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this is a long topic lol

when its all said and done does it really matter how much you spend as long as you all have a great time including the kids, what ever i spend i won't spend as much as i did in rhodes last year at my friends wedding ,we were there for 2 wks ,and by the time you weigh everything up cost of hol passport renewals ,new outfits ,ect,ect,ect

i spent about £7500 , which depressed me totally so i try not to count the cost ,and to me the thing that are priceless are seeing happy faces ,and the kids aren't squwabling and it doesn't matter if you spend £100 1 day and 20p the next ,i just don't want to know the total

ENJOY WHAT EVER YOUR BUGET

We have expensive days and cheap days when we are away!  The expensive days might be a trip out to a place where we pay entry, a steam railway ride, theme park, etc (although not so many of these now unless they are dog friendly) but the cheap days cost us only what we eat, as we laze at the site all day, read, swim if there's a pool onsite, go for a walk, my husband goes fishing if there's a pond onsite and more importantly, just sit together as a family, talk, play games, etc, something we never seem to manage at home!!

Depends on lots of factors,  like  how much time we spend on site, and what free stuff there is to do in the area,  and he weather can play an important part - although this is becoming less of a factor as the kids get older and will entertain themselves more.   When they were younger I would have probably found a wet weather activity to do, whereas now, we may stay on site and see if it clears up.
I always budget for two meals out  one on the last night as that way I can get rid of the grease earlier on, and one midweek.    May forego the midweek one if the weather is good and we are having loads of BBQs,
Before we go I will have a look at days out in the local area including at least one suitable for wet weather - which we may or may not do.   
Picnics are good, as they can be done fairly cheaply.

I don't really count food as part of the cost of the holiday, because we would still have to buy food at home.  OK we may have a few more treats such as biscuits - but I just buy an extra few bits in the weeks before we go away.

I'm getting a bit better now at budgeting we have 4 kids between us so days out tend to be expensive but when I take a picnic I take a bread loaf and butter and various fillings and make sandwiches up when we are ready to eat, flasks of hot water and tea bags to make tea on the go or even pot noodles if its cold! I've been known to take a bread loaf out with us and park up near a chippy and make up chip butties for a cheap snack!  After a day on the beach we often call in at the nearest supermarket to the site get bbq stuff for tea and a tub of ice cream and a box of cones I've had kids queing up for an ice cream at the tent door,  its cheaper that buying them at an ice cream van and goes a lot further!

One of the main reasons to go camping is the opportunity to cook while outdoors. And I like to cook from scratch. Hence it does not cost a lot for me to go camping.

I am quite happy to drink beer and wine brought from shops at the campsite instead of paying over the odds at pubs.

Each to their own at the end of the day.

DK  

we are a family of 5 ( two of those 5 being teenagers) and  we try not to overspend on holiday  - we are off for 10 days in 4 weeks ( yipiee) and are hoping to spend at least 7 of those 10 days at the beach as the teenagers like messing around in the sea  - we always make a packed lunch after breakfast before heading to the beach  and usually cook on site for dinner  - of course we are on holiday and have a few nights off but then thats pasties , pizza or fish and chips all eatten at the tent anyway .

we have the dog with us so expensive days out don't happen but a lot of our budget does go on wet suit hire !