Travel

How to Save Money on Food While Traveling

Indian Food

Though flights and hotels can make up the bulk of your traveling costs, you’ll spend a sizable chunk of your holiday budget on food. Without actually letting yourself go hungry, there are a few ways you can reduce your travel expenses in the food department. Not only will you reduce your costs, some of these ideas will actually help you to enjoy your trip more by getting more immersed in the local scene.

Pass on Tourist Spots

Big chain restaurants that operate in hotel areas are going to be more expensive than smaller locally-run places to eat. While it can be comforting to have the same menu that you’re used to at home, why not be more adventurous and try something different. You may have to travel a little farther away from your tourist zone but it can be worth a little extra effort. Prices can be dramatically lower, and you might even find the food is better.

Pack a Snack

You don’t necessarily have to be spending extra cash every time you get a little hungry. Buying a few packaged items you can carry with you is a lot cheaper than finding a restaurant or snack bar at a tourist attraction. Prices are always lower at a grocery store or supermarket. Whether its just a little fruit or a granola bar, or you can take it one step further and pack a whole lunch to enjoy while you’re out and about.

Cook Your Own

If you get a hotel room with some sort of kitchen facilities, you can make light meals on your own and save a ton of money. Nobody wants to be tied to the kitchen while on holiday but having some easy to make foods, even just breakfast cereal, around the hotel room can mean savings without sacrificing a lot of time cooking. Sandwiches can be a simple lunch that only requires a few ingredients and a fridge in your room.

You’ll need to find a local place to get some basic groceries, which can be a fun adventure on its own as you taste and try new foods that you may not see at a typical restaurant.

Take a Doggie Bag

When you have leftovers from your meal, ask to have them packed up to go. You paid for that food and may as well get the most of it. It would be the most helpful if you have a fridge in your room though it’s not strictly necessary (depending on what kind of leftovers you’re dealing with). You can have a quick lunch the next day, or even breakfast if you want, without having to spend again.

If you are hoping to save some money when it comes to food, the one thing you don’t want to do is skip meals entirely. Allowing yourself to be hungry because it’s too expensive to eat is not a wise idea, and can lead to health problems that you might not want to deal with while away from home.

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Paul Tomaszewski is a science & tech writer as well as a programmer and entrepreneur. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of CosmoBC. He has a degree in computer science from John Abbott College, a bachelor's degree in technology from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, and completed some business and economics classes at Concordia University in Montreal. While in college he was the vice-president of the Astronomy Club. In his spare time he is an amateur astronomer and enjoys reading or watching science-fiction. You can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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