Whether you want to visit family and friends abroad, revisit your favourite holiday destination or go on holiday for the first time you’ll need some money.
1. Book flights with points
There are many credit cards which allow you to accrue points towards flights for your everyday shopping. If you are cautious of using credit cards due to incurring interest, as long as you pay the full balance of the card every month, you will not be charged. To keep balances under control, you can make a payment to your credit card after every transaction. Even if you just use the card for your weekly grocery shop and fuel purchases each week, you can earn enough points for a flight for 4 every 2 years. We currently have the British Airways American Express card and have saved enough points for a return trip to Florida for our family of 4 each year. To get you started with 31000 points use our referral link. There is no annual fee and you accrue 1 Avios for each £1 spent. Virgin Atlantic has a similar scheme with the Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card with 1.5 points for every £1 spent on the card.
2. Open a separate account to make regular payments
Using apps such as HyperJar, Monzo or Revolut help you save a pot of money reserved for your holiday. These apps are free to use and help you meet your savings goals by keeping your holiday fund separate from your everyday money.
3.Set a monthly/ weekly budget
To ensure you meet your holiday goals, set a monthly budget that you need to save to cover the cost of your holiday. Saving for your holiday in advance means you don’t get the holiday blues when you are still paying back the cost of your holiday after it’s long finished. Work out the rough cost of the holiday you want to go on considering all costs such as new passports, insurance, airport transfers, food as well as flights and accommodation then divide the cost by the amount of months until the final balance is due. Set up a monthly automatic payment to your app bank account and make sure this amount is still affordable considering your other monthly outgoings. If it seems too expensive, consider pushing back the start date of your holiday to give more time to save.
4. Look for best holiday deals
The date of your holiday has a huge impact, school holidays and seasonal events have a huge impact on cost. Also consider duration, 7 and 14 nights can be more expensive than 6 or 11 nights. Flight times also have an impact, day time flights are generally more expensive than early morning or late flights.
5. Reduce food costs
When travelling, breakfast can cost a lot especially when your room rate does not include it. Instead of paying for an expensive hotel breakfast, research the area close to where you are staying and find a local cafe or restaurant which will usually offer breakfast at a much reduced cost than the hotel. Not looking for a big breakfast? Pack single wrapped long-life breakfast pastries such as Pain Au Chocolat, you can pick these up from the supermarket and pack in your suitcase.
6.Assess your current monthly outgoings
Once you have set your monthly savings budget, where do you get that money from to save towards your holiday… Well, start by looking at your current monthly outgoings, write them all down and then go through each of the regular payments such as energy, phone bills, utility bills and see if you can get a better deal by switching. Look at your weekly grocery bill and consider switching to own brand products or even a different supermarket. Join supermarket schemes such as Nectar, Morrisons More or Tesco Clubcard, you can receive coupons and special member prices, but always check what you are purchasing, even if you have a coupon there could be an alternative product on the shelf which is still cheaper. Buy in bulk shopping. Each month stock up the cupboard and freezer with larger pack sizes. Buying a large tray of chicken breasts and then splitting the pack at home and freezing can often be cheaper than buying a smaller quantity for that one meal, similarly bulk buying canned goods and bigger freezer packs often results in a cheaper unit cost. Running a packed fridge/ freezer also reduces energy costs so bulk buying also helps reduce that cost. Tesco Clubcard plus gives you 10% off two big shops a month (up to £20 a shop), it costs £7.99 a month so as long as you spend £79 on one big shop a month, you will cover the monthly subscription cost. We regularly max out our big shop discount and save £40 a month.
7.Sell your preloved items
Have you got lots of stuff lying around the house or stuff in your wardrobes you don’t wear anymore, there could be £££s sitting there. eBay is now free to sell so get the app and upload your homewares and clothes. Use local marketplaces and social media pages too. Apps such as Vinted are easy and free to use, selling clothes individually or even in bundles could earn you more than you thought. If you have lots to sell, try reusing packaging or boxes to send items on to new owners, or buy a multipack of shipping bags with various sizes to ensure your items are packaged well. Most postage offers include using lockers which are quicker and more convenient than standing in line at the post office. Make sure your items are clean and mention any imperfections in the listing to ensure you maintain a good seller rating. It’s easier than you might think to get started, so spend a couple of hours when you have time clearing out the wardrobes and uploading the items onto a preloved app. If you have old CDs, games or tech lying around even if not in great condition, consider selling on sites such as music magpie. The app allows quick upload by scanning the barcodes and then once the value is enough, just package it all up in a sturdy box and send it off to get your £s.