Spending money

[Baroness]

Just out of interest, how much did people end up spending (roughly) last time in cash? Am going to pick up some Euros in the next few days and just wondering how much actual currency to take - will obviously have Switch/Maestro card with me to pay for stuff that way too.

Cheers. :)

ps. OMG *so* mere...

[bvark]

I was an ultra-grumpy stay-at-home eat-lunch-at-home don't-go-out tightwad last time (I promise to be more cheery this time), and outside the skiing expenses I spent about EUR125.

[Afty]

Ness, bring it all. All of it.

Just. In. Case.

[her0n]

Last year i somehow managed to spend £0 on drinks ;)

[Afty]

Was that due to all the free wine in the lodge, or the fact that you didn't do a heavy night in town you southern jessy?

[Aardvark]

I'm bringing €250 cash to be on the safe side, and as far as I recall you can get cash out of holes in suspiciously French walls with Maestro in any case (although again I recall there is a surcharge for this).

You're sorted for drinks anyway Ness, just bat eyelids at nearest Frenchman and you're sorted. Side effects may include Frenchmen, however :D

[phil]

Originally posted by her0n
Last year i somehow managed to spend £0 on drinks ;)

I seemed to have some very expensive rounds in that Irish bar round the corner last year, so you can buy this time round ;)

[her0n]

lol
ski pass prices here

http://www.dragonlodge.com/liftpas.html

[Afty]

Originally posted by phil
I seemed to have some very expensive rounds in that Irish bar round the corner last year, so you can buy this time round ;) I too flaunted the cash in that bar. I get the feeling i had better bring more than 250 euro.

[andyf]

wtf! ski passes are ****ing hax. what's that about. im staying on the nursery slopes.

[Afty]

Yes, at least your first day or so will be spent on the nursery slopes. By later in the week though, you will want to join us on the mountain.

Incidentally, what level of tuition did you get up to? Or are you planning to hax loads of lessons while you're over there?

[her0n]

Originally posted by andyf
wtf! ski passes are ****ing hax. what's that about. im staying on the nursery slopes.

lol k i thought we explained the ski pass thing?! in order to come down the mountain.. you gotta get up it... by lift... the ski company owns those lifts... you pay them to take you up essentially.

Like the bus pass analogy.. except you can't just buy a 'single' fare ;p you gotta buy a pass for however many days you will be skiing for!

[Big Giant Head]

Actually some of the gondollas you can buy single and return tickets (for walkers and stuff) but its vv expensive compared to the cost of a day pass for skiiers.

Ski passes are actually pretty decent value, under £20 for a full days entertainment beats the hell out of most things tbh.

[Afty]

Who are you? Do we know you?

[Big Giant Head]

You'll probably remember me when you see me....

[Mingtea]

I heard he's a sex machine.

[Pingman]

Looks like im going to pay for the ski rental and lift pass in cash, so im going to be taking some where in between £400 and £500 pounds worth of EUR with me, more than likely £450 worth.

Where are you all getting your travel money from, is any where doign a good deal on the rates with commision free or any thing?

[her0n]

Post office will convert any unused currency back for free when u come home afaik

[Afty]

I just kept my spare 70 euros after last year, and with exchange rate updates I've made money doing it.

[bvark]

If anyone wants euros for pounds I'm happy to oblige, commission free on the daily median rate on www.oanda.com in return for an internet transfer to my UK account.

[her0n]

ohhhh OOHH bvark honey sweety lovvie. Let me see what rate the Post Office do and I shall let you know! That site today, Friday 14th January 8.25am, says:

1 British Pound = 1.42416 Euro
1 Euro (EUR) = 0.70217 British Pound (GBP)

Median price = 1.42355 / 1.42416 (bid/ask

[Ryvita]

So, to simplify things, how much total cash should I be changing to Euros? To cover everything - Ski hire, Pass, booze, the works? £400 worth? £500?

Ryv

[OverlordRob]

just spent a week in the three vallees

spent about €200 during that time on drink (couple of crates between 4 and a couple of nights spending maybe €20 on beer in pubs), food (ate in all week apart from one night) and not much else

Eating in you could eat for about €4 a night and a couple of euros for lunch and a crate was about €14. Pubs were about €5 a pint and eating out was anywhere between €20-30 for an evening meal and about €10 for a lunch. All pretty expensive - jsut depends whether youre prepared to eat in all week or not

[Afty]

Board hire is, I think £130
Skis might be a little more?
Ski Pass circa £125

So, about £250 nicker plus change to cover your expenses. Add on lessons (ask one of the seasoned lot, I have no idea but they will cost $$$).

