Saving $$ While Eating

[SuzyQ]

OK, Budgeteers!!

Here's another question for those of you who are in the know of great money-saving ideas.

Let's say you are a family of four (mom, dad, brother, sister - both young). If you were to budget about $100 - $120 a day for food, how would you go about spending that money??

Have fun - I can't wait to see your creative ideas!!

~Suzy :minnie:

[SusanP]

Maybe I'm not the best one to answer as our family of 4 budgets $60/day! If I were ordered to spend that much a day (I'd have to be because I'd keep thinking we could save half for the next trip :D ) I would think of where I would like to eat for one meal of the day. Breakfast in room (unless it's at the castle!) while everyone gets ready and lunch or dinner at a sit down place. The other meal would be snacks or counter service. What are the types of foods you would like to try? Epcot is great for this, you can eat around the world. Don't worry, you can get chicken fingers for the kids everywhere! Go to wdwig.com and check out the menus and see what catches your eye. Plan which day you are in what park and then choose the restaurant-or the resort you are close to. I can't really recommend many places because we mainly do counter service. Have fun planning!

[Sandfisher]

Now that's a hard one for me because I no longer have to budget for 4!
However on our last trip, I had "saved" Mickey dollars during the year before the trip, buying mostly $5 bills and then gave them to our two sons and they came in handy at the CBR food court because they could nearly always get their breakfast for around that amount.
We often stayed at CBR and ate a really good breakfast. Then we took a couple bagged (ziploc) snacks along to the parks. Again it was something I prepared before the trip and everyone had a choice of their favorite snacks. We would stop for a cold drink a couple times during the day and then eat some type of counter service at one of the parks around mid afternoon.
We've never done a lot of PS, so expensive meals just weren't a consideration.
And I like the idea of "eating around the world" at World Showcase too! I can guarantee you we could do it on $100/day and much less than that.
Sandy :wink:

[Pinky]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.... this is a toughie! Here is how I would do it....

Breakfast... eat in the room. Bring muffins, cereal, breakfast bars, fruit and yogurt to eat. Purchase the refillable mugs at the resort to get free drinks (coffee, etc...).

Lunch.... eat at a full service sit down restaurant. Lunch menus are typically cheaper than dinner menus in some WDW restaurants. Splurge on dessert during lunch :D

Snacks... take some peanut butter crackers, fruit, cookies, chips etc... in your backback to snack on throughout the day.

Drinks... refill your water bottles in the water fountains throughout the parks.

Dinner... counter service. Get burgers, hot dogs, chicken strips, salad, etc... MUCH cheaper than sit down restaurant.

Basically, if I was on a strick budget, I would only have one sit down meal a day and one counter service meal.

[LimeGreenCheri]

We have found it is best for us to eat a big breakfast, have popcorn or a small snack for lunch and then have a counter service dinner. This usually gives us the best bang for our buck!

[Cinderella]

Well, that amount of money would be great to have. We've done it in quite a bit less. We've been asking for a refrigerator in our room and we take breakfast cereal and fruit and yogurt and eat first before we leave for the parks. Then we used to stop for a light lunch and have dinner at a special restaurant (most of the budget). But his year I think we will TRY to schmooze an upgrade to concierge (in my dreams) and IF we can do that, we'll eat what they offer, have a big lunch while in the parks and just snack at dinner. The cost of the upgrade (if within our price range) would make up for the amount we would have spent on food in the parks (at least that's my theory). If we can't schmooze an upgrade, and since we're driving down, we'll bring breakfast foods, water bottles and snacks and eat our breakfast in the room (one character breakfast out) and have our big meal at lunch (cheaper) and eat a light snack for dinner back at WL or before we leave the parks. Having the car this trip will help a lot as we can pack up all our supplies and take them to the room as we need them.
I am also trying to save my piddly little paycheck each week and put it away toward food and souvenirs when at DW. (I'm retired but working one day a week). I hope to buy all my postcards at a nearby Disney store and have them ready to be mailed from DW. I will also make my own Christmas cards on my print shop program as I have been doing the last few years and adding some Disney pictures in them of DH and I at DW with the Christmas decorations. WE always pack lunches/snacks for any long drives we take so we'll save on having to buy three meals a day on the way down also.

Claire
:mickeyXmas:

[SuzyQ]

Great ideas, everyone! I really liked the ideas of eating around the world and also eating at a sit down during lunch.

My husband and I usually travel with just the two of us, so we eat a good breakfast in the morning at the resort ($12), share a full meal at a counter service at lunch $10, and then usually a counter service for dinner or every other night or two a sit down dinner like Ohanas.

When thinking about adding a couple if kiddos, that changes things up a bit. Thanks for the ideas!!

