Spending Money

[Albert the Frog]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by flyrr100
Netty...
Don't even bring half of that. Bring your credit card and pay it off when you get home. I can't think of anywhere here that won't take Visa or Mastercard. And you'll have protection if you get ripped off.
Thinking about it, the only place you'd actually need cash is for tips!
Enjoy!
[/quote]
I agree I never thought for a moment that you would be bringing cash-I just meant for budgetting purposes

[ukman]

I just use my american bank cards, when in the us, as the exchange rate is always good and plus interest is next to nothing.

[gpullan]

Don't let some of the amounts quoted put you off in any way. If the 5 of you had $100 each per day then that's over £4000 spending money for 2 weeks?!

Last October there were 4.5 of us (me, my wife, 7 year old, 6 year old, 4 month old). We spent £1500 for the 2 weeks and we ate out most nights, had breakfast out some mornings and didn't hold back on anything we wanted to do. Still had enough money to take a helicopter ride on the last day. All park tickets and car hire etc had been paid for before travelling.

BIGEYE - With a budget of $220 per person per day then a family of 4 going for 2 weeks would be spending $12,000 on spending money?! I don't think that's a true reflection on average spending money requirements. With that amount of money then would you really have to control spending??

[BIGEYE]

I don't expect to spend any more than $100 to $120 per day, but on the other hand I don't like to be watching the pennies when on holiday. I still have to budget for food, fuel, parking, etc. Expecting to visit Charley's steakhouse and a couple of other fine eateries.

[kitch50]

Didn't mean £100 per day each that is between the 5 of us, approx $2000 for the 14 days - more than enough for us to have a fab holiday

[Albert the Frog]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by gpullan
Don't let some of the amounts quoted put you off in any way. If the 5 of you had $100 each per day then that's over £4000 spending money for 2 weeks?!

Last October there were 4.5 of us (me, my wife, 7 year old, 6 year old, 4 month old). We spent £1500 for the 2 weeks and we ate out most nights, had breakfast out some mornings and didn't hold back on anything we wanted to do. Still had enough money to take a helicopter ride on the last day. All park tickets and car hire etc had been paid for before travelling.

BIGEYE - With a budget of $220 per person per day then a family of 4 going for 2 weeks would be spending $12,000 on spending money?! I don't think that's a true reflection on average spending money requirements. With that amount of money then would you really have to control spending??


[/quote]
The £100 was between us not each

[gpullan]

I was referring to BIGEYE's quote with the £100 per person per day.

We too spent around £100 per day between all of us, around £1500 for the full 2 weeks (and we went to Charleys)

Also when calculating how much to take, don't forget that it may well be late on the first day you arrive so you will probably just go to the villa, grab some quick food and jump in the pool!!

Also the day of departure can be quite cheap also as we found so you only really have 13 full days.

Perhaps calculate your available spends by 13 instead of 14 then you can allow a half day spend each for your arrival and departure days. That's what we're doing as we were left with $140 on the last day and it was burning a hole in my pocket (hence the helicopter ride on I-192) although it was worth it!!

[Appledore]

Just a tip - if you go to the parks take some drinks to at least start your day off. We are a family of 5 and find we spend a fortune on drinks (which you will need) it can cut into your budget. But I'd say about $120.00 per day for all of you should be fine.

Elaine

[blott]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by hacoates
We have a Nationwide card we use only for foreign trips. All credit card companies except this one charge 1.5% interest on every payment.
We have very little cash with us just our trusty Nationwide card and likewise we pay it all off as soon as we get home.[/quote]Nationwide now charge 1% on some foreign currency transactions including the USA but, as most credit card companies charge 2.75%, it's still a cheaper option.

[lafifille]

We're a family of 4 (2 adults 2 kids) and we spent $140 a day on a 3 weeks vacation. That's with dinner out every day, or carry-out, or ...left-over boxes from restaurants. Sometimes breakfast or lunch out too, but we usually skipped lunch as we tend to have a big breakfast (Golden Corral is great for that).

We never bought a drink nor ate at the parks, just packed iced water in our backpacks and had a hearty breakfast and an early dinner.

We never made it to Charley's, as we first tried Manny's and never went elsewhere[msnwink] for a steak: usual bill there was around $80, drinks (cocktails, sodas and beers) and tip included (no kids meals, they eat like wolves). That's probably the most we spent on a meal in a restaurant.

We didn't do much shopping (no time, and not much taste for it anyway), apart from the occasional souvenir here and there. We did send postcards, a lot of them, and they're a budget to themselves (almost $1 for a stamp to Europe!).

We gave each child an allowance to spend on their own, I think it was $100.

We went to a ball game, took a deep-sea fishing trip, a dolphin-watch tour, paid fees to national parks or museums, put gas in the car, bought ice-creams and Starbucks Frappucinos, that sort of things.

We didn't throw money away, but certainly didn't put ourselves on a budget, and all together we spent $140 a day. Hope it helps!