I certainly wouldn't want to be cooking every night, but we do have some lunches in, fresh bread, salad, cheese, olives etc. If we were short of money though I would rather go to Turkey and cook every night than not go at all.

I don't think there are really that many people bragging about how much they spend, I think they ar mainly just quoting prices and that's fine, if people want to go over the top on holiday that's what it is all about really. As long as you have a good holiday I don't think it matters what you spend.

hey,like others have said, it can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to lol! i know personally we have late brekkie/lunch in aparts-toasties with sucuk or fresh bread with cheese,meat etc etc then in afternoon before evening maybe a snack-crackers,crisps etc as we liek to eat out every evening! on saying that, we balanced it by going to both nice places and places were they had offers so its upto you how much you can afford really! turkish places are good and reasonable too, sometimes nicer! in 2006 and 2008 i lived in marmaris all season therefore couldnt afford to eat out really therefore i went to turkish cafes etc as it was much cheaper and nicer-a real taste of turkish dishes that i only get when i stay with my inlaws lol!this year hubby and i will visit his family in hatay for a week which will save us a lil money as its non touristic and cheapy lol and have a week in marmaris (roll on next sunday lol) so we will have lil more spends, we are looking forward to the turkish dishes his mum makes but also the restaurants in marmaris we go to (o'yes for me, natalies and a turkish place-karakeechy :-s something lol for him). we wont be stingy,we will have and do what we want but we will keep an eye on money as 1.im pregnant and 2.dunno about any others with turkish hubbys but mine wont spend unneccesssarily lol-presume this is because he knows how hard money is to come by from previously working in tourism lol! a holiday is what you make of it, money of course is an issue but important thing is enjoying yourself and relaxing! happy hols everyone

Thanks for that 'Oscarben', my posts have not been aimed at anyone in particular, and were certainly not meant to give offence, only to put a subject in perspective, and ease the worries of those members, like myself, who read posts regarding what some members spend whilst away and rapidly lose the will to live.
X

You're welcome,ardath.Couldn't see why anybody would take offence,one of our most enjoyable meals several years ago was a baguette,torn open by hand and cheese slices popped inside,whilst walking around Dubrovnik,we were both working full time so not on a tight budget,just on a tight schedule because we were on an organised tour,and didn't want to miss anything,T.

People work hard all year for their holiday,some budget all year round, go off on holiday and just want to have a good time without putting too much effort into it and who do not want to worry about the costs. For example, escaping from the kitchen sink, not thinking of what to cook, not worrying about weekly shop, etc etc. They want to go away with this extra hard earned money they have saved and enjoy eating out in the evening, doing trips if they want to, drink premium drinks, buy something they like. They are happy to "blow" it all on that holiday and come back thinking what a brilliant time has been had.

This, exactly.

I do not smoke, I drive an old banger of a car. I work six days a week and do not splash my money on designer clothes or go to the pub every weekend. If I choose to go on holiday and "waste" my money, that is my choice. I resent the implication that I may have to put it all on plastic in order to throw money around! I don't! And even if I did - it wouldn't be anyone elses business but mine.

I do not like to go on holiday to scrimp and save. I don't want to cook, I don't want to have to worry if we can afford a trip or not. I don't want to go to the cheapest restaurants to save pennies. A holiday for me is a complete luxury and that includes the spending money. So we save up, hard, and then we blow it all on holiday!

Other people choose to have a holiday on a shoe string - and that is also their perogative, I certainly wouldn't judge them for it.

Can Turkey be done on a budget? Of course it can. But it is horses for courses. Some people see splashing out on holiday as a waste, and some as part of the holiday. You can make the holiday as cheap or expensive as you like.

aam wrote:

dunno about any others with turkish hubbys but mine wont spend unneccesssarily lol-presume this is because he knows how hard money is to come by from previously working in tourism lol!

