Cutting Costs

[boat sju]

Please tell me that this thread is just one big "troll"

 

[uncfnp]

Man bringing food with me TO bonaire sounds like the quickest way to ruin a vacation. Support the local eateries you tight wads!

For myself and my husband it is honestly more about what we enjoy doing than about cost. We rarely eat out at home either. It’s just not our thing. And after a long day of diving, the last thing I want to do is get “dressed,” drive to a restaurant, wait for food, wait for the check, etc. So instead I plan easy, quick meals and do as much prep work ahead of time as I can. Yes we will sometimes hit Kite City food truck. But I had much rather have a simple meal on my balcony and enjoy the evening/sunset/rainbow than dinner out. But as BoltSnap said whatever makes you happy.

 

[arew+4]

For me it is largely a cost thing, we are not 1%ers. We are a family of 5 divers, (one in college, two starting college next year)so whatever your trip costs multiply it by 5. We do VRBOs, eat 60-75% of meals in the house or as bagged lunches. We bring some favorite convenience foods we don't expect to find locally, PB, granola bars etc.. If I take the family out to dinner three times, it's like a couple eating out every night for a week. So we do support local eateries. We also like to try new things, find unusual things at the grocery, ask locals what's for dinner and then try to make it. I would rather have them experience places like Bonaire on a budget, than spend time and money at all-inclusive resorts, or pre packaged Disney vacations.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Man bringing food with me TO bonaire sounds like the quickest way to ruin a vacation. Support the local eateries you tight wads!

Like @uncfnp and @Soloist, my wife and I rarely eat out at home. We ENJOY cooking, even when we're on vacation, and usually stay in Airbnbs or condos with cooking facilities. We support the local economy by buying a LOT of Amstel! And Dutch cheese and fresh bread and various Dutch goodies at Van den Tweel that we don't get at home. We also buy fish and veggies from local mom-and-pops. The few items we bring from home, like ribeye steaks, are things that would be disproportionately expensive on Bonaire if they could be found at all. The money we save by bringing such items with us gets spent on other things on Bonaire (but on the topic of this thread, a thrifty traveler could just pocket the savings). Maybe another way to look at this is that those of us who don't buy a lot of food on Bonaire might be saving our pennies for an additional trip to Bonaire we might not have otherwise been able to afford, and we return the money to the economy through additional diving and lodging.

We do eat out a little bit, but when we do we prefer to patronize places that offer something we can't find at home, such as the "snack" shacks where you can get local specialties like goat stew and pastechis. The doner kebab place is pretty good, too, and again is something we don't have at home.

 

[boat sju]

I understand wanting to keep costs down. We certainly like to prepare our own meals and snacks some too. Also, there are plenty of inexpensive local "restaurants" too. But, THEY HAVE SUPERMARKETS ON THE ISLAND.

To pay top dollar for airfare and then save a few bucks by packing frozen meat in your suitcase, in my opinion, and maybe only my opinion, makes you sound like a nutcase. Maybe some things are better kept to ones' self and not posted on the internet.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I understand wanting to keep costs down. We certainly like to prepare our own meals and snacks some too. Also, there are plenty of inexpensive local "restaurants" too. But, THEY HAVE SUPERMARKETS ON THE ISLAND.

To pay top dollar for airfare and then save a few bucks by packing frozen meat in your suitcase, in my opinion, and maybe only my opinion, makes you sound like a nutcase. Maybe some things are better kept to ones' self and not posted on the internet.

They do indeed have supermarkets, and the Van den Tweel is wonderful--light years better than the old Cultimara or whatever we had to deal with years ago (some scary looking meat and withered vegetables). But just about everything on Bonaire is imported and there is often a premium for that in the price. Also, the choice is often limited; I recall seeing exactly one brand of American-style bacon, for example. And as pointed out above, there may be items that cannot be found in Bonaire supermarkets at any price, such as American cuts of steak. The Dutch do some foods really well, such as cheese and Indonesian foods, but thick ribeyes (and other things an American might enjoy throwing on a grill) are just not their thing. In contrast, we can easily pick up a pack of steaks from Costco at a good price, freeze them, and we're supplied for at least one group dinner plus leftovers.

If we were to eat at restaurants every night, even less-expensive places, we would end up spending as much on food/beverage as we did on airfare. I haven't calculated it, but I suspect it's more than "a few bucks" saved.

 

[boat sju]

Most Americans you see on Bonaire, myself included, look like we can go a week without steaks or bacon.

Local fisherman will sell you a fresh Mahi-Mahi down on the pier for $20.

 

[Doctorfish]

Thanks boat sju, I have been wondering about buying fresh fish.
BTW, is the vegetable stand by the dock still open? I used to enjoy buying fresh fruit/vegetables there when the boats came in from Venezuela.

I personally am never critical of other peoples spending habits. Whether you are frugal or throw around money is your own business. One of the great things about diving is that it attracts folks from a spectrum of social and economic backgrounds, all of whom are having fun.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Most Americans you see on Bonaire, myself included, look like we can go a week without steaks or bacon.

Local fisherman will sell you a fresh Mahi-Mahi down on the pier for $20.

If the alternative to cooking one's own meals is to eat at a restaurant, which meal will likely be healthier? We can control our portion size; a steak feeds two people. Economical AND reasonably healthy meals.

Yep, we look for the fish there, too, as well as from the Zarpin fish market. Neither is a reliable source, though.

 

[boat sju]

Goat, fresh fish, chicken, eggs, all locally sourced (I believe). I don't think I'd try to make my own Kabritu Stoba in the hotel room though.

Is the Kip Tukkie truck still around? Fresh bread and cheese from Van Den Tweel, along with the smoked chicken, is my favorite lunch.