Whether you are a backpacker, a young couple on a budget holiday, or the parents trying to feed many mouths on a family vacation, one travel expense that is guaranteed to take a big bite (pardon the pun) out of your travel budget is food!
In this budget travel guide, we will give you 10 best tips on how to eat cheap on holidays, or while while traveling, allowing you to reduce your food expenses. By adopting these easy frugal food expenses now, you’ll be able to save money for future holidays.
Eating Cheap Allows Us To Travel Full-Time
Many people often inquire about how we can afford three daily meals while we travel long-term. Our response is straightforward: traveling is not just a temporary vacation for us. This is now our way of life, we eat cheaply and we travel smart. If you were at home you wouldn’t go out for 3 meals and drinks every day, would you?
This means we limit our daily spending when traveling by avoiding pricey cocktails at rooftop bars and going out for fillet steaks. Nonetheless, we still enjoy going out for drinks and eating delicious food while traveling.
This travel budget guide will show exactly how we eat cheaply while on holiday, and don’t worry the food will still be delicious and you won’t go hungry!
10 Easy Ways to Reduce Food Expenses
Here’s how we’ve become experts at budget-friendly dining while on the road.
1. How To Eat Cheap on Holidays: Go Where The Locals Eat
Our first tip on how to eat cheap while traveling and afford long-term travel is a very easy one and something we apply regularly – we avoid fancy tourist restaurants. Instead, we choose budget-friendly dining options in local establishments.
Local restaurants usually offer more affordable dining than tourist-oriented restaurants. Not only does this allow us to enjoy genuine local flavors and experiences, but it also reduces food expenses dramatically.
If you are lucky, sometimes you even get larger portion sizes without extra cost. By avoiding the tourist areas, we explore hidden gems while directly contributing to the local economy, all while having a very cheap dining experience – it’s a win win.
The best and easiest way to know if a local restaurant has good and cheap food is to see how many locals are dining there. Trust what you see, if there are many locals there you are almost guaranteed they are eating cheap, yet quality food.
2. How To Eat Cheap On Holidays: Delicious Street Food
While eating street food is often associated with budget travel, it’s a smart and affordable travel tip that can benefit anyone when traveling. Regardless if you are a backpacker, or on your honeymoon, it is guaranteed to reduce food expenses.
Throughout our world travels, we’ve eaten street food in many different countries, such as Thailand, China, and our personal favorite Taiwan. These street vendors and night markets offer some of the most delicious and affordable local dishes.
And not once have we ever gotten sick.
Eating street food is a great way to experience authentic local flavors and specialties at a lower cost, and it also supports the local economy, as well as, supporting your goal of traveling long-term.
Street food can include anything from rice dishes, noodle dishes, juices, smoothies, shwarma, stew, many different types of barbequed meats, and mouth-watering desserts, the list is endless, but at a fraction of the cost when compared to tourist restaurants.
Just like observing where the local diners sit down for food, look for busy stalls or food trucks with a steady stream of locals, as they will indicate good hygiene, and serving quality yet cheap food.
3. How To Eat Cheap on Holidays: Treat Yourself To Some Fast Food
Sometimes we all need to indulge in a bit of fast food, yes it will not be the healthiest of choices, but it does provide affordable dining options.
Many fast food chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Domino’s offer great deals through their mobile apps. You can either eat this cheap food in their restaurant, or take it to a park, beach, or viewpoint. The list is endless!
Eating from a fast food chain once a week was not only a delicious treat for us, but it was also a great option on how to eat cheap while traveling throughout our Australia trip. Often we would get a budget meal from McDonald’s, or Domino’s pizza for less than 5 Australian Dollars. Additionally, some desserts are available for as little as one dollar. Go on treat yourself as well!
4. How To Eat Cheap on Holidays: Have Breakfast Included
Breakfast can be a costly expense when traveling. Another easy tip on how to eat cheap on holidays is to have it included in your hotel stay.