I think mine is the opposite! He wants to eat out every night and go completely over the top with spending, it is me who gets him to calm down Maybe he has seen how everyone else is on holiday when he was working in a tourist resort and thinks that is how it should be, mind you, the good thing about it is that we often get discounts in rstaurants where he knows people so it doesn't cost as much to eat out as it could do.

just to pick up on one point, whats the rules about taking bacon and foodstuff into turkey? are you allowed?

i'm always a bit nervous about taking anything cause don't want the embarrassment of having to offload it out of my bags at the airport lol!!

i used to take stuff before all the foot & mouth the other year but haven't since cause been told its not allowed.

we don't take much, just enough for the first few days dinners, always buy a couple of the loaves and have sarnies on the balcony lol!

oh - and just to put my two penneth in, i think some people are being rather over sensitive on this topic, i've read every post and i really don't think that arbath started this topic to be aimed at any one person in particular, they, as is their right, have voiced their own personal opinion on how you can make turkey work for you if you are on a budget - i do think some people need to lighten up a bit (but saying that, that comment will probably attract the "how dare you" ones - although this is my personal opinion )

Tracey
x

I don't think you are allowed to take meat into Turkey but you can take lots of other things in,packet sauces,tuna,peanut butter,marmite,anything you think may be difficult to find or expensive to buy will all help the budget.By the way ,I agree with your last post,after all ,everybody wants to enjoy their holiday in whatever way they can afford,live and let live,and share money saving tips with those who may want or need them,T.

I don't think the original aim of this thread was to "have a go" at those who like to splash the cash while on holiday, but simply to point out that it can be done a lot more cheaply if you want, or need, to - and can be just as enjoyable. No-one's saying people shouldn't feel free to spend as much or as little as they want on holiday, but it can be useful for people to know that there are cheaper alternatives available. I think it was simply a response to earlier threads talking about how much prices had gone up - so people might have been worrying that their budget may no longer be adequate.
I agree that it's all a question of horses for courses - but the more information and helpful hints people have, the better it is all round, surely - then we can all make informed choices.

Alizda, legally you are not allowed to take any meat or dairy products into Turkey. In practice many people do take things over though. You just have to weigh up the chances of being stopped and caught. I have never actually carried any kind of food into Turkey but my mum used to bring cheese over for me when I lived there.

Someone did point out once though that if you put some meat in your case and it went astray and sat somewhere in the heat for a week or so before you got it back, it wouldn't be very pleasant

eewww no you're right lol!! thats fine, its just cleared it up in my own mind x

Thank you Kedi xx

We have never taken perishables such as meat etc. abroad in our luggage, but then our daughters are vegatarian, though they do eat fish so we just take tins of tuna and salmon - which I think are pretty much ok to take into a country, also why not take dried soya mince instead of meat, you can rehydrate it in seconds, mix it with a meaty stock cube and put it with your favourite dishes, it's much quicker and you honestly don't notice much difference in flavour, for my husband and I both eat meat and we find it goes down pretty well, also it is a much healthier option, and you can take it abroad. Holland & Barratt stock all dried soya goods, and some supermarkets do as well.
Another tip, dried pasta and noodles get boring after a while so take some instant rice pouches, all supermarkets stock them, with a range of egg fried rice, basmati rice, yellow rice, etc., that you just pop in the microwave, though you need to check first if your accommodation has a microwave.
And salted peanuts are a real bonus, not to snack on but to add to salads and stir frys, full of nutrition and adding a delicious crunchiness to your meals.
If you have kids, or just love breakfast cereals yourself, take these with you because for some reason breakfast cereals are really expensive in Turkey, same goes for coffee, which I have always found to be expensive wherever we travel.
X

I think the girls and I do hybrid on holiday as we go to the supermarket when we arrive and buy fruit and natural yogurt for breakfast and snacks. None of us are big brekkie eaters and we are usually too hungover. For lunch we will either buy something light in a cafe or might head to the apartment for some more fruit and maybe a sandwhich or what ever exciting Turkish things we can find in the supermarket to eat. When it is warm I don't like stodgy food, it has to be light and fresh. Dinner we always head out and go where ever we fancy or somewhere we might have come across that day.

Being young females I think we are more paranoid about weight gain from eating out 3 meals a day