How much should I budget for meals in London???

[Anonymous]

I'm following this thread. I'm going to London in October and was wondering about the meal cost. Looks like you can spend as little or as much as you want. I plan to go to the grocery store and pick up a few things like fruit, cheese, sliced meat etc to keep the budget down and because iI don't feel well if I eat out every meal for days. I'm planning to spend $50/day for myself, but I never eat at fancy places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take what you would spend in DC in $, replace the dollar sign with a £ sign, then convert back to USD at the current exchange rate.

So, if a Big Mac is $4.00, change to £4.00 and multiply by 1.66 to get $6.64.

Agree with the basic approach but I would add another 20% to whatever you get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It really depends what you want to eat. $10-$15 for breakfast, $15-$20 for lunch, and $20-$30 for dinner are all fair, but, you could certainly spend more. I'm happy with a sandwich and chips from Pret a Manger for lunch, but you might not be. DD and I just had dinner (pasta dish and water) for less than 20 GBP total. Lunch that day, though, (drinks and pasta dish) was 30 GBP.

I'd figure out the percentage difference between the government per diem rates for your city and London and then apply that to your companies per diem rate to get your company London rate.

$45-$65 for one person is doable., but you could eat much better if you want. Keep in mind that many people in the government do not spend their entire per diem, they instead pocket the difference.

Those prices are about what we were spending for lunch and dinner, although we were staying in an apartment so we bought cereal and fruit for breakfast. I found lunches to be the most expensive, around $20 a person for food that was good, hot, but not anything exceptional. We had some nice dinners that weren't crazy expensive but were closer to $30 a person including a drink. I was there with my 9 year old so she wasn't eating as much as an adult and I also wasn't spending money on alcohol (it was just the two of us).

[Anonymous]

Your initial budget seems accurate. Who's giving you grief?

[Anonymous]

I agree with a PP. figure out how much you normally spend in dollars. Change that to pounds and then apply the conversion rate.

[Anonymous]

You can do London on the (relatively) cheap if you do some planning. I would get a few non perishables from Marks and Spencer or nearby grocery store. Some bananas, oatmeal, granola, protein bars. You can eat lunch or dinner at cafes like EAT (which is healthy options, sandwiches), Byron (sit down hamburgers for around 10 pounds), Wagamamma, Gormet Burger Kitchen, Pret a Manger (all over the place). There are plenty of smaller cafes and coffee shops and even some food trucks.

Use apps like Yelp to help you scout out the area.