When booking accommodation, have breakfast included in your search filters, and you will find many great hotels with free breakfast offers. Obviously, don’t choose a very expensive hotel just because it offers a free breakfast – this defeats the purpose!
Enjoying a leisurely breakfast in the morning is not only a pleasant way to start your day, especially when you’re on vacation and want to take things at a more relaxed pace. But it also saves you time that you would have spent looking for a place to eat. And most importantly, it reduces food expenses on your holiday without having to spend extra money going out for breakfast.
During our travels, we have stayed in hotels in Tanzania, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Uzbekistan that had breakfast included for a very affordable price of less than €15 per night.
This is a very easy tip for how to eat cheap while holidaying, but don’t be that person who stacks up six plates of food and brings it back to your room, not cool guys! Maybe just take a piece of fruit or a small snack to enjoy in your room later.
5. How To Eat Cheap on Holidays: Prepare Your Own Food
Who doesn’t like spending hours in airports while paying for a pricey and unsatisfying meal? Have you ever considered preparing your own food instead of settling for a soggy 12-dollar sandwich and overpriced water?
It’s quite easy to pack a sandwich for yourself. Include a snack while you’re at it, and you’re good to go. Many airports now also have water refilling stations, so you can bring an empty bottle and refill it after going through security.
This simple yet cost-reducing travel hack isn’t just limited to travel days when you are on a plane, train, or bus. But also during road trip days when you’d rather not pause for lunch and disrupt your schedule.
On days when we are exploring, we often don’t have time to sit down for a meal because we are so eager to discover this new destination. By bringing lunch, you are not only eating cheap, but you won’t have to waste time searching for a restaurant. or waiting an hour for your meal to arrive.
Besides that, it is more convenient and allows you to enjoy your meal wherever you choose – whether it’s a picturesque park in a city, a fairy tale forest, or a scenic viewpoint.
So, next time you’re on a travel day, consider bringing your own snacks and food to reduce food expenses for a cheap yet satisfying meal.
6. How To Eat Cheap on Holidays: Find The Good Deals
The following budget travel tip can be used for long-term travel or even just for a weekend getaway.
There are many great deals on Groupon or LivingSocial for dining experiences that offer affordable dinner deals or lunch specials. Often they will include a main dish, a side dish, and sometimes even a drink or dessert. Why pay more when you don’t have to?
When comparing tour deals, it’s a good idea to research and compare prices among the different travel companies. You may find that one company offers the same package but with a lunch included. By shopping around, you will find the best value for your money.
Good deals come in many different forms. In some countries, portions can be quite large. A great way to reduce food expenses is by sharing meals like pizzas, chips, and tapas. This way you can still enjoy a meal without breaking the bank.
7. How To Eat Cheap on Holidays: Cooking Facilities
On our round-the-world trip, we often stay in apartments. Besides experiencing the local life, apartments also offer better value for money, especially for longer stays.
By staying in apartments you can save so much money by preparing your own meals and avoiding dining out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
This travel tip doesn’t only apply to apartments, there are many guesthouses, hostels, and sometimes even hotels that offer shared cooking facilities.
To travel long-term you have got to be smart about money because travel can be expensive. Any time you can cook for yourself you should take that opportunity to save money that can be put towards day trips, nights out, visas, or souvenirs.
Kenya is a GREAT country for affordable apartment-style accommodations.
8. How To Eat Cheap on Holidays: Explore All Markets
Another fun yet easy way how to eat cheap is by going to local markets and grocery stores to buy fresh produce, bread, cheese, and other essentials. You can prepare simple meals like sandwiches, salads, and pasta dishes in your accommodation.
There are so many different markets in the world, all of which allow you to eat cheaply and reduce food expenses.
In Kenya, we bought our dinner nearly every day in a deli in a supermarket. This was not only a great way to eat affordable while traveling, but also some of the best deli food we have ever eaten, with big portions that were very cheap, filling, and delicious.
