A holiday can be like re-mortgaging your parents’ house and after 7 months of student-style beans on toast and vodka living the last thing you want to do is dig deeper into your future inheritance / parents’ pension right? So, as a pair of DJs who have spent a fair bit of life on the road, surfing sofas and being thrifty we have put together some of our tips on how to save some brass when on holiday and how to avoid the usual holiday traps which you may come across once you’re away.

  • Most people get a little excited and make check lists so they are prepared for the holiday ahead and this is a great thing to do! If you are travelling in a group, dividing the ‘essentials’ between everyone in the group will save you luggage weight and money…
  • Start off with Toiletries – seriously ask yourself how long a tube of toothpaste normally lasts you at home, there’s no need for you to take a tube each or buy travel size (read: expensive) ones, so if one person takes a tube it will be enough even for Bono to dish out to the world! Same applies for shampoo and other toiletries / sun creams etc.
  • A good way of saving some cash from the very start is how you travel to the airport. We live in Leeds and get the bus from the centre to the airport and a £7.40 round trip is lots cheaper than paying for a car, but then if you go in a big group the car could be the better option.
  • Once you’ve got to the airport, you’re excited to be going away and it’s easy to be tempted to buy items you think you’ll need on holiday at hidden exit shop that everyone gets lost in, also known as duty free.You have no choice but to go in en route to your gate for boarding so try and avoid the temptations put in front of you!The holiday hasn’t even started yet so take our advice and if you really fancy yourself a pair of designer sunglasses, why not buy a fake pair from a man on the beach for 5 Euros?The money you have is supposed to be for when you’re holiday not in the airport!
  • The Squatters’ Top Tip: You are allowed to take up to 100ml of liquids in your hand luggage so you could always try taking some hummus in a container in a clear plastic bag! We have suggested it before but never done it ourselves; we reckon carrots to dip might prevent you having to buy the in flight short haul meal deals which can also eat into your Euros. If you try this, please let us know on Twitter or our Facebook page!
  • With that in mind make sure you have a big meal a couple of hours before you fly as this saves quite a bit on food and also stops unnecessary snacking. Remember as well that in some airports if you buy the paper you get a free bottle of water which saves about 50p – in-flight reading material and money saved: bonus!
  • While on holiday, rule number one when getting a transfer from the airport is that if the taxi driver asks “have you been here before?” always say yes 4 times – this will make them less likely to try and rip you off and we’ve all heard the horror stories about the tourists who don’t know how much taxis fares should be… 😉
  • Always try and find the areas that the locals shop at as in peak seasons they can’t put prices up; you’ll find that in some tourist shops the small bottles of water can be the same price as the big 5 litre ones elsewhere.
  • Always take some local currency as you – when you get to the holiday destination it’s full of currency converter kiosks and the rates are higher than back home.
  • Baggage allowance when flying can also be a stinger – if you’re over they can charge so make sure you weigh your luggage. If you take some old clothes you can leave them at the other end, this works especially well if you’re going somewhere that’s a great shopping destination and also frees room up in your wardrobe back home 😉 we tend to do this with old socks and boxer shorts.
  • Eating out, that’s one of the reasons you go on holiday right? This can be expensive, so try and have light lunches that you can prepare yourselves or eat from local street vendors – this could save you lots of money when popular restaurants can be quite expensive. If you’re on a proper budget, scope out the person in front’s portion beforehand and if itis huge you’ll know you can share one!

We hope at least one of these tips has helped and remember that there is a difference in being tight and being careful! Look after your friends and don’t minesweep 😉

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