Frugal Vacation – Saving Money On Food
Wow, have we been busy! We’re all really enjoying ourselves especially DS. I really can’t wait to get into sharing our attractions with you. Today, I wanted to discuss saving one the food situation with you.
If you go out to eat at every meal, you’re looking to spend on average $40 per person. Now that is an average, it could be more and it could be less. This of course depends on the person and their taste. Based on that average, a 5 day vacation for a family of 4 would cost you $800 in food. I don’t know about you, but that’s insane. I could think of a million different things I’d much rather spend that $800 on. So, what can you do about that?? Well, I have several ideas which revolve around the same theme. Bring your own food and snacks. It’s not a difficult concept to grasp but you’d be surprised how many people turn their nose up at me when I say that’s what I do. Of course, that doesn’t really hurt my feelings I like keeping my $800.
On a 5 hour trip you’re bound to make several pit stops. Do not become victim to the convenient store prices. You know what snacks you crave so why don’t you go ahead and pack a cooler of your favorite treats and drinks so while you’re driving or when you stop, you can enjoy your snack.
Now, once you arrive and while you’re on vacation it can get kind of tricky. That’s ok, it’s time to be creative! The best case scenario would be that you either found an insane deal on a condo or hotel room with a kitchenette. That would be ideal. Of course, with good reason, these rooms/condos tend to be more expensive than your standard hotel room. As hard as I looked, sadly, for us that didn’t work out for the hotel I landed. So, I just got creative.
Most hotels offer some type of breakfast. USE IT! I cannot tell you how many people I have seen leave and bring back a biscuit or go to the Waffle House. This absolutely blows my mind. I mean you’ve already paid for breakfast, you might as well eat it. This hotel has offered a breakfast bar which includes various cereals, muffins, bagels, biscuits, and the opportunity to make your own waffle. Each day has been yummy and quite filling and was nothing extra out of our pockets. Even if your breakfast is something as little as a muffin and juice, eat it! Don’t waste anything you’ve paid for.
Sandwiches are the best lunch. The reason for this is, if you’ve been going non-stop like us, it doesn’t take long to make, they pack well, and are super cheap. If you have a coupon, the Pringles individual serve bags of chips are great but a sandwich baggie of chips work well too. If your room has a mini fridge (call ahead to find out) you can bring sandwich meats and condiments to make it tasty. If your room does not have a fridge then bring products that can stand out like peanut butter and jelly.
Most hotels offer free ice so take advantage of it. Bring bottles of juice, individual boxed drinks, and canned drinks. Drinks are a HUGE money maker. Here at our hotel, I could not believe that to get a 12 oz canned Coke out of the machine would cost $1. Thanks but no thanks. I did actually forget to buy Cokes before I left home but that was ok. There was a CVS down the street and with ECBs and sale prices I was able to get 5 12 packs for $7.37 ($1.47 ea). So for an extra $0.47 I was able to buy 11 more Cokes as compared to the vending machine pricing. Please don’t be a victim! Oh yeah, got boxed juice drinks and no fridge? Just fill up a cup with ice and let the box sit in it/on top for a few minutes and it will cool down. Or, fill up your room’s ice holder and use it as a cooler placing several boxes in it.
Now we come to dinner. Yes I know a lot of you say “But, we’re on vacation! I don’t wanna cook every meal!” That’s fine. Assuming you’re taking care of breakfast, lunch, and snacks you’re saving a tremendous amount. You can go out to eat for dinner! We’ve actually been playing it by ear. After a long day in the sun you really don’t feel up to a whole big dinner so something small or leftovers has worked for us. If you go out to eat every night for 5 nights the average meal per person is about $17. Again, it could always be less if you go to McDonalds. Assuming that figure, you’re looking at about $340 for a family of 4. That of course is a far cry from $800. So of course this goes to how much you feel is a savings. We have gone out to eat but it’s been a lower cost places which I will cover in another post. We eliminate getting DS his own meal because he’s been very picky here lately and doesn’t eat a lot….so we just share with him from both of our plates. That right there saves about $5-$7 depending on if they include his drink or not.
As I have mentioned in previous posts…..you are always paying for convenience and it does sometimes come at a steep price. It does make the most sense to do things yourself. However, this always depends on the person and what they feel comfortable with. Food is the highest markup you’re probably going to encounter on your vacation so to get the most bang for your buck I would definitely come prepared. Save the money on food and have more money to do the fun things! That’s what we did!