I'm guessing at least £200 in spending money for food, beer and entertainment - I will be surprised and dissapointed if you spend less.

So £500 plus instructors fees sounds about right... maybe £450 + instructors?

[Ryvita]

Not exactly cheap this skiing malarky is it?

Ryv

[Wizzo]

Depends how much you're going to spend. No doubt the girlies will leech in the bars :). Last year I spent about £500 including all the ski-ing hire, lift pass and drinking, so about £300 on food and drink overall. That doesn't include the "being taken for a ride in a pub to buy some champers" last time. This time I intend to stop at a hypermarket on the way to get some chalet drinkies, but with 3 major nights out on the town in a row I'd say you're looking at needing at least 60 euro a night including food, if not more for those nights.

Perhaps 50 euro a day spending money for food and drink is about right for reasonable spending levels? This would include food and drink up the mountain (which adds up quite quickly), going out for food and also drinks mosts nights.

[Afty]

Originally posted by Ryvita
Not exactly cheap this skiing malarky is it? That's why it's an upper-middle-class activity :)

But more seriously, your first trip is horrendously expensive. You need ALL your equipment in one shot, you need lessons before you go, you need lessons there. All these things are costly, but once you get to your second trip you need far fewer lessons before (and maybe even none during) so its HUNDREDS of pounds cheaper.

To be fair, I still budget to crap away a grand per trip - but that's ALL-IN (not spending money, EVERYTHING) and I expect to come home with some change.

[Pingman]

Ok im now taking £500 worth of EUR with me as ive decided im going to pay for the lift pass and equiptment rental with cash instead. should leave me with about £200 worth of EUR spending which bloody well better cover it
This si all dependant on my dad lending me £200 though :S

[Afty]

Originally posted by Pingman
£200 worth of EUR spending which bloody well better cover it Sounds about right, as long as you're frugal. If you try to be playful with it, you'll find it's all gone by the end of Third Night.

[Baroness]

That's 'third night' with Big Capital Letters, in case there was any confusion....

[Afty]

Thanks

[Pingman]

surely £200 worth of EUR is goign to be enough, id iamgienthats about 250 EUR, thats about what 40EUR a day or something?

[Afty]

£200 is about £25 a day.

You might get by on £25 quid a day if you're frugal, but you definitealy won't be skidoing or similar...

[Mingtea]

Join me in team eco!

[Silk75]

Also known as TNOP™ - Third Night Of Pain.

[Afty]

Basically going on a skiing trip makes your wallet spontaneously erupt and spew your cash everywhere.

[Aardvark]

You can of course use Maestro hax to get cash out when you get there...

[Silk75]

Like I will be...

[Baroness]

Do you incur any charges for withdrawing money from cashpoints over there using Maestro?

[Afty]

I think you do, yes. No harm in getting your Euros before you go - but if you don't have the time emergency Maestro hax wins.

I used Switch last year with no problems, but IIRC there was a small charge.,

[Wizzo]

You all need Nationwide FlexAccounts. You can withdraw £500 a day from cash machines anywhere in the world with no charges and the proper exchange rate. Most pleasing I can tell you!

[Pingman]

IVe got one of thsoe accounts, visa Debit version. the only problem is it has a £290 overdraft, and my account balance is currently -£260 :S

[Aardvark]

I like to think of the Maestro charge thing as a cunning method of keeping spending down. If you don't have the cash, you can't spend it, and you're slightly more reluctant to nip down the cashpoint if you're going to get charged for it :)

[bvark]

The typical bank charge is 1.5% for Maestro withdrawls. You will also have to pay a not-great exchange rate (Interbank ask + 2% is relatively common).

The worst place to get your foreign sovs is at the airport, the bureaux de change in airports typically add another 2% at least.

An example:

https://www.travelmoneyonline.americanexpress.com/ukc/transaction.asp?fic=aZx2mb56wWq0Ge9kLty3&trxn=normal
UKP1 = EUR1.3620

http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic (interbank rate)

UKP1 = EUR1.4281

Oh, Nationwide's 'proper exchange rate':

UKP1 = EUR1.3637

[Pingman]

yea i can only get 1.33 at the moment, means i get 680 EUR for my £500 instead of 720 like www.xe.com say i should be getting :@