~Suzy :D

[Gretta]

Hi SuzyQ,

We have found the pizzas at POR & POFQ to be quite good. With pepperoni, they are about $16.00. We get a large salad to go along with it and split everything amongst the four of us. It is a filling meal for about $20.00.

Gretta

[avonbelle]

Thanks everybody. SuzyQ actually asked that question for me and we are more than happy to trim our budget. Someone mentioned getting a fridge in their room. We were planning on staying at an All-Star Resort. Is the fridge a possibility??

Thanks for all the input. It has given us hope! I've never been to any Disney, anywhere, so I am soaking it all in...

[Barb D]

I dont know if a fridge is a possibility but I can tell you on one trip we bought a collapsable cooler at Walmart for under $20. We dont check our luggage when we fly to our locations but we did on the way home so on the way home we used the collapsable cooler for some of our dirty laundry, leaving my regular suitcase more room for souveniers. On the way to Orlando we left it collapsed and my husband carried it on much like a briefcase. The best thing to do if you go this route is to bring lots of large ziplock baggies. The ice melted makes it real wet and I noticed if we didnt double bag the ice the water got out somehow. We changed the ice a couple times a day.

Barb

[SuzyQ]

Those collapsable coolers are a great idea, Barb.

Look another Washingtonian! Avonbelle lives by us!

~Suzy

[roodad]

We usually stay in a dvc unit, so breakfast is typically cereal or rolls of some sort with coffee and juice. Occasionally I will have breakfast at Spoodles. Lunch is alternate days of what I consider to be higher quality counter service, like Tangierine Cafe and sit down meals. If I am in MK and want a good sit-down lunch, I will hop the monorail to one of the resorts. Every two to three days, I will have a top notch dinner - more often than that and I get overly full and cranky. I alternate those big meals with things like sushi from Kimonos, crab cakes at the Rose and Compass, etc. When the kids were younger, there would be at least one character b'fast - I am partial to the character b'fast at Cape May - there is just something about Goofy in his swim togs that tickles me.

[Belle]

$120/day??? OMG - too much fun, but never in our budget. Here is how we normally do it though - I am one of the most frugal travelers you will ever meet. We manage to spend about $35./day on the average for 2 adults and one child total! Of course that does not count Cindy's Castle or special events. I am often bowled over by the budgets for eating that I see, lol. But I must say I do a great deal of homework using Deb Wills' menu guide so I know who sells what and for how much.

Collapsable coolers are a must - saves $10/day! I bought mine at Walmart for $9.97 and it is large enough to store 24 cans of soda (for size comparison). When zipped shut and full of ice, it will keep food cold all day! Great for storing a quart of milk or juice.

Kids Meals - I can't stress that enough. For those of us with a smaller appetite, kids meals are great for lunch and/or dinner. Counter service does not do a head count to see how many kids are travelling with you, so you don't have to worry about being called out, lol. I have also ordered kids meals at sit-down restaurants without a problem - Sci Fi Dine In being one.

Bringing cereal and granola bars, PB crackers and water bottles are also a life saving must at the parks. Being able to have a quick bite can stave the hunger long enough till your next meal so you are not spending a bunch on mid-day snacks.

Oops! Almost forgot the grande #1 tip :shock:
Ship a box of food and small nessecaries via UPS down to the resort ahead of time. Your hotel will hold it for you, but it must arrive within 3 days of your check-in. We paid $7. to ship from NY to FL - not too bad when you consider the $ we saved, for example -

Multi-pack cereals (Walmart - 2.50/WDW - 5.00 for a multipk at souvenir shop or 1.79 per box at the food court!)
Fruit Bars 10 pk (WM - 1.78/WDW - 3.49)
Oatmeal 12pk (WM - 1.50/WDW - 1.79 per pack!)
Sunscreen (WM - 3.99/WDW - $10+)

We also packed -
Pop Tarts
Hot Cocoa
Granola Bars
Powdered drink mix (just add water type)
Styrofoam cups, bowls and plasticware
Fan with mister
extra toothbrush (somebody always forgets!)

and a few other non-perishable goodies. Boy was it nice to arrive and have to box waiting for us. Saved us an immediate trip to the food court.

There are microwaves and toasters available at the food court to heat your water or food.

Maybe that's not the answer to the question, but I tend to ramble anyway... lol! Need any other tips? PM me :-)

{hugs}
Belle

[Belle]

Is the fridge a possibility??



Yes - ask for it at check in. If you want it, it is $10/day. Those walmart collapsables are a great alternative though... we did not have any leak issues, but I would recommend using the bag from the ice bucket just in case :-)

{hugs}
Belle

[Brer]

oatmeal and bannanas for breakfast, vouchers for lunch at B and C split 2 dbl cheeseburgers and 2 No way Jose's, that is about 25.00, that leaves 75-100 for supper

[SuzyQ]

That's a great plan, Brer!

~Suzy