Off site spend budget

[Annie17]

Originally Posted by merlinsmum

We took $2600 dollars per day for 2 adults 2 teens last year and had a fabulous time. Around $400 of this was spent on non food (i.e clothes) shopping. Most park tickets / experiences (Disney / universal / escape room / Wild Florida) were paid for in advance and so didn't come out of the budget. We did a big supermarket shop (click and collect) when we got there so our villa kitchen was topped up. We always had one meal out per day whether it was breakfast, lunch or tea but generally did mix it up and sometimes took snacks to the parks with us and ate out at Wendys / Mcd's sometimes but if your teens are like mine they want to do that. We certainly didn't feel that we were skimping and had a fabulous time

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id have a fabulous time too on $2600 a day

[amandajane10]

Originally Posted by BevS97

We certainly didn't live like we were on the dole at Skegness! We have had a lovely holiday, one that we simply couldn't have had if we had to take $500 a day!

We actually all agreed that we felt much better for eating less than we had in the past, where we had all eaten a huge meal and then felt overly full afterwards. We don't eat like that at home and we didn't need to eat like it on holiday.

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I agree. I just couldn't eat that amount of food.

[Guest]

Not offsite but for comparison, we had DDP last time so no need to scrimp, however we found that we (2 adults, 2 kids) were eating a snack/cereal in the room for breakfast, an ice cream (or similar) each day, sharing 2/3 QS meals between us and 1 TS dinner each. I did try my best to try some snacks in between meals but I ended up too full. It must be the heat over there, we all seem to eat less (even though there are tons of sc's I want to try this time round ).

Years ago when it was only OH and myself, we stayed offsite and even then, with no specific budget to stick to, we sometimes only had a Golden Corral buffet breakfast (or similar) and nothing else till dinner, other than a snack in the parks, however everyone is different so I suggest taking as much as you can afford.

[Vanillapod]

We aim for $300 per day for 2 adults and a child. This covers almost everything. Food, clothes, petrol, parking and supermarket trips.

We rarely have breakfast out as not only do we find it hard to stomach lol, it eats into the morning too much. We usually go for 2 and just have cereal or fruit in the room while we all get ready.
That saves a fortune.
We like nice food, we like wine and DS has never entertained the idea of a kids meal so we do spend most of our money on food!
We do mix it up a bit in terms of budget, anything from $60 for an evening meal to $300 so it does balance out.
Lunches are generally a QS in a park and nothing particularly exciting so we tend to share. I'd estimate $60 for lunch, snack and drinks on an average day.
We went over a fair bit last year with our last night's being in Miami Beach but otherwise, that's always been plenty.

We had a week onsite last year too and spent a fortune. Not driving meant we shared wine most evenings plus we aren't fussed with desserts and fancied appetisers 🙄

[dixonsontour]

Food I'd say $200 will be very comfy for 4 adults/teens. Obviously depends on how much onsite eating and alcohol. For the rest remember parking then how much shopping you are planning .
As everyone knows from my $100 a day budget dining reviews I like a coupon or a deal but don't feel we scrimp. Coupons are very much way of life in usa and nothing ''dole' about using them. If you look on trip advisor many recommended places are At cheaper end and we have found some good less touristy places this way. Teak would be an example - you could pay double for imo poorer burgers onsite or at a well known chain.

[Vanillapod]

Originally Posted by dixonsontour

Food I'd say $200 will be very comfy for 4 adults/teens. Obviously depends on how much onsite eating and alcohol. For the rest remember parking then how much shopping you are planning .
As everyone knows from my $100 a day budget dining reviews I like a coupon or a deal but don't feel we scrimp. Coupons are very much way of life in usa and nothing ''dole' about using them. If you look on trip advisor many recommended places are At cheaper end and we have found some good less touristy places this way. Teak would be an example - you could pay double for imo poorer burgers onsite or at a well known chain.

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Completely agree! Teak is great and really good value.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by dixonsontour

Food I'd say $200 will be very comfy for 4 adults/teens. Obviously depends on how much onsite eating and alcohol. For the rest remember parking then how much shopping you are planning .
As everyone knows from my $100 a day budget dining reviews I like a coupon or a deal but don't feel we scrimp. Coupons are very much way of life in usa and nothing ''dole' about using them. If you look on trip advisor many recommended places are At cheaper end and we have found some good less touristy places this way. Teak would be an example - you could pay double for imo poorer burgers onsite or at a well known chain.

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Great post... I've gleaned a lot of good advice and info from your 'food' threads plus they're a good read! That and watching " Pudders " video reviews

As you say, coupons are very much a way of life in America, on our first visit I was hesitant about using them, but restaurant/ diner staff positively encouraged us to do so.

[toonarmani]

Some places actually promote their vouchers. We were in Golden Corral and the manager said you can use a 10% coupon from their booklets (which were at the exit), so people took one then came back inside.

But in general, the amount needed per day is totally subjective as you can spend a lot of money or still eat well for less (same for flights, hotels etc. the scale is wide).

We had breakfast included offsite, so would have a healthy amount, this meant just a little snack needed for lunch as we weren't that hungry (either buy something or make a sandwich/fruit/crisps etc.), so would then eat out in the evening.

Steaks all round for family of 4 + drinks/desserts in Longhorn was ~$80-85 including tip. If you had a coupon you could get a starter or dessert for free, but again you could spend a lot more depending on what you have/where.

Couldn't turn down a couple of trips to Costco for their pizzas/hotdogs and other things you don't get in the UK (pulled pork sandwich and also their Italian sausage ) which is very cheap to eat at.

If you're not prepared to sort yourselves for breakfast/lunch then you'll obviously need to have more cash per day for eating out, all depends on peoples circumstances.

[merlinsmum]

In reply to Annie
Oops, you know what I meant! 😂 Imagine even trying to spend that amount! Could give it a go in premium outlets though 😉 now corrected

[Persnicketty]

Originally Posted by BoxOfFrogs

... for me a realistic budget for 2adults 2 teens offsite is

$30 IHOP breakfast
$80 lunch in park with a small desert/ice cream
$100 millers alehouse/Bahama breeze evening meal
$50 random waters/cokes etc while walking

So $250/60 per day then double it, so $500 a day I would want to be carrying

plus shopping which has no fixed amount,

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Your sums baffle me.

I understand your costings breakdown and wouldn't disagree with that part of your post, as a typical fairly generous tourist budget.

But why is it then necessary to double it up to $500 a day excluding shopping?