Self Catering holiday abroad for 5 - ideas on how to eat v cheaply please !

Fruball

I am taking my family away to Majorca in the summer. We are hoping to do it on a real budget.

I wondered if anyone has any tips for self catering that will help us save money while we are there.

And what food (or other) items should I plan to take with me ?

Many thanks :beer:

poe.tuesday

you will find that food costs in the supermarket are a lot less than here in the UK so eating should be cheaper than staying at home, unfortunately you are going to have to buy the staples such as butter, salt, sugar, tea, coffee, mayo, ketchup etc so if you could take these out with you (as you will have them already at home) you will find that this should keep the initial food shopping costs down

you should still be able to afford the luxuries such as prawns etc as they are far cheaper that over here, for say £20 you would have a huge vat of prawns enough for the whole family, I don't know if you like rabbit but it's very popular out in Spain and is cheap, chuck it on the bbq if you have one, most other meats are cheap too but don't get imported foods, also if you can get to a market you will find it even cheaper but you may have more hassles with the language etc

if you are planning to eat out then go for places that do the 'menu of the day,, these are usually 2 or 3 courses at a set price., also things like mussles are really cheap and you would normally get a great big pot that you can all share, what you need to watch out for is the cost of the drinks, this is what usually ups the price. Becareful having tapas as they may seem cheap but they are only a nibble so you don't really get value for money and the kids will still be hungry

take picnics when you go out, you will find chill boxes are very cheap out in Spain.

If you think about how much it would cost to feed yoru family for a week at home then I am sure you could easily keep within that budget if you are clever, take some staples out with you and watch the drinks when you are out in the cafes

Call_Centre_Guru

Find out the nearest large supermarket, avoid the local shops and do as you would at home, shop once for the week and buy the offers. Look out for the special offer leaflets as you go in and dont be afraid to ask if you don't understand the offer, most have an english speaking customer service desk. Try not to take the kids with you unless you are prepared to buy 'extras' just cos you're on holiday! Look out for drinks you can freeze for the kids (if you have a freezer in your accom) and have a great time.

Fruball

Thanks for the replies

Anyone else ?

rainee

Coffee, tea, a loaf of bread for the 1st day, butter as it is expensive, sausages , bacon, deff cheddar cheese english chocolates/ sweets (the kids favourites)
we also take ice pops for the freezer which you cannot get over there.
We go to Ibiza to see my parents and thats about the normal food list we take out.
There is a Lidl in Ibiza so I am sure there is something in Palma.
The little shops can be good. The one local to my parents is under a chain but independant so get special offers .
enjoy eating out at night the meal of the day is a good start or just a starter and dessert
best of all have a good time

poe.tuesday

didn't realise you were going to Mallorca, my sister lives there and we have been there on the cheap many times, if you are staying in the south (palma nova area) there is a big supermarket and garden centre just outside on the main road just outside Palma Nove on route to Portal Nous, you will really find it so much cheaper than UK supermarkets, if you are up north in Allcudia land then again there are large supermarkets there just on the ring road outside Allcudia town and just down the road is the market (within the city walled area), also in Allcudia the main strip in the marina there are loads of resturants where you can get the big vat of muscles and the smaller places you will find they do the menu of the day

Luvly.cuppa.T

Hello,
We came back from our hols to Majorca last week and we went All inclusive for the first time. I'm saying this as it was far cheaper than SC- it cost £900 for 5 of us (2 adults and 3 children, 11, 6, 3) and we went to Porto Collom.
SC was generally coming up for more then the AI, and we figured that going SC we would spend in the region of 600 euros for the week. That would cover eating out a fair bit though with all soft drinks included.

I got the deal through sun4udirect, which I found on teletext.com.

Porto Collom is your more traditional part of Majorca, a little fishing village, with a range of holiday makers from Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany and of course the British. It was nice, reasonable and if you are looking for beach and pool holiday this is it. You can take yourself off of course to other places on the Island, but with AI you kinda get stuck as this is where your food is! I guess the trick is stock up on all food that you can use for lunch, from the breakfast time, and make sure that you are back in time for dinner!

Fruball

Thanks for the great advice - we are going to Puerto Pollensa which is right next door to Alcudia

dianadors

Paella !! You can buy massive and really cheap Paella pans in the supermarket and as its nearly all rice it works out very cheap. Little boxes of Saffron are cheap in spain too so you can make it authentically!! You can trow in loads of cheap (and really tasty veg) Chicken, seafood etc

u2nick79

Take washing up liquid and cloth with you! We always take tea, coffee and sugar, even if not self catering.

lmeehan67

We always take the toastie machine with us, you can buy them now for as little as a fiver in tesco/asda etc. Anyway, we take that and buy a loaf and some cold meat or cheese and have them for lunch quite often....