It’s the time of year that the majority of us start thinking about our summer holidays and head off to the travel agents to book our trip away.
One of the questions that always come up when about to set off on the holiday is “how much spending money should we take?”.
Of course, the answer to this question much depends on the type of holiday you’re going to indulge in – whether it be the type where you’re eating out every night, sampling the local beverages to excess and taking part in all sorts of excursions, or the type where you simply lie on the beach each day buried in a good book. So there is probably no definitive answer, but it’s probably best to work out what you think your daily spend will be and multiply that by the number of nights your away, plus add a little extra on for emergencies (and don’t forget, credit cards can be used in most places abroad, but be very careful with them!).
Halifax has recently reported that the value you will get for your money is decreasing – indeed, you could now get 16% less for your money than you did 4 years ago. The percentage obviously varies from country to country, one example being cited is the World Cup in Germany, where football fans will have to take 13% more spending money than they would have in 2002. Spending power in Spain has reduced by 16%.
If you want to keep an eye on exchange rates, which basically determine our spending power, take a look at the universal currency converter, which is a very useful tool.