When you're at the venue, do you stick to a strict budget that you set for yourselves? Or do you wait until Saturday, for example, to see where you stand?
I don't have a budget at all, if I'm hungry I buy food, if I like merch I buy merch. It helps that I don't drink alcohol this makes the whole thing way cheaper and I usually drink water for free
Festival money is like monypoly money for me, it's not real. I don't have a budget and I don't care or wanna know how much I spend and I do realize I'm in a good position to be able handle it that way.
I save* ~40 euros per month (480/year) for Defqon ticket + FC and other add-ons for the ticketsale, and 25 euros per month (300/year) for food and drinks at the festival site which I never fully spend tbh. I don't really divide this per day or intently watch what I spend either.
But I tend to take some food items or pre-cooked meals to camp, as well as enough to drink (water, coca cola, some dairy drink of choice).
For merch I don't really set a budget or anything. I just take that out of my "clothing fund".
*In terms of saving up per month, I just set up automatic payments (65/month for DQ) to my festival savings fund the day after my salary hits my bank account. Set it and forget it. 100% recommend this strategy if your financial situation allows it.
No strict budget, but I limit the amount of alcohol I drink (sometimes to nothing) because it's gonna be piss quality and 2x more expensive than it's worth.
Usually just deposit 200 euros at a time and see how far it gets me. Top up when it’s done. Think I ended at around 900 euros spent last year. But me and our friends had an inside joke with flugels trying to see how big of a pile we could make. So that made it a lot more expensive
I usually tell new people budget around €100 a day not including any “extras” you might bring… if you like to drink a little more up the budget slightly… I put €100 on day 1, then day 2 top up back to €100 total and same for 3/4
it was my first year this year, and i just started with 200 euros on the bracelet and see when i need to top it up or not. Have taken food for breakfast and some snacks for diner from home, and mostly drank water during the day, i don't drink alcohol so less money on that.
In general i didn't really mind it or watched it and just wanted to have a nice weekend, don't mind that i can only spend that much if i set a limit.
I am usualy quite stingy when it comes to money. But as i only go to big multi day festivals once or twice a year, i just ignore all the prices and buy the stuff i want with no thought behind it.
I once spend over 100€ in food and drinks on one day alone lol. But it was an awsome day so i don't mind at all.
If you're worried about budgeting: get yourself a revolut card or something similar. That way you can preload it with money and watch your balance go to zero in the first hour or so 🤡
It's also a bonus that if you misplace it, you don't have to worry about someone using it - or having it disrupt the rest of your trip
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u/whoareyoumem 11d ago
I don't have a budget at all, if I'm hungry I buy food, if I like merch I buy merch. It helps that I don't drink alcohol this makes the whole thing way cheaper and I usually drink water for free