Hellobee Boards

We like to go to a local grocery store and get some breakfast on-the-go items and some lunch things to picnic when we are out and about. It still feels like a vacation if you're not eating it in your hotel room! We try to find some local items like unusual fruit or breads to make it feel special. Also, we get some drinks to have on-hand so that we don't feel the need to buy a bottle of water or soda when we're out walking around. I bring my insulted water bottle and fill that with water from the jug in our room before we head out for the day. We bring a soft-sided cooler from home (it folds up flat) to keep with us. I might also bring a small knife to cut up lemons or limes - they always make unfamiliar tap water taste better. Bringing tea bags from home is also an easy way to save money.

That's my #1 idea - eat at the place you are staying - but if your DH wont do it then I got nothing! haha

We grocery shop when we get there.

Eat breakfast in the room - pack lunch for the beach or come back and eat in the room.

One of us cooks dinner while the other gets a shower/kids get baths - we eat and then go do a night time activity.

They have grills on site so we will grill a few times and eat at the picnic tables outside.

We usually buy lunch 1 day at the pool and do 1 dinner out.

This year (we go in Sept) I have been saving cash - I plan to use that and when its gone its gone! I hate coming home to a big CC bill - its so easy to swipe but when you have cash you know when its gone!

Another tip - check different websites for activities - we were able to save about $25 on tickets by searching. Also playing mini golf during the day is WAY cheaper than at night!

@lamariniere: we drive so we pack all the spices and things we will need!

That's why we usually opt for all inclusives (if it's that kind of vacation), so it may be more expensive up front, but then we usually don't go for excursions so whatever we do on vacation, it's already paid for so I don't have to worry about variables.

If it's not all inclusive, I think we'd have to plan ahead as to which meals we want to eat out, and what do we eat to save for other meals. We'd have to agree on that plan prior to going.

I totally get it because if I have to cook or prepare food it's not a vacation to me. My best tip is probably to do 2 big meals a day instead of 3. So a big breakfast and then just snacks to tie us over for a late lunch/early dinner (fruit, granola bars etc). The other thing I don't mind bringing with me is our own coffee and small boxes of milk because those add up quickly.

We usually do brunch and then an early dinner, I'll have a breakfast bar to tie me over if I need it instead of eating 3 meals out. And me personally I try to order something small/cheaper for lunch and go bigger on dinner to offset the cost (DH doesn't follow this rule ha.) We also always go to a store and buy alcohol to keep in the room, so if we want a drink before dinner we will get a bottle of wine/beer and then we only have 1 glass at the restaurant instead of 2-3 or just water. (we usually like to drink on vacation if we aren't driving ha!)

I also skip the souvenirs, no one wants something with a country/state name on it. I'll bring back something fun and little for the girls but not the expensive gift shop stuff.

It's not a big money saver, but we try to make lunch our biggest meal of the day and often eat late ~2pm. Lunch prices are generally cheaper than dinner prices, and it allows us to eat a lighter (cheaper) dinner.

For breakfast, we either try to book a hotel with a free breakfast, and/or we pick up cheese, lunch meats, or sometimes yogurt for a quick breakfast before heading out.

I don't know how helpful this is because we pretty much only vacation in Hawaii or up at a lake house, but with Hawaii, we started renting condos after our first trip. That first time, we stayed at the Westin, which was wonderful, but we actually felt gross from eating out 3 times a day. Aside from the incredible expense, there was also this pressure to eat somewhere different every single meal and to have to Yelp for some great place every few hours (or at the very least not eat at a chain place). And then on top of that, we had to throw away our leftovers since there was no place to keep them.

So since then, we've rented oceanfront condos, both on and off resort, to get the same beachfront hotel feel, but with some of the comforts of home. They usually come fully stocked with beach gear, coolers, beach chairs, pack n' plays, and a full kitchen.

We usually stop by the Costco or some supermarket on our way in from the airport and stock up on water, booze, pop, fresh local fruit, eggs, milk, some kind of local bread or pastry, and local coffee. We almost always have a leisurely breakfast in the morning in our condo overlooking the ocean and a sunset cocktail before heading out for dinner in the evening. Lunch depends on what we're doing that day. If we're going to be out snorkeling and at the beach, we might pack a cooler with water, soda, fruit, and some sandwiches and just picnic on the beach. If we're going to be in some touristy area, we'll just eat out.

Dinners are then simpler to plan, since you can research restaurants from afar and make reservations and nice places. We still eat dinner in the condo sometimes because there's usually always some communal grill access and you can get such impeccably fresh seafood to grill up, or we just eat a fresh meal of poke and rice and salad!

When DH and I have to stay in a hotel, we pretty much always look for places that have some kind of free breakfast in the morning, just because hauling our son out is a pain first thing in the morning (he wakes up at 730am and starts barking for food ASAP). Even a crummy Continental breakfast is fine as long as there's milk, yogurt, some cereal, and a banana in play.

I think saving money on food while on vacation is rough if you don't have access to a grocery store! If we had to stay in a regular hotel in the future, I would book a place that at least had a mini fridge and keep it stocked with drinks and fruit. Fruit with skins is usually safe in most places if you can find it - so bananas, citrus, pineapple, mango. There's usually random fruit vendors anywhere tropical that you travel.

