How much to ask ?

[TaxiDriver]

This year again we are taking my sons' mate on a camping holiday with us,

The usual awkward issue of money has come up when his mother asked how much we wanted for food and the holiday.

Previously we've just gone with a very casual (as in not thought out) £5 a day and I think £3 - £5 per day or whatever the campsite charged per extra child. We usually end up paying out a little more especially as he seems to come away a little short on spending money ie a £5 a day so if we have a day out then it doesn't go far.

 

It's awkward as I don't want to appear greedy, but on our income we can't really afford to treat him to a free trip away, and don't want to feel taken advantage off ( it's never been a reciprocal arrangement either)

 

This year, we are going to a Haven site, 'Wild Duck' near Gt Yarmouth which has a lot more activities and on site shops, take aways/ restaurants and cost us more to book than our usual wilder camp site in Thetford so we're betting its gonna work out dearer in the long run, especially being so close to Gt Yarmouth.

Yes I know we've invited him, and if we were more affluent ...well it wouldn't be so awkward.

Edited April 10, 2015 by TaxiDriver

[team tractor]

Be honest and say £15 a day food and board. Tell them £10 a day spending money.

Edited April 10, 2015 by team tractor

[leeds chimp]

As above really... depends How much you gonna eat out...

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Ask them for £5 per day for his spending money, £3 for the camping and £7 for his food, keep a rough tally on it and send him home with anything left over.

[islandgun]

if he was my kid I would like to provide him with enough to pay his way, the best you can do is be honest and keep everyone happy

[timmytree]

Have a chat with his parents over a cuppa. Show them the charges, explain how often you'll be eating out etc, add in spending money and a buffer for entertainment on wet days.

[TaxiDriver]

Thanks for the input chaps,

 

Kinda confirms what we were thinking along the lines of which was £7.00 a day for food (based on 3 meals a day plus snacks plus litres and litres of pop, and the £5 a night extra child charge for the campsite.

Have suggested to his mother that she might think of doubling his spending money to allow £10 per day, but we're happy to look after it and that if we're not having a day out we can, (if she wants) ration it out abit so he doesn't blow it just coz it's there.

 

We usually find a supermarket and do a weekly shop kinda thing Once we've arrived and settled in and plan meals in advance, but that's thing with hols, it's sometimes nice to be spontaneous.

Edited April 11, 2015 by TaxiDriver

[team tractor]

If you asked me for £15 a day to take my kids away and enjoy themselves I'd be more than happy with that

[Paddy Galore!]

there's a fantastic chippy in the village mate, ask for a large cod and chips it's flippin huge!

are most of the activities free there? they have a nice pool by all accounts.

[Mike737]

Years back, we used to take my mate's lad on camping holidays with us. Cornwall, Scotland, France. Primarily to give our son company of his own age. That alone was worth the cost, and we never charged my mate. We were (are) not wealthy, the food cost was not great, a couple of extra sausages on the BBQ, an extra bowl of cornflakes at breakfast and a sandwich at lunch. No biggie. But the benefit of the boys playing happily together, with no 'I'm bored, what can I do?' was worth any extra cost. It's a balancing act... And in Scotland, they fished for our dinner more than once... Rainbow trout! Loch to BBQ in 3 hours!!! No need for large amounts of spending money if you are canny about where you go each day... If you plan a day at a theme park, just ask them to cover that.

 

Mike.

[chady]

Taxi driver

 

Your a real decent bloke! Fair play to you!

[TaxiDriver]

Taxi driver

Your a real decent bloke! Fair play to you!

Ummmm Thanks, (I think) :unsure:

[jonny thomas]

Can you take my kids £20 per day each mind you they are 16 and 21

[walshie]

Mine could eat £20 worth of breakfast.

[parapilot]

If I was inviting a friend of my kids I wouldn't charge, iv invited so ill cover cost. I'd expect them to have their own spends though. If it was the other way around, I'd make sure they had enough to pay their way.

 

If it's a regular thing then agree costs but one off id not expect the kid to pay site fees etc.

[EMcC]

My answer would be on the lines of Mike737 and parapilot's.

Just class him as an extra child as if it were your own, he'd appreciate it more.

Not sure about 'pocket money' tho, kids today seem to get too much so don't learn the value of money or how to ration their spending.

[yarco]

A nice camp site, they .spent a lot of money upgrading not so long ago. Only live a couple mins away,

[secretagentmole]

Good man helping like that. Want some low cost days out?

 

Radar Museum Horning,

 

Suffolk Aviation Museum (Little Nellie now lives there and it is very low cost like FREE)

 

Crab Fishing at Walberswick ( across the harbour from Southwold, make your own crablines before you go, it is not hard, give the little nippers some little nippers to play with), crab fishing can be done in most coastal harbours as long as you find somewhere away from where the work is being done - assuming there is work being done).

 

Sizewell B Power Station (visitor centre there)

 

East Anglian Trasnport Museum, Carlton Colville (Adults £8, Kids £6, trams, trolley buses etc).

 

 

 

Amazona and Kessingland Zoos are damned expensive.

[malkiserow]

I'd let him buy his own snacks and pop, that way it is between him and his mum on that side of things.

 

learning how to budget may be good for him ..... but how old is he?