Tips to Save Money on a Caravan Holiday

[smd]

thinking of planning a little holiday soon, does anyone have any tips on how I can save money on a caravan holiday for a newbie?

 

[otherclive]

Go to CL or CS. Dont drive too far on the first shakedown trip. Go mid week as prices tend to be a bit lower but not that much in peak season times. Drive slower. But going on holiday is meant to be a joyful experience so no point in just sitting outside the van all day. Only you can decide what is affordable or not and budget accordingly.

 

[ProfJohnL]

That's such a difficult question to answer, as it depends on what you want to get out of the caravan.

Being flippant I'd say "sell the caravan" but more sensibly, anyone who buys a caravan these days for "cheap holidays" is deluding themselves about the real costs of owning a caravan. Obviously every persons costings will be different, but when you factor in the purchase, insurance, storage fees, additional fuel to tow, holiday site fees, unless your using your caravan a great deal during the year, in reality most people would probably spend less taking package holidays.

But to keep caravan holiday costs down, choose off peak periods, search around your chosen area for the lowest site fees, Avoid needing to use ferries or toll roads to get to particular area's.

Buy and cook your own foods rather than eating out, And use larger supermarkets rather than local shops to purchase any food you need.

 

[Dustydog]

A little holiday May overall cost more per day than a long holiday. Fuel burn matters . A lot of sites give a discount if you stay 7 days or more. A non serviced pitch off grid will be cheaper than a fully serviced pitch. What exactly do you have in mind?

 

[audiorob]

As ever shop around for fuel and avoid the price hotspots like the motorways- on my last trip Asda was 173.9 for diesel when the local going price was 181.9 and the highest we saw was 199.9. I always try to fuel up when solo as not all forecourts are caravan friendly. As has been said above the greatest contributor to fuel economy is your right foot - reading the road ahead, accelerating gently and slowing down for roundabouts etc rather than unnecessary braking will all help your mpg.

 

[Raywood]

You can try Petrol Prices to get current prices for fuel in your area or where you go to as that shows prices in any given location. Prices move very quickly though and it can sometimes be wrong, but it is the best you can do I think.

 

[Danddandy]

Go to CL or CS. Dont drive too far on the first shakedown trip. Go mid week as prices tend to be a bit lower but not that much in peak season times. Drive slower. But going on holiday is meant to be a joyful experience so no point in just sitting outside the van all day. Only you can decide what is affordable or not and budget accordingly.

Sitting outside my van all day: one of my favourite cheap pastimes. That's what I'm doing now. Pub later. Happy days.

 

[JezzerB]

Don't use your gas ie hob or oven if you're on an unmetered site. Buy an electric plate type grill. Use their leccy as you're presumably paying for it in the site rent. But don't waste it!

 

[Buckman]

Buy and cook your own foods rather than eating out, And use larger supermarkets rather than local shops to purchase any food you need.

That may not be a good idea if you take into consideration the price of fuel and the possible extra distance to the supermarket. Our local shop is 2 miles away and the supermarket is 10 miles away. Cheaper to buy bread, milk etc at the local than travelling 10 miles to the supermarket play the return trip.

 

[Baron Von Greenback]

Don’t use gas run everything off the electric they have supplied - top tip -

 

[Notmyvan]

I have a Bread Maker (400 watts) and I wondered if when on a site I should use it, plug it in and during the next 3 1/2 hours its baking the bread as well as in the confined space of a Caravan it will be keeping it warm.

 

[otherclive]

I have a Bread Maker (400 watts) and I wondered if when on a site I should use it, plug it in and during the next 3 1/2 hours its baking the bread as well as in the confined space of a Caravan it will be keeping it warm.

Trouble with that is you will find new “ friends” calling by from adjacent pitches wanting a nibble. But sounds a great idea.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Don’t use gas run everything off the electric they have supplied - top tip -

Gas ovens, heaters etc don't work very well on electricity!

Off grid sites, THS etc represent really good value.
What we pay for gas doesn't come anywhere near the amount some sites are charging for EHU at the moment.

 

[JezzerB]

Buy the flour from Lidl. 59 p at mo!

 

[Buckman]

Buy the flour from Lidl. 59 p at mo!

TBH I think that at some point in the future there could be a shortage of flour due to the conflict?

 

[Raywood]

I have a Bread Maker (400 watts) and I wondered if when on a site I should use it, plug it in and during the next 3 1/2 hours its baking the bread as well as in the confined space of a Caravan it will be keeping it warm.

The wattage is low enough for most sites provided you watch what else you have on. The big advantage should be the smell and taste of fresh baked bread.

 

[JezzerB]

Agreed there may well be although lidls is British flour I think

 

[Buckman]

Agreed there may well be although lidls is British flour I think

Many African countries who import from Ukraine are suffering from shortage of flour.

 

[Dustydog]

I have to disagree about flour.

The UK is largely self-sufficient in production of grains, producing over 100% of domestic consumption of oats and barley and over 90% of wheat.

So if what HMG tell me we shouldn’t have any price hikes or shortage of flour🤞

 

[otherclive]

I have to disagree about flour.

The UK is largely self-sufficient in production of grains, producing over 100% of domestic consumption of oats and barley and over 90% of wheat.

So if what HMG tell me we shouldn’t have any price hikes or shortage of flour🤞

But our flour isn’t a controlled market, so if overseas buyers offer better prices there is nothing to stop our growers from exporting rather than supply home markets. The nett result could be that we would have to pay more, be affected by shortages, or use less.

 

[Dustydog]

But our flour isn’t a controlled market, so if overseas buyers offer better prices there is nothing to stop our growers from exporting rather than supply home markets. The nett result could be that we would have to pay more, be affected by shortages, or use less.

There’ll be a riot if they did that 🤪yet I see over 500,000tonnes will be sold abroad this year, 😥😥

 

[otherclive]

There’ll be a riot if they did that 🤪yet I see over 500,000tonnes will be sold abroad this year, 😥😥

Just look for a positive. Our waistlines could benefit in a good way. But it wouldn’t be good news to lose the barley to overseas buyers. 🍺

 

[JezzerB]

Bound to go up. The fuel to harvest it distribute it etc. All the other costs!

 

[otherclive]

Bound to go up. The fuel to harvest it distribute it etc. All the other costs!

It’s already gone up over the last couple of months. Our favourite malted bloomer has risen in price but it’s still 40 pence cheaper at Lidl than the Sainsbury equivalent. Problem is it has twice the calories per slice compared to our previous favourite. A move in the wrong direction for waistline.

Page 14 - Will fuel prices limit your touring.

Page 14 - Passionate about caravans & motorhome? Join our community to share that passion with a global audience!

forums.practicalcaravan.com

 

[Notmyvan]

I have to disagree about flour.

The UK is largely self-sufficient in production of grains, producing over 100% of domestic consumption of oats and barley and over 90% of wheat.

So if what HMG tell me we shouldn’t have any price hikes or shortage of flour🤞

Before I retired I was like a Corn Merchant buying grain for sale for livestock, I asked a flour manufacturer where they got the wheat from and it was Manitoba.