You can pack single-serving cereals (or dump a box of cereal in a Tupperware so it doesn't get crushed) and shelf-stable milk for breakfast. Coffee is usually in the room. Snacks from home would probably be easy to bring - powdered drink mixes like lemonade or Gatorade, pouches, fruit snacks, Goldfish, peanut butter and jam, tortillas or Flatout wraps, cookies, pretzels, Wild Gardens shelf-stable hummus, tuna pouches, peanut butter or cheese sandwich crackers, trail mix, granola bars, beef jerky, dried fruit, shelf-stable pepperoni or salami. CostPlus World Market has a great selection of shelf-stable things (and lots of travel sized condiments!) We just used Nido powdered whole milk this past weekend when we were traveling and it worked awesome and tastes just like normal milk.

If you have lots of snacks, you can probably just order lunch for you and your spouse and be able to share with your kids to make it enough of a meal for everyone.

I know someone who always got their kids a big ice cream around 4pm every day when they were on vacation because they swore it saved them money on dinner. I guess the fat and calories from that snack made them eat lighter at dinner so they wouldn't need to order a full meal and the kids thought it was the most awesome vacation treat ever. Weird strategy, but whatever works!

This isn't for everyone, but my parents have literally never traveled anywhere without packing ramen. Granted, they are Asian and so its like a comfort food thing for them, but they literally pack cup noodles everywhere they go because hotels always have hot water. Similarly, I know someone who always packs a $10 hot pot with a plug adapter with them for the same reason. I imagine aside from cup noodles, other instant foods like chicken noodle soup, Easy Mac, oatmeal packets, hot chocolate, mashed potatoes, rice noodle soup bowls, couscous mixes, miso soup mix, dehydrated hummus or refried bean mixes, etc.

A non-food related thing of mine is that I HATE spending money on vacation for toiletry/medicine/beach stuff because its always so expensive. So I'm anal about making a packing list of things like toothpaste, brushes, floss, hair ties, aloe vera gel, sunblock, a few dollar store toys for the beach, cortisone cream, a small first aid kit, and some kind of picnic mat for the sand. Tylenol, Advil, Benadryl, and antacid is also a given.

Candy is always really helpful for some reason. We usually do a mix of gummy and lollipops. Dum dums or small Tootsie Pops are a great size for little kids and I usually give one to my son when the plane is taking off and landing because it helps his ears and keeps him happy for like 20 minutes. It also helps as a bribe when a meltdown is looming somewhere inconvenient and you don't want to deal with it or spend $5 for something stupid at an airport convenience store. DH and I are often so frazzled from dealing with our kid that there are definitely times I'm holding a sleeping toddler in my lap while DH feeds me Sour Patch Kids and water. #momlife

Our biggest thing is hitting a liquor store at our destination and mixing up punch/mixed drinks in the room to drink all day at the beach or pool or wherever, rather than purchasing drinks. But our upcoming trip is to an all-inclusive so we can relax on that one, which will be fun.

For outings, do some research to find fun stuff that is free or low-cost so you won't be tempted toward expensive tours.

And you can save a lot in your trip prep by hitting Goodwill or Buy Nothing instead of paying for brand new stuff (swimsuits for you and LO, hats, cover-ups, sandals, swim diapers, etc.)

@looch: in that situation I guess you should just enjoy the trip since the expense doesn't seem to bug your DH! And I agree parents can eat what they want - all that convenience food is for the kiddos! Kids meals are such rip offs!

It would be hard at a place like Atlantis. You go there to enjoy the resort life!

We typically rent homes and it works out to be cheaper than a hotel. Then we eat in almost every meal. But this is what we like to do so it's just a bonus that it saves us money, too!

@looch: I think it's really hard to save money on food at a resort. Our last vacation was at a resort with half board, so we still had to pay for lunch every day. There was no village/town at all, just a few other resorts in the vicinity and one teeny tiny grocery store that basically just sold snack food. I thought the lunch food was expensive for what it was, but what can you do? Part of the "vacation" for me is not cooking, so I guess that's the trade-off?

@looch: Having been to Atlantis I can see how it'd be impossible to do any meals on the cheap! If you enjoyed it, my tip would be to not actually stay there but spend a day or two there. My husband and I stayed on Nassau and took the boat over two separate days when we went. One day we just went over for dinner and another we paid to go to the water park. I remember it was pretty expensive but it might be less than staying on-site for the whole vaca and then maybe you could find a different place to stay that would allow you to find less expensive options for food.

But yea, I think if you are generally loath to spend a ton of money on food on vaca then you need to stay someplace with a kitchen and where you know you can get to a grocery store. I agree with @gingerbebe: that eating out 3 times a day gets kind of old fast, and we haven't even vacationed yet since we had LO and I can imagine that'd be almost a nightmare to do with her!

@looch: We are going to Atlantis in June so this is very interesting to me. I know we'll eat out for most meals but I am planning to feed LO mostly food we bring. Do they let you bring your own food to the pool or restaurants, if it's for kids?

I'm surprised that you said you couldn't find breakfast because I thought breakfast was included in all the room reservations!

@looch: oh we did Atlantis when we were younger (my mom took us when we were 15, 14 and 12) and to save money we didn't really eat lunch!!! Lol. It was fun but meals were so expensive there.