Sue_xx_yy

Sticking to a budget is like sticking to a diet - for most of us, if we don't plan for any snacks or indulgences, we'll end up feeling deprived and hungry, a sure recipe for failure. We also have to have a realistic appraisal of what kind of people we are. If you're a shopper now, you're going to be a shopper in Europe, no matter how much money you would theoretically save.

Conversely, if you're the kind of person who needs to research a hotel's pricing policies (including any discount policies) in order to feel confident and comfortable about your decision to book it, you're going to need to do this, no matter how much money is in your bank account or how much you've already committed to spending or in how high a category of hotel you stay.

If you're stuck in your budget, try asking what sort of budget would teach you what you most need to learn at this particular time. Maybe you'll decide you need to learn to accept more risk, and spend more money; or maybe you'll decide you need to find out if this or that was really as important to you as you thought, so that you are going to make a conscious decision to pass up spending on it.

Remember, you are your own best expert, you alone can do this step well. And if you do, then no matter how much (or how little) you spend, you won't go home with less than you had before. Best of luck.

chardonnay

Yes, Marilyn, that is the best idea to put the candy in a convenient place, which in my case is my desk! I also put out my photos of the trip so they can browse through them and start conversations. Somehow I think this is a warmer exchange than passing out trinkets. Oh yes, I do buy some postcards and if I don't send them I lay them out on the desk too for anyone to take.

Not that I am cheap, I have just learned to be protective of my vacation time.

jessmartino

I, much like the others, just give myself a budget and within that budget I can either eat well and shop little....or I can eat little and shop well. I admitt to having done both!!!

bugswife1

I agree with most of the above posters. I would not even think about spending my precious vacation time buying gifts for 20 or 30 people. However, I try to visit a zoo or aquarium in every city I go to, so I can usually find some cute, unique items for the nieces and nephews. For the office, I buy a big box of chocolates or biscotti at the airport and that is it.

Another thing to do is to buy some wine and some jarred or canned delicacies and invite the close friends over for some drinks & to see the photos. I just did that on my last trip to Italy Vin Santo dessert wine, biscotti, and some other Italian yummies and it was great. I told everyone to bring pictures from their last trip as well so it wouldn't turn into a bragfest on my part.
Another great souvenier is a small watercolor painting bought from a local artist on the street. They can usually be had for about $5 to $10. If you buy a bunch, I am sure you can work out a deal.

m_kingdom

It is an impossibility to do this - if one could plan every penny, cent, etc where would we be, so dull. Just take lots of cash and if you come home with some left over it's an incentive for another trip - especially with the eurozone!

Holidays are meant to be fun not accounting exercises. If you take say 3000 euros and find you only spend 2500 so what?

kaudrey

I don't really budget, but I do watch what I spend. For my upcoming trip to Spain, I booked a r/t flight from DC for $430, and my hotel costs will average $72 a night for 14 nights. I know approximately what my transportation will cost, since I've priced out train tickets, and already paid for a rental car. I generally do not eat in expensive restaurants, and I'm not much of a shopper.

I assume on every trip that I will spend some money on souvenirs, maybe a few hundred dollars if I see something I really like.

Other than that, I don't really worry about it. If I had to watch every dollar, I probably would go on a shorter trip.

Karen

wsoxrebel

Just like at home, I'm a tightwad but I will gladly pay for value. Huh? When traveling, I research the area's pricing structure and set a high-end budget (usually just in my head) of average daily spending to use as a yardstick. If a great opportunity presents itself, I won't hesitate to spend additional funds. But I never just spend for the sake of spending because I'm on vacation.

sandi

While I certainly don't budget every dollar, I still allow funds for gifts for immediate family or close friends (as they do likewise); thankfully it's not all that many.

The little girls get dolls (which I've managed to collect for myself as well, from around the world) and rarely cost more than $10. The boys get t-shirts, and the little little ones get toys that are different than found at home.

There are some items in foreign countries, not available at home and I make sure to bring those back with me, yet they're not expensive. I also keep in the back of my mind "buy flat" so whatever, it's easy to pack - no big bulky hard heavy objects that require special packing, take up too much room or weigh down the luggage.

Unless, there is something that I cannot find at home "and must have," I do without (can usually find it back at home even if it costs a bit more); except for the Jade I bought while in Thailand.

As to house gifts for friends I visit or stay with, I never arrive without NYC bagels & bialys and parts of the Sunday NYTimes; but as to a house gift I usually wait to see where they live, how they're decorated, what they might like, then once at home contact a local store in their country (e.g. Harrod's) and have them ship to them directly. This works very well - you didn't have to transport it, it didn't have to clear Customs, nor would duty of any sort be applied if over a specific amount of money.

