doing a lot of that.

Don't worry about changing cash money. Take a few Euros, but mostly you can just use your debit card like at home. If you have a fintech card (Monzo, Wise, etc) this will cost about 0.4%. If you have a NatWest (etc) card it will cost 2.5%, which is what it will cost to change cash even in a place with good rates. (Do not, under any circumstances, change money at an airport bureau de change, or use an airport ATM, as they are just licenced bandits.) When using your debit card, if offered a choice between Euros and pounds, always choose Euros, so you get the bank's rate and not the crazy rate that the card terminal company makes up.

I would work on the basis that Menorca is the same as London price wise.We went to Mainland Spain in September and it was at 50% cheaper.

Take a small amount of cash and use card for everything else.

You can get a currency card which avoids charges, we use the Asda one. It's great as you can transfer money onto it via the app. The card is free and there are no fees. I believe post office do one too.

^ This. Small amount of cash and use your card.

Read the Moneysavingexpert cheap overseas spending guide to check the charges etc. If you apply for a Chase card today you will get the number that you can add to your phone to use straight away.

Put some money on the card and use to pay as normal. Take about 50 euro for small purchases where they don't accept cards, eg ice creams.

We also got into a knot with buses on Menorca because one was card only but the next was cash only and we didn't have any.

@Tropicaliyesas you bank with Halifax why not use their fee free credit card. I use a Halifax credit card abroad and stick all of my purchases on it and then pay it off in full when the bill arrives. They don’t charge any fees for using it abroad.

OP if you have leftover cash you could always ask friends, family, colleagues etc if anyone wants to buy it off you for their trips abroad this summer. We tend to just save it until next time, but if you don't want to do that, it's another option that won't lose money on the poor euro to pound exchange rate.

I would just get a travel card from the post office and put €100 euros initially on it and take €100 in cash. With the card you just use it as a debit card but there is also an app that you download on your phone which you can just top up as you go along.

I spent about £900 when I went self catering for a week, one adult one child but we ate out every lunch/evening - no alcohol for me and had pastries for breakfast from the local spar - beware they are expensive x

If you are with the Halifax then go online today and order their clarity credit card … you can use it abroad for free and then just pay it off.

I forgot to add we done a few days out too x

A Halifax clarity credit card is free to use and you’ll be able to see all your spends on the app. Then just pay it off when you get home so there’s no interest to pay. The exchange rate is really good too.

I looked at monzo but they was saying that monzo would have to be my main card (which obviously Halifax is) so that was out of the window

I don't think that can be right, can it? We have a Monzo card which we just use for holidays. It certainly isn't our main card. I'd have a look again, or have a look at Revolut, because it is a good way to use cards abroad, and would also give you the security of having two cards with you, incase you lose one (keep them separate). It's also good because you can transfer money on and off the card as you need it, so you don't need to guess in advance how much you will need.

Assuming you do this, I don't think you'd need to much actual cash. Almost all restaurants, bars and supermarkets will take cards. I've been to Menorca many times, and last time I didn't spend any cash at all.

The only thing you may need some cash for is the mini kids entertainment parks they have at Son Bou (slots, inflatables etc), buses if you decide to use them, and possibly sun lounger/parasol rental/water sports at the beach?

The supermarkets at Son Bou are well stocked, not the cheapest as they are resort shops, but not too bad. Probably a bit more expensive than a supermarket shop at home due to their location, but if you are selective about what you buy, then it's fine.