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Home / Tips & ideas / Finances / How to save up for holidays

How to save up for holidays

August 21, 2015 by Gretta Schifano 18 Comments

Euros. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Euros. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Family holidays can be expensive, especially if you have school-age children and can only go away during the school holidays (you can read my posts about the current UK term-time holiday regulations here and here). There are various ways which can help to reduce the cost of family holidays, including camping, home swapping and working holidays – I’ve written more about these here.

TSB have asked me to write about ways to save up for large purchases, such as holidays.

How to save up for holidays

  • Determine your budget for your holiday by working out what you can afford to spend. Look at your income minus your expenses.
  • If your expenses are more than your income then look more closely at what you’re spending. Apart from the essentials of rent/mortgage, utility bills, food and clothes, is there anything that you can cut out or spend less on in order to save up for a holiday? Even small expenses like buying magazines or drinking coffee at a cafe can add up to a lot of money over a year.
  • Look at your weekly food bill to see if you can save money there. Could you save money by planning meals, writing a shopping list and going shopping once a week rather than more frequently?
  • To save money on children’s clothes, can you swap with other families who have children of different sizes? My son’s received many clothes from a friend of mine who has an older son – when he outgrows them (if they’re still intact) we pass them on to a neighbour.
  • If you can afford to, put aside some money each month to save towards your holiday.
  • To stop yourself from spending the money that you’ve saved, put it in a savings account which is separate from your current account.
  • If there’s somewhere that you really want to go but it’s out of your price range, how about having a very cheap holiday (such as camping) one year so that you save for your dream trip?
  • Only pay for stuff (including holidays) by credit card if you can clear your balance at the end of each month. If you don’t pay off the balance each month you’ll have to pay a lot of interest.
Passports & EHIC. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Passports & EHIC. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Saving money on holiday expenses

  • When you book your holiday, shop around to find the best deal. There are usually discounts on offer for early bookings and also (but with less choice) for very late bookings.
  • If you book a package holiday, rather than travelling independently, you may be able to spread the payments over a few months.
  • If you’d rather travel independently than go on a package holiday think about saving reward points which you can use to pay for flights. We often use Avios points to buy flights – you can read my post about using reward cards here.
  • If you’re a UK citizen and you’re going to Europe, make sure that you have a free EHIC card before you go – it will save you money if you need medical care while you’re away. (Post-Brexit, when your EHIC expires you can apply for a free GHIC Global Health Insurance Card to replace it).
  • Take out comprehensive travel insurance in case anything goes wrong – you can read my post about finding the best travel insurance here.
  • Shop around to find the best deal on foreign currency.

For my top 10 family holiday budgeting tips click here. Do you have any tips to add for saving up for holidays and other large purchases?

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by TSB but all words, images, opinions and ideas are my own.

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Categories: Finances, Travel advice
Tags: finances, money-saving, saving money, savings

About Gretta Schifano

I'm a freelance journalist and blogger specialising in family travel with teenagers, trips when parents manage to travel without their kids, and 50+ travel. I also write about vegetarian travel, parenting teenagers, adoption, SEN, ADHD and anxiety. My work's been published by the Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, National Geographic Traveller, Lonely Planet and others. I've lived and worked in Italy and Spain and am now based in rural south-east England with my husband, adoptive and birth kids and our dog. I previously worked as a social action radio producer for the BBC.

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Comments

  1. mummy little blog says

    September 6, 2015 at 8:39 pm

    some great tips here, school holiday are so expensive! Everywhere also puts the prices up too!
    mummy little blog recently posted…My Sunday photo – 6/09/15My Profile

    Reply
  2. Zena's Suitcase says

    August 27, 2015 at 8:43 pm

    There is nothing worse than taking a holiday and then worry about how much it’s cost. It takes the fun out of it. Great tips and advice here
    Zena’s Suitcase recently posted…How To Lose A Stone Without DietingMy Profile

    Reply
  3. Adele @ Circus Queen says

    August 23, 2015 at 8:40 pm

    This is something we really need to start thinking about. We haven’t ever had a proper holiday just us. We usually just go away for a weekend or if we go, we go with family. We’d like to go away somewhere next year so the time to start saving is now.

