Teenagers first holiday without parents

Is there a really big deal if someone wants to go to nandos as opposed to KFC or McDonalds?

dekaspace wrote: »

Don't treat me like I am silly, point was £15/£20 a day was just splashing out, I never said be frugal I was meaning that rather than the person go for something that costs £10 at Nandos go for something that is like £3 at Mcdonalds, if they just splashed out its because they know its not being paid for by themselves

Im not frugal and can make my money go far, when on holiday instead of just grabbing everything full price though spend a few minutes to get things at a fraction of the cost, even in Edinburgh I can get a 3 course meal for £6.50, yet if I just went to one near the station cost would be at least £20 for same thing and not as good quality, it helps everyone as the lad has more money to spend and learns a lesson, different than saying he should live off pasta..

Even at Mcdonalds you get £2 meals, £10./15 a day is more than fair, even more so when the lad has his own cash.



I didn't say £20 for a months food, I was talking about overall over the cost of a week £15/20 a day would work out £105/£140

And besides people say £75 a week for a benefit claimaint is more than enough to live off for everything including clothing and utilities.

But the point was which I was talking about above even places like McDonalds have £2 meals, theres a fine line between learning a lesson and just splashing the cash, we only live once but doesn't mean we shouldn't make an effort.

Where can you get a three course meal in Edinburgh for £6.50? I can only assume it's a deal and so is at lunchtime and small portions.

Maybe the lad doesn't like junk food and likes meals that includes vegetables.

When I go on holiday I'm lucky if £20 covers my evening meal!

I hope he has a great time.

I'd suggest talking to him about what he plans for meals. What does he normally eat at home?
Are they staying in a hotel or a hostel? If it is a hostel, then it would make sense for him to find a supermarket on day one and buy some cereal, bread for toast and milk (and fruit if he likes it) and make his own breakfasts at the hostel.

If it is a cheap hotel, he could still buy (say) a bag of bananas, cereal bars and so on rather than eating out. If he wants something more substantial then budget accordingly.

Suggest to him that buying sandwiches etc will be cheaper, generally, if he buys from a supermarket rather than from a sandwich shop.

restaurants - those near covent garden and Leicester square often do cheaper, fixed price options as a 'pre-theatre menu' if they are willing to eat early, and a lot of restaurants also do cheaper, fixed price menus for lunch. If they are not happy with fast food and chains the whole time, eating their main meal at lunch time may be less expensive than eating it in the evening.

Also remind him that prices tend to be highest in the most touristy areas - even going 1 or 2 streets away from the biggest crowds will see prices fall quite a lot.

taking a bottle of water and refilling it at the hotel will be cheaper than buying drinks through the day.

What sort of things do they plan to do? I wouldn't necessarily suggest booking everything in advance ans it doesn't leave much room for spontaneity, but I would suggest that they do a bit of research to get a feel for what things costs and decide where they most want to go.

Does he have a smart phone? You can often book online up to the last minute - I recall that when I last visited the Tower of London I booked it on my phone standing just outside the ticket kiosk, as it was a £1 or £2 cheaper than buying the ticket there. (and then just showed the confirmation on the phone at the kiosk)

This only works, of course, if he has a bank card he can use for online purchases.

Also, suggest he does a bit of research before he goes, to see whether any o the places he wants to go have deals on - check for clubcard and nectar offers, 2-for-1, student discounts (if he has student ID) and so on

Travel - his friend will probably do best to get an Oyster card . If your son has a contactless card then he can use that instead, if not, he can get an oyster which will require a deposit of (I think) £5.

Spendless wrote: »

I think some people are misunderstanding. I have no worries about him starving or getting lost. What I would like to do is stretch the money I give into as much as possible. Eg I discovered yesterday I have around a tenner in clubcard vouchers that I can 4x towards the cost of the tower of London. DS wouldn't even know that clubcard exists, let alone know I have some vouchers.

But he needs to learn how to do that too. Give him the money and leave him to it.