Budgeting Your Food Expenses While Traveling

Budgeting Your Food Expenses While Traveling

There are many expenses that are involved in traveling. The largest expense will be the cost of your plane tickets, assuming that you will be taking a plane to your destination. Transportation once you arrive at your destination must also be taken into account. One of the major expenses which many people do not stop to think about when they are planning their vacation is the price of food. This can be very significant, especially if you are bringing your entire family. You can do a DC hotel search online to see what the best deals are. Here are some of the best ways to use for budgeting your food expenses while traveling.

1. Whenever possible, cook your own food

If you are staying in a standard hotel room, with no kitchen area, this will be impossible for you to do. However, if you are staying in a room that is designed more like an apartment, use the stove and oven to your advantage. Going to the grocery store and bringing the food back to your place and preparing it yourself will be much cheaper than going to a restaurant every time you want to get something to eat. Even buying food from vendors on the street, while cheaper than a restaurant, is still more expensive than food purchased in a grocery store. 

2. Do not eat hotel breakfasts

This is always a good rule of thumb to have because the cost of breakfast in most hotels is quite high. That would not be so bad if you were actually getting your money’s worth. However, the amount of food you get is not very much compared to the amount of money they charge for it. Your wallet will be much better off if you walk around the area of your hotel and find a local diner. The quality of the food will be much better, not to mention far less expensive. 

3. Make a food budget

You should try and plan how much you are going to spend on food each day during your trip. Try your best to stick to it, although this might not always be possible. There will be days where you will be doing more walking than others. On days where you are burning more calories, you will understandably need more food. However, you should still keep a close eye on the money you are spending on food to make sure your expenses do not spiral out of control during your trip.

4. Bring food on your trip

Another way for you to minimize food costs on your vacation is to bring your own food from home. There are many snacks that you can pack in your bags, without worrying about them going bad. For example, beef jerky, energy bars, granola bars, bags of peanuts and trail mix are all perfect travel foods because they come in small packages and can be carried easily while you are moving from place to place. 

5. Buy bottled water

One thing you will need to do in many countries is to buy bottled water. The water filtration systems in some countries are substandard, so you should never drink out of the faucet in your room. You should also avoid filling up cups with water from fountains at your hotel. Do not use the hotel ice.

What are your travel tips for saving money on food?

Disclosure:  This article was contributed by Fiona Moriarty of Hipmunk, a travel website that offers customers a fast and easy way to find the best travel deals.