Money Saving Tips for your Summer Holiday

There is no denying that if you have school age children, summer holidays are going to be expensive. For the past few years we have chosen to have our main holiday during the Easter break, thus avoiding the high price of a family holiday during peak summer months. But this year due to GCSEs, we were unable to travel during  April and May, and our main holiday this year will be in August.

Determined as always to get the best possible price for our holiday, I share some tips which worked well for me.

Book as early as possible

I started looking for our summer holiday back in September 2017. I LOVE researching holidays, and my husband often jokes that I spend longer researching than I do on the actual holiday. We are going to Mexico at the end of August, and our flights with BA were booked last September. We paid just over 2k for our flights, and last week (in the name of research), I checked to see how much our flights would be if I booked them that day. Imagine my shock when they were DOUBLE the price we had paid. I am SO glad we booked them nearly a year in advance.

Shop around

It goes without saying that you should be shopping around for the best price for your holiday. I got several quotes from leading high street travel agents, and then wanted to see whether I could beat that price by booking it separately. Now I know that doing it yourself is not for everybody, but I always book separately for our holidays. Doing it this way enabled me to save just over 1k, and I secured a swim up suite too.

Use Quidco

I have been using Quidco for over 10 years now, and have received over 2k from them. I always check Quidco before booking holidays, arranging travel insurance, hire cars, and even cashback on your travel money. Even if you get £50 back, it’s money that can be used towards a future holiday, or spending money.

Buy Summer clothes when on offer

Look out for flash sales and get buying your summer clothes and accessories when on offer. Sainsburys have some gorgeous summer items in at the moment, and I will definitely be waiting for their next 25% off sale.

Be prepared

The deposit for your summer holiday might be all paid, and you are counting down the days till the final balance is due. But what happens if something unexpected comes along. The holiday savings you have been topping up every month have to be used for an emergency situation. Or you or your partner could be faced with losing your job. The balance for your holiday still has to be paid, so you could take a look into payday loans, which could provide a short term answer to your problem.

Sell things on eBay

If you need some extra cash to pay for your summer holiday, eBay can be a great place to sell some unwanted clutter in the house. I have just started our ‘pre-summer clutter’ and I have already made £25, which will go towards our summer holiday spending money.

*This is a collaborative post*