If I had to concern myself with every dollar I'd be spending, that would spoil the trip. Just allow for these contingencies.

blh

I agree with Chardonnay - purchase candy at the airport and put it out at the office - they will love it! I usually try to send one card to the office - just because they enjoy seeing a card. As for friends, if you are planning to e-mail, this works great! Just send one general e-mail to the group - they love hearing from you as you go along. A postcard won't arrive until right before you return (that is, if you're only gone a couple of weeks). It's fun to keep in touch a few times during the trip. Sometimes I buy small gifts for friends - but not always - I don't want the pressure of having to find something. Last trip I brought back bars of lavender soap from Provence - they all loved it! At first I felt I had to bring something back to everyone - but soon learned this is too hard, too expensive, and too time consuming. Now, I bring back what I find if I find it! It has to be small and inexpensive too.

OaktownTraveler

Tat:

Great question! We have a Spending Plan which covers the ESTIMATED daily cost for meals, transportation and hotel.

We also have a category for daily misc. items such as drinks, newspapers and postcards.

We have a "pot" for shopping which includes "major buys" like anything over $50.00.

You are wonderful to buy for people while on vacation. I NEVER do that anymore. I used to but as mentioned above, people do not acknowledge your postcards, do not like the t-shirt that you took time to select and they sometimes do not like the candy that you being home for them.

I spend the time and money to develop my film, put together the scrapbooks and create temporary displays of our trip.
We then invite people over, serving them foods(or something) from the areas that we visited.

Our "Travel parties" and really most of our parties are designated for adults only (Our friends curse and drink) so we provide a "grab-bag" of aproximately 5 assorted/duplicate travel photos OR postcards per couple.
I tie them (the photos...smile) in some cellophane, place a big ribbon on it and...its a wrap!

My hubby buys something for EVERYBODY. That drives me crazy so I usually plan something else during his designated shopping time. He is really thoughtful and his shopping comes out of "his" money not related to our travel budget.

Oh, I will sometimes go into "my" money if I have to have something (major purchase) while travelling. These things are usually shipped home very quietly...


Happy Travels,
Oaktown Traveler

Patrick

Several years ago we had a community theatre group that did a performing "exchange" in St. Albans outside London. We were hosted and housed by their members and our theatre helped fund our travel expenses. One couple who are dear friends of mine could never afford to go to Europe on their own, but this was a golden opportunity for them. We had a ball and they loved it. But they spent half the trip worrying about buying things for their children, their grandchildren, brothers, sisters, people they work with, and everybody I think they've ever met. I have no doubt then when all was said and done they must have spend over a thousand dollars on "gifts". This makes no sense to me. To this day they talk about how expensive going to England was -- and how it cost them so much more than they expected.

I have never understood the idea of why I'd buy a gift for a friend or relative because I went somewhere.

SalB

We don't budget every penny. We set a limit above which we will not go. If you know how much you have, you tend to equalize your spending so you won't have to skip things at the end of your trip. We usually go to Europe for 4 to 6 weeks at a time so this is important.

We always send postcards to friends and they love it. I've seen postcards pinned on mirrors and put on office bulletin boards. Europe seems very exotic to most people and a postcard is "proof" that they know someone who really went there.

We occasionally go crazy and buy something that really catches our fancy. Our first trip I bought a tiny indoor fountain that my poor husband had to lug in his backpack on the trip home. Our last trip he saw a painting he absolutely "had" to have. We bought it; it's hanging in our library and we are both delighted we spent the money.

We also tend to do our Christmas shopping on vacation. It's just so much more fun. We do only exchange with family and a couple very close friends though.

You enjoy the trip more if you aren't paying credit card bills for the next six months after your get home!

When you visit people in Europe, you can take flowers as your gift. They are usually an acceptable hostess gift in any country.

I've really enjoyed watching you plan your trip. I hope you have a wonderful time.

allisonm

Our trips are usually for only a week or less. Since the airfare and hotel are usually paid in advance (unless we are using B&Bs) we always know at the outset what our fixed expenses will be. Then I try to think of things that have been mentioned above, like subway tickets, museum passes etc and figure them in. Then I try to guess at a daily food allowance (I am guessing more for food in Paris than traveling through Ireland)and then add a few hundred dollars more into the kitty for shopping. (I was so excited last week when I was getting my "travel" handbag cleaned out for our upcoming trip and found $100 left over from another trip!)Then if there is any money left over, it goes back into the bank. If I only take one trip a year, I don't want to feel like I cheated myself by being too frugal to spend while taking it. (I am a rather thrifty person normally, apparently taking after a grandmother.)

As far as gifts, I will occasionally pick up a little something for a couple of coworkers. I usually try to bring home some small gifts for sisters and nieces (ie in Donegal we got some seconds in the Parian china shop.) Sometimes friends will ask us to pick up certain items for them, and we are happy to do it but sometimes it seems like we spend an inordinate amount of time shopping for these things. I spend too much time looking for what I think they would like rather than what I would like them to have. Make sense?

I stopped sending postcards because we were usually home before they arrived, and I was feeling too pressured to buy them and hurry up and get them in the mail when it seemed like we had only arrived.

