What I learned whilst I was away

I am back from my trip to the other side of the world, still a bit jet lagged so apologies if this post isn’t the most entertaining! I haven’t had a chance to figure out exactly how much I spent on holiday yet but early indications are that I am under budget 🙂

If you are off on holiday soon then here are a few tips that I learnt from this trip:

1) Make sure the local tourist information centre is the first place you visit as they are not only a great source of information but many of their leaflets contain vouchers that can save you hundreds of pounds. We were very lucky this time and found plenty of ‘buy one get one free’ vouchers for things we planned to do any way.

2) Eating out gets very expensive and in Australia this was particularly true. Avoiding restaurants for a couple of nights can significantly reduce the total cost of your holiday. If you are staying by the beach then I reckon there are few restaurants in the world that can beat eating Fish & Chips sitting on the beach, and it’s far cheaper too! Also if you are in big cities look for food courts which often offer a great range of food at reasonable prices.

3) If you are away for a while then you will soon get bored of hotel breakfasts so it is well worth investing in a box of cereal and some milk (can be kept in the mini bar). This will not only save you pounds in your wallet but also pounds on your stomach if you would otherwise be having a cooked breakfast every day!

4) Make sure you have a good credit or debit card with you whilst you are away as most charge an extra 2.75% on all foreign transactions which you won’t even notice on your statement as it’s not broken out. The only two major card providers that do not currently have this charge are the Post Office and Nationwide.

And finally if you are going away for a while make sure the debit card you pay your bills with doesn’t expire whilst you are away. I learned that lesson this time the hard way when I returned to lots of overdue bills. Fortunately no harm done, but not the sort of welcome you want when you return from holiday!