Five ways to make the holiday cash go further

Going on holiday is likely to be one of the biggest outgoings of your entire year, so even if you shop around and get a great bargain deal it is worth making sure you don't over spend whilst you're away. To make sure you don't do this we've compiled a few tips that won't impact on your holiday experience and save you cash at the same time.

1) Buy essentials before you go - 
Anything you buy from a holiday resort aimed at tourists is likely to cost more than it would at home. Take sun cream as an example, in our cold wet British homeland it is pretty cheap to buy. So you'd think - due to economies of scale - it would be even cheaper to buy where they actually need to use it regularly! But if you've ever run out of sun cream abroad and seen the prices you'll never not pack it again. So do yourself a favour and stock up on £5 bottles of sun cream and put them in your suitcase before you go, otherwise you could be stung at up to 25 Euros a bottle whilst in your resort.

2) Make the most of your money - 
Much like getting cheaper sun cream, to make the most of your money whilst abroad you need to sort it out long before you even think about leaving for the airport. You should be aware that withdrawing from ATM's abroad is generally a no no and if you want to be a thrifty traveller you should sort your holiday money before you go at the cheapest exchange rate available. To do this use services such as MoneyMax, this site compares all the online currency sites in seconds and then works out which is the best deal for you. Another great feature is that it takes into account the various fee's that exchanges charge and gives you the best overall deal.

3) Eat where the locals do - 
Not only does this offer you the best value for money, but it also likely to enrich your holiday experience too. To put it simply: wherever the locals eat their dinner, make that your local too. The restaurants on the main strop of a holiday resort are often over price and catered towards tourists. Ask a local in the shop or hotel and get them to recommend you somewhere to go. This way you can be sure you're not being ripped off and you'll likely to get the best and most authentic food the place has to offer. It will allow you to really get to grips with the place you're staying and probably have a much more memorable night too. You can also find recommendations for places to eat online with not much effort.


4) Rent out your house - 
This one won't be for everyone and it may be impractical for you - especially if you're only taking a short break. However, if you live somewhere that tourists regularly visit like country towns or big cities, it could be a great way to make enough money to cover your own summer break. Thanks to sites such as AirBnB it is now very very easy to rent out your home or even a room to make an extra income.


5) Turn off your network roaming - 

Before you leave the airport in the UK turn off the 3G/4G and roaming capabilities on your phone. Unless you have expressly set up a package with your provider, this could save you hundreds. Every summer there are stories about the poor souls who have wasted hundreds - if not thousands - on a phone bill they didn't realise they'd accumulated.
Don't let the kids stream TV on your iPhone and don't check the football results on the internet. It will cost an extortionate amount!

Make sure you've downloaded any films etc before you go and only use the Wi-Fi connections you can find whilst abroad.

Sop do you have any other tips on how to make your holiday money go further?