How much spending money staying offsite??

[Winnie McPooh]

Hi all, I was wondering what peoples views were on spending money. There will be four of us going end of Sept , 2 adults and 2 kids (5 and 2), we are staying offsite and not sure how much spending money to take. I had thought about £2500, but DH thinks that's way too much...what do you guys think??

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

When you say spending money, are you including park tickets or have you already bought them separately? Do you plan on doing most of your eating off-site?

 

[2Tiggies]

Is that to include ALL non package element expenses (i.e. food, shopping and souvenirs, tips, excursions if applicable, gas, parking costs .....)?

If you have bought your tickets already and don't need to buy any more park entrances it seems like quite a lot. But then some spend more than others. I like to spend, always take too much, but then I have some towards the next trip so it depends. It is really impossible to tell.

Can you give some details of what you plan to do while there? Eating out or at your villa/resort/hotel? Buying food in the parks you visit and if so, counter service or full service?

 

[crabbie1]

In the past have taken $2100 plus CC which I no longer haveWe had DDP and paid oop for food at universal studios/taxis etc and we had plenty.Tickets were bought before we went.£2500 seems a lot but if your planning on shopping and with 2 sponges(kiddies) you may need it.Its a personal thing and its better to have too much than not enough

 

[2Tiggies]

Its a personal thing and its better to have too much than not enough

If you aren't taking any other bank cards with then definitely. I take CCs and a debit card, but don't use them. However it is important to me to have them just in case I need them.

 

[jayduk]

I can't really give a figure as we don't have children but i would definately say it's best to take too much rather than plan on changing some when you're out there...We found the exchange rates weren't very good at all out there!! In fact some Credit Cards give a better rate so might be worth looking into which one is best and relying on that incase you don't take enough...in fact some Credit Cards give a better rate than chaging cash over here so you could just use the credit card...i wouldn't trust myself with that plan tho ...Especially not in all those malls!

 

[Winnie McPooh]

When you say spending money, are you including park tickets or have you already bought them separately? Do you plan on doing most of your eating off-site?

We have already bought our park tickets, so it would be for eating, probably half onsite and half offsite, and shopping:cheer2
We have still to buy our seaworld tickets. but I don't think that would cost us too much if we buy them over there, everytime we have been there have been good offers on.

 

[Pegasus928]

I suppose the other obvious question is how long you are going for.
If it is 2 weeks then £2500 is equal to (roughly) $3700 - or $264 per day. If you have an idea as to where you are likely to be eating you could always look online at their menus and try to get a ball-park figure as to how much is will cost to feed you all - but you will then need to factor in tips, parking, fuel (possibly), Seaworld tickets and the obligatory shopping trip (or 3 )
To be honest I have always found this a really difficult question for me to answer as every family that goes has different expectations and needs - so what might be enough for you may be too much, or not enough, for someone else.
I work on the basis that it is better to take it and not need it, than to get there and run out a day before you come home - but that's just me

 

[scojos]

i think thats alot, jmho.
we survived on $100 a day, we didn t scrimp ate either bfast or lunch out, then dinner out, kids didnt want to eat fancy restaurant food after a week or so, so we ate to survive (pizza etc) not fancy food.
shopping is an individual thing, we brought 2 huge bags of clothes from osh kosh for 150$ - there was loads for all 3 kids!
i agree betterto much than not enough, but not worth depriving yourself to save money you dont need
hth
tracy

 

[giggler]

hi, its one of the hardest questions to answer, because everyone is different. I would say, you probably have plenty for a 2 week holiday, i would think $200 a day is plentiful (£1900 roughly) but i'd always rather take too much than not enough, unless you plan to shop till u drop and feast like a king for a fortnight.

And scojos, i wish my wife could survive on $100 a day, she can hit a $100 an hour on shoes and handbags in The Mall at Milenia

regards

giggler

 

[2Tiggies]

And scojos, i wish my wife could survive on $100 a day, she can hit a $100 an hour on shoes and handbags in The Mall at Milenia

regards

giggler

I suspect your wife and I could be friends ....

 

[scojos]

hi, its one of the hardest questions to answer, because everyone is different. I would say, you probably have plenty for a 2 week holiday, i would think $200 a day is plentiful (£1900 roughly) but i'd always rather take too much than not enough, unless you plan to shop till u drop and feast like a king for a fortnight.

And scojos, i wish my wife could survive on $100 a day, she can hit a $100 an hour on shoes and handbags in The Mall at Milenia

regards

giggler

tbf, we had a seperate "shopping" budget that was just food/parking everyday money, we had 2 days shopping money too

Lee, you know i can shop

 

[Winnie McPooh]

Thanks everyone...I don't think we will be shopping too much, although my hubby loves the nike shop...quite sure he would spend a fortune in there if I let him!! I might just take £2000 and my CC just incase we need it. Kinda keeps DH happy that I'm not going to take £2500!!
I never thought of budgeting per day, would make things a lot easier for me!!
Thanks all for your input

 

[Dodgy Bob]

We're (2 adults and 3 "kids" (17, 14, 12) going for 3 weeks. We've bought park tickets in advance and I don't like spending, period. The kids have a small amount of spending that they're allowed to buy whatever they want with, otherwise I don't buy anything except essentials. We're taking £5000 ($7000).

If you think that's excessive then think about what are effectively 5 adults eating out twice every day for 3 weeks. Kching!

We've been twice previously (2 weeks each time) and took similar figures.

 

[2Tiggies]

If you think that's excessive then think about what are effectively 5 adults eating out twice every day for 3 weeks. Kching!

I believe you! Dining is often the single biggest expense on holiday - especially if you are NOT doing self catering. Add in the tips and it adds up quickly.

 

[PChef]

I have a notional budget of around $250 per day for the week we shall be offsite for food and tips for 2 adults and 2 boys aged 12 and 9. This does not include any shopping. This would include a 'snack' breakfast, counter service lunch and table service meal in the evening at Citywalk/Applebees/Bahama Breeze/ Ouback Steakhouse.

We are only taking a small amount of cash for convenience sake as we find we get a better rate spending on our credit card or withdrawing cash on our Nationwide debit card. So really we will just spend as we see fit at the time, if we are over our budget we may cut back on the shopping.

 

[Kath2003]

We budget £50/day for two adults off-site and always have change. We eat lunch in the park (pizza or burger - typical CS fare, or we have been known to just buy some awesome cakes!) and then eat out in the evening (anywhere from TGIs to Hard Rock Cafe to Outback to Cheesecake Factory). We also spend £30 on snacks and drinks for the room at the start of our trip which lasts us 10 days.

 

[penlanspice]

This is one of those questions everyone will have a different answer to.
We on average spend around $4000 each trip and there is only 2 of us, (3 weeks) we do a ton of shopping and could spend much less. Our trip in May we were on a budget as it was kind of last thing and spent around 1600 pounds in 2 weeks and we still managed to get a ton of xmas pressies