this all sounds lovely, wish i was there now!!!
this all sounds lovely, wish i was there now!!!
I have just come back from a week away with a couple of great girlie friends. We ate out every night without spending a fortune. Mannys have 2 for 1 fajitas on Wednesdays and this other restaurants were happy for us to share meals or have starters as the meals are always sooo big.
Shirley
Food is always dearer in holiday areas -but you will find this still more reasonable than in the UK!
I would allow more than you would for a weekly shop, because you are likely to eat out such a lot -which isn't ascheap as buying food to eat at home, and you don't want to have to skimp on a wonderful holiday.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Food is always dearer in holiday areas -but you will find this still more reasonable than in the UK![/quote]
Whilst we can all find cheaper items in the USA, I would say that across the board, food is more expensive than UK - especially fresh produce.
That was the case when $2 = £1 and more so now it is under $1.50.
I found food shopping more expensive in FL the last few trips..nearly everything was around a $ cheaper than where I live in the USA if not more...now its about the same...
All I can say about costs between the UK and the USA is my mum and dad always moan about the cost of living in the USA when they visit..my dads fav saying has always been while in the Supermarkets here in the US...I just want an apple not the whole tree.....lol
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by kezza5222
i was wondering, what kind of budget one could attach to food and eating? im england, our weekly food shop is about £70 for 2 people, is this going to be the same sort of money for orlando? or is the food in wallmart more expensive or cheaper? someone passed me the tip to buy the toiltries out there as quite cheap (saves on luggage space) but didnt mention the food shopping.
also are the restrurants (out of the parks) still reasonable priced? obviously depends on where you go, but would £10 a head for a 1 course dinner and a soft drink be unattainable?
really really having trouble with this part of my budget! ANY help or tips here would be wonderful!
love kerry
[/quote]
Our experience is:
Although we eat out most of the time when we are on holiday, we still spend more on food and provisions for the villa than we do when at home. I am sure that some of that is because we need to start pretty much from scratch and some of it is because we like a lot of fresh food and this is much dearer than in the UK. The suggestions to take a few things with you (bin liners, dishwasher tablets, washing powder) is a really sensible one, although we have never done it.
You can eat out very cheaply, although the quality of the cheap food is very poor.[sick]
For a family of 4, we typically spend about $2k - $2.5k in a fortnight on grocery shopping and eating out. To put that in perspective we spend about £270 a week in the UK, but eat out a lot, lot less. So for just 2 adults I think $1,500 would be doable (about £500 a week)
Having said that, I could never make £70 cover a full week here, even when I just pop in to Sainsbury's to pick up a few items, it always seems to cost more than £50! so I am sure it is possible to budget a lot less than this on food.
We've always found supermarket food to be a little expensive but eating out to be very cheap. Only really buy breakfast stuff such as bread, cereal, milk and bacon, although we have bought the ocassional thing to make a proper meal or have got fresh sarnies from the counter in Publix which are similar to Subway but a bit cheaper.
Not all Villa owners have you starting from scratch with everything either.
Place we've stayed on our last 2 visits was always well stocked with things such as Tea, Coffee,sugar, Soap Powder, Dishwasher tabs, Cookng Oil, Black bin Bags,polish etc etc.
I know a lot of management companies totally clean out stuff people leave, but some don't and if there are sufficient quantities of those sort of essential items they will leave them for the next guests to use.
Different management companies have different approaches, particularly where cleaning products etc are left as if a new guest arrives and their child swallows something that has been left, or a guest was taken ill from eating something that has been left, guess who faces the liability lawsuit?
So it's best to assume there will be nothing (unless you have arranged for or the villa owner supplies a welcome pack). For thinkgs you may not need much of, if like me you're not a big coffee drinker but liek the occasional cup then places like Poundland before you go or Dollar Tree when you get here often have the 20 sachet packs which save wasting half a jar.
Babblin Boo
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by kezza5222
i was wondering, what kind of budget one could attach to food and eating? im england, our weekly food shop is about £70 for 2 people, is this going to be the same sort of money for orlando? or is the food in wallmart more expensive or cheaper? someone passed me the tip to buy the toiltries out there as quite cheap (saves on luggage space) but didnt mention the food shopping.
[/quote]
Just received my credit card bill for November. I used the card for all our grocery purchases, mostly at Publix.
Two of us were in Florida for 7 days and we ate out around 4/5 times. We don't buy alcohol and aren't particularly extravagant - our grocery bills added up to £147. That includes a few toiletries and sun cream.
I hope that's useful to you.
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