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      August 24, 2015 at 5:53 am

      Good luck with it – I hope that you manage to go somewhere.

      Reply
  4. Erica Price says

    August 23, 2015 at 7:10 am

    We put some money aside each month and if we get any windfall cash, some of that usually goes in too. We try to do a bigger holiday every couple of years.
    Erica Price recently posted…Going GreenMy Profile

    Reply
  5. Claire at Tin Box Traveller says

    August 23, 2015 at 7:00 am

    I hate to think how much money I spend on shop bought coffees each year and I know I could save more on my shopping bill. It’s time to start thinking about 2016 and all the lovely things we could do by making a few small changes!
    Claire at Tin Box Traveller recently posted…A visit to the National Marine AquariumMy Profile

    Reply
  6. Rachel says

    August 22, 2015 at 8:01 pm

    Thank you for all those tips, you listed some I had never thought of doing or trying x
    Rachel recently posted…Michael Kors White Eau de ParfumMy Profile

    Reply
  7. Rachel says

    August 22, 2015 at 12:18 pm

    Thank you for the tips, we recently shopped around for our holiday next year and got a really good deal.
    Rachel recently posted…Fat to fit FridayMy Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      August 23, 2015 at 4:58 pm

      How exciting – where are you off to?

      Reply
  8. Michelle says

    August 22, 2015 at 11:43 am

    Great tips – our holidays are the biggie that we work and save for!
    Michelle recently posted…Random Crap – Project 365 : 2015 – Day 232My Profile

    Reply
  9. Kara says

    August 22, 2015 at 7:28 am

    I hate credit cards so the only way we can afford holidays is to save. I try and put a little away every month to help
    Kara recently posted…Vloject 52 – Week 34My Profile

    Reply
  10. Bek Dillydrops says

    August 21, 2015 at 10:45 pm

    I think I need to try some of these. I’d love to take my children on holiday again but saving is a long-term thing for this. I always end up having to use the money for something going wrong, like car repairs, new fridge, etc. One day, we’ll go again. I like the idea of camping as a cheaper alternative.
    Bek Dillydrops recently posted…The 30 Day Blogging Challenge #30DBBC Week 4My Profile

    Reply
  11. Anne says

    August 21, 2015 at 9:57 pm

    We haven’t been on holiday this year because finances were tight and four of my five kids have birthdays during the summer! I’m going to plan better for next year…starting right now!
    Anne recently posted…How Much Do You Share Online?My Profile

    Reply
  12. Sarah Bailey says

    August 21, 2015 at 7:37 pm

    I really need to take some of these tips and use them, I am awful and spending my savings :/ x
    Sarah Bailey recently posted…Floral Storage Bag from Qwerkity: ReviewMy Profile

    Reply
  13. Gemma says

    August 21, 2015 at 6:41 pm

    Great post, very helpful. Thanks for sharing
    Gemma recently posted…Our Honeymoon travelling around Florida, USAMy Profile

    Reply
  14. Jen aka Muminthemadhouse says

    August 21, 2015 at 1:08 pm

    Fab tip-s, espeically as we are stuck with school holiday dates only
    Jen aka Muminthemadhouse recently posted…Rhubarb Brulee Cheesecake – cooking with kidsMy Profile

    Reply
  15. Sonia says

    August 21, 2015 at 12:08 pm

    I love saving for holidays, I put some money away each week in a pot at home and it just adds to the excitement of the impending holiday for me 🙂
    Sonia recently posted…New Business Feature – Meet other MumsMy Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      August 21, 2015 at 9:13 pm

      Well done, that’s very organised!

      Reply

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