Saving for my summer holiday 2014 anybody else?

[shannonlouise29]

Hi everyone I'm new to mumsnet and I seriously need a holiday abroad next year.
I haven't been abroad since I was 16 and this will be my first holiday abroad with my toddler she will be two and a half next year. We went away this year but just to butlins in May its was freezing and constantly rained,so next year we need sun sea and sand. Since I'm a single parent I will be going abroad with my mam so she can help with Lo and get the much needed break she deserves.

Is it easier to save up for a holiday once you've booked it as you know it has to be paid by the deadline.

I haven't saved anything in my pot at the moment as I am waiting until the rest of the bills come out next week. I intend to save at least 50 in my saving pot before it is transferred to my savings account.Every-time I reach 50 it will go into the account.

Tips are gratefully received as I basically cut back so much I cannot think of any thing else to save money on.

Hiya, I'm just about to book a holiday to a Thomson family resort in Ibiza. Not till next sept so I'm hoping that 10 months gives us plenty of time to save up! I've set up a standing order from my main bank account to a savings account so that the money is set aside and I can't touch it.

Where would you like to go?

In terms of cutting back, I read a blog by Frugal Queen and she is very inspiring in terms of how to live well on little, especially her cooking, though she is way more hardcore frugal than I could ever be! Just google frugal queen to find it.

OP, I'm a single parent and have taken my DS abroad twice. You'll love it . Just the two of us go though and it's fine. I'm saving to go next year too, by putting money in a savings account each month when I get paid. I'm also putting all the £2 coins and 50p pieces I get in my change into a terramundi - my aim is for this to pay for our spending money but at this rate it'll cover the cost of the airport parking, travel insurance and the cattery too . Started saving in Feb and it feels quite heavy already.

I haven't booked yet as I find the best bargains are found either just after Christmas or about 4-6 weeks before travel.

Summer I've been to a Thomson Superfamily resort in Ibiza - Club Hotel San Miguel in Puerto San Miguel. Where are you thinking of booking?

You could try the MSE website. On the Debt-free wannabe forum there are loads of different challenges to help you :)

I find it easier to get the money together once my holiday is booked. It's too easy for me to borrow a tenner here and there otherwise.

We're off to Florida next October so plenty of time to save like crazy.

I agree with this .

I book ours, pay the deposit and then put the rest of the balance into a savings accounts in small bits. On the day its due I transfer all the money over.

The first holiday I booked with Thomson I paid them it bits. Then it dawned on me how much interest I had missed out on.

We are going to Greece in August.

I think were going to end up in Spain because Greece is to long on a plane for my LO so when she's older were off to Greece.

I think I would much rather book the holiday now and like suesueheck said it s easy for me to save money once I know it has to pay off the holiday. I talked about it last night with my Mother and she wants to book when weve got the money saved but I want to book now as there may be a free childs place for LO.

I'm saving all my £1 and £2 and £50p in a box and every time it reaches £50 I'm going to stick it in my savings account. I've already got £11 :). I'm putting all my 5p 10p and 20p in another jar and using this as spending money and I've got £7.50 in just a couple of weeks :).

when is the best time to book I've heard they have sales in January which companies do free child places.

All the big companies do free child places with two full fare paying adults, so look at First Choice, Thomson, Thomas Cook, Jet2 Holidays, Holiday Hypermarket etc. However, most of the free child places get snapped up when the holidays first go on sale which was April/May this year for summer 2014, so many of them will have gone now but check anyway as you never know. Jet2 Holidays still have some free child places for single parents travelling alone with kids, so check on there as they may have some left.

FC and Thomson are great as you can save holidays that you like to a short list so you can watch as prices rise and fall, then strike when the holiday you fancy drops in price. Have a look at the Balearics as well as mainland Spain as it's still only a couple of hours flying time to get there. As I said above, prices seem to drop just after Christmas as people are too skint to book, and about 4-6 weeks before travel, when they're desperate to sell their remaining holidays.

Don't forget when looking to try putting in different departure airports (if there's more than one that's easy enough for you to get to), as it can change the price quite a bit.

Definitely book online rather than in branch, as that's where the cheapest prices are. I once had a quote in a branch and when I got home to check it online, I could get all inclusive for the price they'd quoted me for half board! Also don't forget to go via Quidco or Top Cashback when booking, as you'll then get a bit of money back a month or two down the line.

Don't forget to include the cost of airport parking, choosing seats together (if you want to - I always do), increasing your luggage weight if you need that, travel insurance etc, and don't forget to apply for your EHIC cards online before you go (you'll all need one, including your DD, but they're free - some unscrupulous companies charge a fee but from the official site they're free so DO NOT pay for one). Don't buy your travel insurance from the holiday company as it's a rip off, so look elsewhere for that once you've booked. Also bear in mind that unless you book all inclusive you'll need to pay for your food and drink while there.

Half the fun is browsing! Let us know where you choose.

Thomas Cook are the same price in store as they are instore. They can also be a bit more flexible with deposits and balance payments. It's always worth checking both before booking. If an agent is the same price I would always book with them.

A large chunk of free child places are probably gone now as they have been on sale since may but they main push is in January so there may be decent deals flying around.

Decide what your priorities are, ie price, star rating, British run kids clubs or proximity to a beach or what have you. Research like crazy as well. Google map and tripadvisor are both great tools. Try and have your deposit saved up so you are ready to book as soon as you see your ideal holiday, the prices change a lot.

Get insurance as soon as you book. It's the same price then as it would be the day before you go, but you will lose out in cancellation protection. There have been many many threads on here with people who have been caught out and ended up losing all their money

You could try flying from a different country as well. We go down to England as soon as our schools break up (end of June) as prices can be a good bit cheaper. Assuming you are in England, you could look at Glasgow or Edinburgh if you aren't too far away. We are only a 3 hour drive to Manchester but sometimes we save almost 1k.

Happy browsing! Hope you find something fabulous soon.

Sue TC aren't always the same price in store as online. I once found the same holiday online a good couple of hundred pounds cheaper than I was quoted in branch. I had the printout from the shop so I knew it was the same flight, airport and hotel. I was quite shocked at the price differential tbh. I even went back to the branch with the online printout but they wouldn't price match it. You can still book with a deposit online and pay it off in instalments, plus you get the advantage of going via a cashback website which you can't do in branch. Each to their own of course but for these reasons and others, I always prefer to book online.

I agree with doing your research in advance though. Get to know which hotels you'd like to stay in so as soon as a bargain comes up for one of them, you can book it straight away.

I've just checked my short list on First Choice and two of the holidays I've been watching go up and up in price for the last couple of months have started dropping over the last few days. When one of them goes below a certain amount that it happy to pay, I'll pounce .

Yes for flights to Abu Dhabi. Got family there so no hotels etc .

Are you on Facebook?

If you are, join some selling groups, sell whatever you can, don't worry if you only sell for a couple of pounds each, if you were going to give it a charity shop then it's money in your bank!

Put whatever money you make in on of those tins from the pound shop that you have open with a can opener, all your couple of pounds mount up.

I've been doing this the past couple of weeks and so far have made around £40,

Just been selling some of DDs clothes that she has outgrown but still in decent condition.

Hi MrsPresley are the items you are selling on the pages do they go to everyone in your friends lists of people in your local area.

I think it's only people who are in the group who see it, but if say one of your friends was also in the group it would show on their newsfeed but if another friend wasn't in the group then she wouldn't see it. Hope that makes sense!

Some great advice there softkitty, thanks. We are planning to go to the Sirenis club aura in port des torrent. We thought same as Shannon re shorter flight times to Spain, especially as will have a 2 year old and 4 month old.