UK holidays - how do you manage your spending money

[Sarah Lou 80]

Hi all...

We are off on holiday on Monday. Luckily we are able to housesit for family who live by the coast however, we are trying to be thrifty with our money!

We will probably do a food shop when we get there and I'm planning on taking a tea flask and cool bag for days out so we can have picnics but I'm just wondering how other people go about not overspending on holiday?

There's only me, OH and our 2 year old. We probably won't go to any attractions that cost money but will want to eat out a couple of times at lunch time. Nothing fancy....fish and chips on the beach, a cafe lunch here and there and the odd ice cream.

I was thinking of deciding on a budget and just drawing the cash out and be strict about not using the card?

Would be interested to hear what other peoples budget for this would be if you're willing to share?!

 

[aimee-lou]

We decide how much we have to spend, and divide it by however many days we're there. Some days will be dearer (attractions, dinners out), some will be cheaper (beach days, days on site if you're at a holiday park) so it works out well. I take separate money for food for breakfasts and snacks but budget lunch and dinner in to the daily tally. I scour around for vouchers for things to do so you can plan a couple of fun activities. Things like crazy golf or similar are always a winner and not too expensive

Have a lovely time!

 

[Mummytobe85]

I would look on groupon for any offers? maybe look on websites and plan days out in advance to see how much it'll cost and to budget each day?

DH, myself an our two daughers went away with his family for his 30th birthday to a self-cattering cottage in hampshire and we just made sure we budgeted for the nights out (only went out twice to eat) also my MIL and i all chipped in an brought a few home made dinners etc stuff you can reheat or defrost.

Also if there were days that we wernt going out we just entertained the girls indoors (packed a few stickers, books, crayons etc to keep them busy) and some TV, luckily there was a pool on site which we had access to as well.

Have a lovely time

 

[gingajewel]

We always budget a £100 a day and then roll over any money that is left each day!

 

[karlilay]

We budget £100 a day too

 

[vaniilla]

I'm not too sure as DH deals with the money but we plan in advance roughly which attractions we're going to visit so that we can budget for them and potentially save money booking early. For food we calculated roughly £80-£100 per day (breakfast on-site, 30 for lunch and snacks and 50-70 for dinner). Had our budgets been tighter we would have made packed lunches and had dinner onsite.

 

[Gc85]

We always try to take £100 per day. Some days we don't spend as much but some days we'll spend more so it balances out over the holiday.

We only ever eat out for one meal a day. So breakfast at our accommodation, the either lunch or dinner out. If we buy lunch out then I'll cook that evening, and likewise if we want to have dinner out I'll make packed lunch for the daytime. Not only to make the budget last but to ease the strain on my waistline! Ha ha! We usually try and find an aldi and do a food shop to get all our supplies for the week, evening meal stuff, bbq stuff, packed lunch meats, snacks etc on the first day to save buying daily from expensive corner shops.

Over a week we'd do maybe three big attractions and then do cheaper stuff on the other days like swimming, beach, walks etc

 

[suzib76]

I didnt know people did this. I wouldn't be comfortable taking a load of cash with me, i just use my card when on holiday In the UK and abroad

 

[tinkerbelle93]

We just went away in the UK and used our card, but we have the banking app on our phones so it's really easy to see the bank balance and how much it's going down whenever we want.

We were on quite a tight budget so did a food shop when we got there for most meals, but put aside money for 2 meals out. We also put money aside for one more 'expensive' day out then planned inexpensive things to do on the other days- swimming pool and other free facilities at holiday park/picnics/beach days...obviously taking into account things like coffees, ice creams ect. Other than that I didn't really have a specific way to plan it.

It's also definitely worth looking online first for days out ect, a lot of places have a discount if you book the tickets online or have voucher codes online or offer on their Facebook page. Also with eating out lots of restaurants have online offers, particularly if you're dining during weekdays which can save you money. xx

 

[highhopes19]

We usually take £100 a day sometimes when we go away (i usually only do this if there is a safe in the room) I put each days money into seperate envelopes x

 

[lindseymw]

I didnt know people did this. I wouldn't be comfortable taking a load of cash with me, i just use my card when on holiday In the UK and abroad

Same here. In the UK we just use our bank card as normal & have a bit of cash on us as we normally do.

Abroad, we take so much cash (usually £200 worths) then withdraw little bits at a time as & when we need money.

 

[Sarah Lou 80]

Thanks ladies! Our budget is going to be lower than what seems to be the norm of £100 a day.

I also wouldn't be comfortable taking a massive load of cash if my budget was that much but I also know how rubbish we are when we use our debit card and can't see the money being g spent if that makes sense?!

Soooo, I think we will draw a bit of cash out for a few days worth and not take the card out with us and then draw done more when we need it.

We are definitely doing a low budget holiday though. £100 a day would be lovely but most of the things we will be going will be free....fossil hunting at Charmouth, the beach at Lyme Regis, just general mooching about on various beaches and seaside towns in Devon and Dorset. There are only 2 places we are going that we are going to pay for but I think they will only come to about £20 for both OH and I and LO is free!

I've also found a couple of places online that I think we can get vouchers for. We will also be treating ourselves to brekkie or lunch at the River Cottage which we always do when we go down that way. The prices are reasonable though and the food is amazing!

I may be deluded but I'm interested to see how far we can stretch our money and still have a good time

Thanks for everyone's input. One more sleep to go!

 

[tinkerbelle93]

I'd recommend downloading your banks app onto your phone, because you literally just press on it, type in a code and your balance comes up on the screen.. so you can really constantly keep an eye on how much the money is going down.

£100 a day is also a lot more spending money then we've ever been able to have on our holidays. We just went away for 5 days and managed £150 for the entire time including all our food but still had a brilliant time, the good weather helps as you can have lots of beach days and picnics for hardly any money. x

 

[motherofboys]

We tend to budget £100 a day too, but there are more of us eating out at most meals and going in the penny arcades and such. I came to £100 as a budget by estimating how much each meal would be on average for us, how much I was willing to let the boys spend in the arcade and on the general tat kids all for on holiday, how much I was willing to spend on treats and then rounded up a buffer for over spend. I would suggest a similar method to work out what you may need.

 

[Sarah Lou 80]

Bank app sounds like a good plan! Thanks

 

[Sarah Lou 80]

We tend to budget £100 a day too, but there are more of us eating out at most meals and going in the penny arcades and such. I came to £100 as a budget by estimating how much each meal would be on average for us, how much I was willing to let the boys spend in the arcade and on the general tat kids all for on holiday, how much I was willing to spend on treats and then rounded up a buffer for over spend. I would suggest a similar method to work out what you may need.

I have a feeling arcades may eat up some of our budget quite quickly if oh has any say in it!

 

[suzib76]

See £100 a day isn't a lot when your kids are 14, 12 & 5. They EAT money ��

 

[Sarah Lou 80]

See £100 a day isn't a lot when your kids are 14, 12 & 5. They EAT money ��

Ha! Perhaps I should start saving now!

 

[motherofboys]

We still get away with giving the boys £2 each to go on the 2p machines.
Last year we didn't go away and I thought we'd have some days out instead. Boy that gets expensive fast!

 

[highhopes19]

We take £100 a day literally because I point blank refuse to cook on holiday ......

We're going to butlins in November for Isabelle's 4th birthday it's a just for tots weekend a lot will be included in the price including all our food... We're going Monday to Friday I'm still aiming for £100 a day but if we take any home with us then bonus