When we traveled to South Korea and Taiwan we took advantage of the dinners available in the convenience stores. Simply warm these freshly cooked dinners up in a microwave and you have a delicious way of eating cheap while travelling. The shops also offer comfortable seating areas to enjoy your meal.
I know what you’re thinking, and yes it sounds disgusting, because microwave food can be very unappealing. However, we can assure you that these meals were not your ordinary microwave dinners cooked months ago and put into a freezer, but freshly cooked meals that get brought to the shop every morning.
Local Markets are great places to buy fresh fruit, vegetables, and other local foods that are cheaper than supermarkets. Plus walking around local markets is always interesting and fun.
Lastly, in many places in the Middle East and Asia, night markets provide many food stalls with more mouth-watering food at unbeatable prices.
Thailand has to come out on top for Food Markets right?!
9. How To Eat Cheap on Holidays: Beware of Snacking
Have you ever thought about how much you spend on your daily bottle of Coke, coffee, or ice cream?
Because those small amounts you are paying, all add up and snacking can become quite expensive while traveling.
If you have a sweet tooth, consider trying local chocolate brands instead of expensive Cadbury products. You may find good options at local bakeries for freshly baked goods that are a sweet and cost-effective snack.
Avoid using vending machines in hotels, as they tend to be pricier and are designed for people who don’t want to walk to a shop for a better deal!
Indulge in a culinary adventure around the globe – click the link below to find out some very affordable tours!
10. How To Drink Cheap on Holidays: Alcohol
If you are planning to travel long-term and want to go out for cocktails every night, then you will be home before you know it.
Alcohol can be very expensive and just like snacks, all those amounts add up to a large cost. The cheapest option is to drink water, but who likes that?! Here are our “how to drink cheaply tips” so you can save money when planning a night out.
By now you must realize that one of the keywords for cheap travel is – Local. So when you do go out for a drink, try and stick to the local brands in local bars. A bottle of local beer can cost you only one dollar compared to an imported brand that can be 2x, 3 x 4x times as much.
We love a good aul pint of Guinness, but when I have a choice of a one-dollar beer compared to a 10-dollar pint of Guinness, then the choice is easy!
Have a few drinks before you go out for the night. Buying alcohol from local liquor stores can save you money on your holiday as those prices will be lower when compared to prices at bars, restaurants, and Western supermarkets.
If you’re heading out for a night of drinks, consider choosing establishments that have happy hour specials or deals like getting five bottles for the price of four. Go for house wines or more affordable spirits rather than premium brands. Local vodka has the same effect as Grey Goose Vodka.
Lastly, as with all our tips on how to reduce your food expenses when traveling, it is to shop around. Once, we entered a fancy Western liquor store and found a brand of rum that was priced higher than what we would pay at home. Yet, upon visiting a nearby local liquor shop, we found the same brand at half the price. Don’t just settle for the first option you encounter.
For more of our travel wisdom, check out the following link. But don’t forget to read the summary of the How to Eat Cheap While Traveling below.
How To Eat Cheap on Holidays: Summary
So, those are some pretty easy, practical, and doable travel tips on how to cheap when on holiday right?! Unless money isn’t an issue for you, then you should apply all of these budget travel tips to your holidays, and everyday life. There’s a difference between being tight with money and being smart with money.
Remember that saving money by eating cheap in a smart manner is crucial while you travel long-term, go on holidays, or have many mouths to feed. By enjoying the local cuisine, shopping at local shops/markets, preparing your own food, and doing a small bit of research, you can significantly reduce food expenses.
But make sure to allocate some budget to treat yourself to special meals as well. By learning and applying these very easy budget travel tips, you can strike a healthy balance between enjoying local, delicious, inexpensive food and treating yourself to dinners and nights out all at the same time.
We would love to hear your thoughts and what smart travel tips you have. Please feel free to leave us a message below or contact us through our socials.
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