Tat, I think the biggest decision for you was going on the trip at all. I am sure it will be wonderful for you, and people will get over it if they do not receive small tokens from your vacation!

kybourbon

Tat - My daughter has always brought back inexpensive gifts for friends. Kids always like foreign money so one euro dollar + one euro in coins make great gifts. She also would find packs of chewing gum or candy bars in grocery stores in French or Italian etc. There are also machines all over Europe that you can put a penny in it and pay approximately one euro to smash the design of the location(Notre Dame etc.) into the penny. Kids love these for some strange reason.

As for adults I usually get small calendars for 2-5 euro(I'm looking at my Italy one as I type ), soaps with a famous store name such as Harrods etc., or even playing cards in a foreign language are fun. Very inexpensive and don't take up much space in your luggage.

I try to budget but find as the day wears on and I get tired the budget is forgotten!!

Thonglori

kybourbon- great suggestion about the candy... when i was in Japan, i brought back lots of candy and gum... not only is the taste fun and interesting, but so is the typography and package design. definitely a fun, inexpensive gift that can also be purchased at the very end of your trip to prevent carrying it around, or even worse- losing it.

mcgeezer

I usually have a very good idea about how much I'm going to spend. I budget in a little extra because I don't want to create an if-only.
IMO little trinket souveiners are a waste of money. Besides, after you spent your time hauling them around the globe, your friend is waiting to haul them to their garage sale.
Aside from the t-shirt that I'll wear to wear to walk the dog in, I buy a nice piece that I'll always love. If a good friend is having a birthday or petsitting for us, I'll buy them a nice present. Provided it's of quality and easy to haul. (It's a good bribe to get someone we know to take care of the pets.)

sandi

Another gift to bring home from vacation for friends and that is received well is "coasters". They ususally come in 6/packs and cost anywhere from $5-$10 (sometimes even less).

Kavey

Tat

I haven't read all the replies so forgive me if I'm repeating advice or thoughts offered already.

I am lucky in that I've been travelling all my life. When I was a kid I did used to insist on buying souvenir gifts for a few close friends - it was something I really enjoyed and gave me some freedom of choice as a child.

But as an adult I really just don't bother with gifts for all and sundry. On those occasions when we've travelled with friends who do this I've been amazed at how much the focus of the trip can be overtaken by the search for the right gifts, the worry of ensuring that a gift has been selected for each person on the list etc.

Unless your colleagues are also close friends, or are helping you out by doing something for you when you are away (that they might not reasonably be expected to do anyway) then I might buy some small item to say thanks.

If you'd still like to get something for your team/ dept you might like this idea that we sometimes do - we buy a few large bags of local sweets/ biscuits and bring them into the office for everyone to share on our first day back to work.

Everyone appreciates this as much as useless gifts that they don't really want/ need and it's much easier to find - just pop into a local shop/ supermarket once on the trip.

Personally I don't buy gifts for our good friends either - because all of us travel reasonably often and our friendships just aren't about the gifts (not that I'm suggesting for a moment that yours are).

We do presents for birthdays and at Christmas and we think that's plenty.

Because I do enjoy doing a little shopping/ browsing on holiday what I often do is look out for items that might make nice birthday/ Xmas presents for specific friends in the coming year or generic gifts for my "present cupboard".

We do send postcards and these go to many friends plus one to work, each. Because we travel often we don't send postcards to every friend/ family member on every trip - but everyone close receives a card or more each year and have let us know they enjoy that.

As for how closely we set our budget - we don't set it too closely - we have prebooked accommodation and we just go out there with a rough idea of food and travel costs.

We can decide ourselves what we feel is reasonable for all these things depending on whether we've decided to do the particular trip on a modest or moderately generous budget.

We never set exact targets for food/ day or travel etc.

That said we don't tend to opt for taxis - we tend to choose trains/ buses etc. We don't choose high-end restaurants.

One or both of us have often fallen in love with one item or other on a trip. Basically we use exactly the same decision making process as we would when at home. How much do we love it and do we love it so much we can justify the price to ourselves? Do we really have somewhere to hang/ display it? Will we use it/ wear it? We don't often fall in love with expensive items and generally we have strong self control of our spending. We did find a painting we both liked very much in a shop in Venice. We discussed buying a print or an original and, after going away for a think over coffee we did buy it. But that was only about £100 uk so we're not talking mega bucks.

Basically, only you know how you normally deal with your budget/ how you normally control your spending/ how you normally decide whether or not to buy that "must have" item.

Best of luck and hope you have a wonderful trip!

Tat

As aways I am thrilled with the answers !
Thanks so much to all.
Just one thing I want to say to Patric's "why I'd buy a gift for a friend or relative because I went somewhere." - I want to say "Just to see them smile !" )

And one more question : what "coasters" are ?

Thanks a million again

Sue_xx_yy

Tat, a coaster is a small pad that is placed under a glass to protect the surface of the table.