This May we are going on our very first family holiday abroad. Actually it is our very first family holiday anywhere! Our daughter will be 18 months old, and up until now, she has never stayed anywhere other than our home. I am going to let you know about all the 'frugal' things we have done to ensure this is a memorable holiday for us without spending too much money.
1. We have been saving for this holiday for 2 years! On my 24th birthday I was given one of those unopenable pot money boxes. They are made so you have to break the pot to get in to the money which means we weren't tempted to open it up and pinch the pennies. We decided to just put £2 coins in to it. We opened it 1 and a half years later when it was nearly full and there was just over £900 in there!
2. Book your holiday at a time when most people don't book. We went with Thomsons as they seem to offer the best deal. We booked our deal in the time between Christmas and New Year because they were offering £100 off any package holiday.
3. See what upgrades are available when you book. We were researching half board options but checked how much it would be to upgrade to full board. It was an incredible 10 pence per person!! This was for 10 days so effectively we were getting an evening meal for 1 pence per day per person! Clearly, this was too good to pass up so we added this to our booking.
4. Go through a cashback website. We used Quidco and they gave us £10 just for clicking through to the Thomson website via theirs.
5. Choose carefully when you go on holiday. As I said earlier, my daughter is 18 months old and it is usually the case that under 2's fly free and stay free in hotels. If we had waited until next year to go then it would have cost 100's of pounds more. Go while your little ones are little.
6. Prebook your airport parking. We also did this through Quidco and made £4.08 cashback.
7. Use price comparison websites to research your travel insurance. We found a great deal through them with a company that offered us great cover as a family for just over £10.
8. Check if your bank account offers free travel insurance. Some bank accounts have this included so you could save yourself money by using it.
9. When you check in, see if you can upgrade your seats to get extra legroom. This is something I really love to get but rather than prebooking it I wait until I get to the airport as they offer them for less than half price. Likewise with upgrading to business class. I have never travelled abroad before without doing this last minute and each time have got a great deal.
10. This last one is maybe obvious but if you are able to travel outside of school holidays you will save bucket loads. We are trying to save up again for a holiday next year so we can make the most of the time our daughter isn't in school. It is incredibly unfair how travel companies increase prices during school holidays but I suppose they are the optimum times for people travelling.
I can't wait for our holiday. I am not ashamed to admit I have packed our bags already! When we get back I will share some more tips with you about keeping spending costs low while we are over there, and also some pictures too.
Thanks for reading,
xx
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