Living in a Hotel on a Budget

scaredofdebt

I am not sure what forum this sits in so apologies if it's wrong and please advise where I should post it if there's a better place. I'm putting it here as it loosely relates to a new job.

I start a new job soon having been out of work for a few months, so money is extremely tight. I won't get paid until the end of November so I need to budget very carefully.

The first two weeks of the job are on a training course some 200 miles from where I live, the company will pay for my hotel room (Bed and Breakfast basis) and my travel costs but I will have to wait to get the money for the travel.

How can I live frugally in the hotel, I need to feed myself other than breakfast.

I plan eating as much as possible for brekky and then hopefully having a light snack for lunch. I will try to shop in a local supermarket for my evening meal but I wont have facilities to heat it etc and the cost of eating out and even takeaways isn't cheap.

Ideas welcome, thanks!

SueC_2

Have you checked that there isn't an evening meal allowance available from your employer? In my experience it would be 'usual' in this situation.

McKneff

I agree with the previous poster, ask your company if there is a subsistence allowance. It's unusual for there not to be.

[Deleted User]

It would be very normal to get a lunch/evening meal allowance if work is making you stay away from home

They're always tax-deductible expenses

Otherwise... pot noodles made in the hotel kettle! You could always find out if the hotel has a microwave you could use (they will if you ask nicely)

paddyrg

Can you get a £16 coolbox from Tesco and some 2 for a quid ice packs, and keep some ham, etc in your room? You will almost certainly get some kind of evening meal/perdiem/expense allowance - perhaps ask if you can be advanced some of that cash whilst you're getting established at the company? Or a couple of days advance on your salary?

ceh209

scaredofdebt wrote: »

I plan eating as much as possible for brekky and then hopefully having a light snack for lunch.

Any chance of having your main meal at lunch? The place I was last week had a decent-ish canteen so I did this and went to a supermarket for a 'lunch' deal in the evenings - much cheaper than eating out.

InsideInsurance

Check with the company on what is allowed, as others have said, there will almost certainly be a subsistence amount on top of the B&B - with some companies the "amount" goes out the window if the spend is in their preferred hotel (ie it is either £20 a day or evening meal + 2 drinks if at the hotel)

Assuming the hotel breakfast is a buffet the obvious thing to do is to make sandwiches etc from the buffet to keep for eating later.

If the hotel is part of a chain (eg Hilton or Accor etc) then make sure you sign up for their loyality scheme and collect the points for the stay. Ideally also use a cashback or points credit card to pay (evidently you keep the points).

I used to travel a lot with work and the amounts of points and cashback I earned paid for a large number of free flights for the family with free upgrades both on the plane and at the hotel etc due to being a "platinum" member or by spending some of their reward points etc

PlutoinCapricorn

There is a saying that says people should eat breakfast like an emperor, lunch like a king and supper like a pauper - or something like that! This seems like a good time to try it.

If you fill yourself up with breakfast, it should last a long time. You may be able to find a place that does cheap jacket potatoes, which are sustaining too.

I would take some packets of porridge that just need hot water and have them for supper. You may be able to get some reduced price sandwiches etc. in a supermarket. I have seen nets of little cheeses, which go well with oatcakes. This is iron rations, but it should keep you going.

WoodyMax

I think the porridge and pot noodles are a good idea!.

Add to this, cup a soups and to be honest, squirrel away whatever you can from the breakfast buffet to eat in the evening or lunch time.

Good luck to you!

PlutoinCapricorn

Winter is in the air, so maybe you wouldn't need ice or a cool box as you could use the windowsill. Unfortunately the other side to this is that we tend to crave hot food more.

Ripe bananas are sustaining - you could slice them into the Oats So Simple, which often has special offers.

PasturesNew

Cheapo noodles, put into a flask, with some boiling water, will turn into cooked noodles in 10-15 minutes or so. Some supermarkets do hot pies/sausages/chickens, so look out for those.

Take a couple of plates with you - if you've got plastic/picnic plates I find these are best, with some basic cutlery, then you can buy bread rolls and pick up tins or jars of sandwich filler. Or you can buy a whole loaf and make sandwiches.

Cup a soup can be passable.

On day one, see if there's a microwave available in the daytime, then you could see if there's a cheap supermarket almost next door where you can buy nukable meals for one.

Packets of instant custard and instant semolina make a nice meal.... just make sure you've got something big enough to mix it in.