Setting a realistic food budget for a trip abroad

A realistic food budget starts from what everyday meals cost in the place you are visiting, not from the price of the restaurant that appears on every list. Look at the cost of a bakery breakfast, a lunch at a counter and a sit-down dinner at a neighborhood restaurant. Then build the plan around those three figures and the number of days you will be there, adding room for the meals you have chosen in advance.

Give the three figures short labels so the sums stay visible: B for the bakery breakfast, L for the counter lunch and D for the neighborhood dinner. B + L + D is a typical day, a mix of counter meals and one table dinner, and it is the figure you multiply by the number of days.

Start with local prices for everyday meals

Begin before you leave, with what residents pay for ordinary food. Restaurants often publish menus and prices online, so a few bakeries, counters and neighborhood restaurants on your shortlist can supply real figures for B, L and D. Where a supermarket publishes prices online, staples such as bread, cheese, fruit and drinks show what everyday food costs in the city. Recent traveler reports help too, but prices shift, so treat them as a rough guide. A message to your accommodation, asking what a typical lunch and dinner cost nearby, is one more check. Note each estimate with its source and date, and keep it as a range.

The first days on the ground are the calibration. Read the menus posted outside a few places, ask a hotel staff member what a typical lunch costs and look at a supermarket's shelves for the same staples. Compare what you find with the pre-trip figures for B, L and D, remembering that a menu price may not include service or tax. Correct any gap early, so the daily total is ready for the midway review.

Use a middle figure rather than the cheapest option you could survive on. A plan built only on the lowest-cost meals will break as soon as you want a sit-down lunch or a drink with a friend. A middle figure reflects a mix of counter meals and table service, and most travelers eat both during a trip.

Show the range with three kinds of day. Let S stand for a special dinner you have chosen in advance:

• Low day, built from counter meals and market food: B + 2L, treating a market dinner as roughly the cost of a counter lunch until you check it on arrival
• Typical day, a mix of counter and table service: B + L + D
• High day, with one special dinner in place of the everyday dinner: B + L + S

Split meals into everyday and special

Divide the trip into everyday meals and special meals. Everyday meals include breakfast, a quick lunch and a simple dinner. Special meals are the dinners you have chosen in advance, such as a tasting menu, a restaurant with a long waiting list or a celebration. Setting a separate amount for special meals keeps those choices from quietly consuming the money meant for the rest of the trip.

Plan the number of special meals rather than leaving them open. A trip with three planned special dinners and a few flexible ones is easier to manage than a trip where every evening becomes an expensive decision. Put the special meals on the calendar early so you can compare their costs with the rest of the plan before you book anything.

To total the plan, multiply the typical day by the number of days. For each night with a special dinner, replace D with S, so the dinner is counted once. The difference between S and D is what each special dinner adds to the total.

Plan for tipping and service charges

Tipping customs differ widely. In some countries tipping is expected at restaurants, in others it is optional, and in some a service charge is added to the bill. Check whether a service charge is already included before you decide on an extra amount. The menu, the bottom of the bill or the card terminal usually shows it. Where service is not included and a tip is customary, budget for it as a percentage of the bill or a small round-up, and keep some local cash for tipping if a restaurant cannot take cards.

Paying a service charge and then adding the same amount again as a tip is an easy mistake, and it adds up across a long trip. Look for the words that signal a service charge on the bill before you reach for your wallet.

Account for card and currency fees

Fees can add a surprising amount to food spending. Many cards charge a foreign transaction fee on purchases made in another currency, and the rate depends on your card issuer. Check the terms before you travel so that you know what each card will cost you. When a card terminal asks whether to charge in your home currency or the local currency, choose the local currency. Paying in your home currency lets the merchant or the terminal set the exchange rate, and that rate is often less favorable.

Cash has its own costs. Withdrawing from an ATM may come with a fee from your bank and another from the ATM operator. Withdraw an amount that covers several days of small purchases rather than making many small withdrawals, and keep the cash for markets, bakeries and counters that do not take cards.

Keep a reserve for surprises

Leave room for the unexpected. A budget with no reserve breaks as soon as a restaurant closes early, a market is shut for a holiday or a tasting turns into a full meal. A simple rule of thumb is to hold back roughly 10 percent of the total food budget as a reserve. Work out the total first, then set aside a tenth of it, and keep the reserve for surprises rather than everyday meals.

If the reserve is untouched by the end of the trip, you have room for one more special dinner or a few more food stops.

Adjust the plan midway through the trip

Check the budget midway through the trip, starting from the calibrated figures. After the first few days you will know which everyday meals you actually eat, how often you go out in the evening and whether card fees have affected the total. You might move a special dinner, switch a day to picnic lunches from a market, or cut back on drinks if they are the largest item. Recalculating once in the middle is much easier than trying to save at the end.

Write down the daily figure, the number of special meals, the tipping rule, the card you will use and the size of the reserve, then review them once a few days into the trip. A short written plan with those five items is easier to keep to than a detailed spreadsheet built on guesses.