Holiday budgeting anguish

We are soon jetting off on our first ever all inclusive holiday thanks to Mark Warner but it has brought up a bit of a conundrum. When traveling abroad previously I have always researched the average cost of meals out, a pint of beer and cup of coffee among other things. I then used this to work out a budget, threw in a bit more for excursions and special treats and had a decent idea of what my budget was. However being all inclusive makes this extremely difficult. Now I know we will have drinks and food and some activities included in the price of our break but what else will be need money for?
To make matters even worse we are heading over to Turkey where you can pay for items with both Lira and Euros however my research recommends paying in Lira especially with the favourable exchange rate at the moment.

So what do you need to buy when on an all inclusive holiday and exactly how much money do we need to take with us?

To be fair this is where most of my holiday stress has come from, I didn’t want to carry too much Lira with us in case we don’t use it all and lose money cashing it back in and I don’t want to go with no cash at all but using my debit card abroad would cost me a fortune in fees. I also didn’t want to take a card loaded with Lira either for the same reason as the cash, exchanging it back really takes a chunk of your money.

So today we finally decided that we will take £100 worth of Lira for ice creams, beach toys, bar tips and those sorts of things and we will also take a Caxton FX Global card which allows me to store my money as Sterling and it is only converted into the local currency when I spend it. It also means I can get money out without having any ATM fees and I can transfer money from my debit card easily if I need to top it up when i am out there. There are loads of other benefits which I will tell you all about after I have used it but it has certainly made me feel more at ease and I am happy to load it with more than I think I will need as I know it is easy to get it back and I wouldn’t have lost anything in the transfer.

Now I have the currency sorted out I am also starting to look at other ways to save money and one of the biggest money drains is the journey and the subsequent boredom. Working out what to pack in the childrens hand luggage can be an absolute wallet saver and luckily for me I headed over to poundland earlier today to grab a few bits to keep them occupied.

The childrens hand luggage currently includes

  • loom bands
  • colouring book and colouring pens
  • dot to dot book
  • sticker book
  • chewy sweets
  • DS/3DS/Kurio – in other words a variety of electronic gadgets
  • Headphones (to save everyone elses sanity from said electronic gadgets)

I am sure I am missing something but I cant for the life of me think what it is so if it is obvious to you let me know.

Can you think of any other ways to save money whilst on holiday, hints and tips like where to buy your sun cream or what else to take with you when you go away with kids.

I tell you after all the stress packing for a holiday entails I think i definitely need to get away from it all! I can’t wait to see the sea again.