What are your best tips for saving money on family holidays? Share to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher, courtesy of Lloyds Bank. NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

We all know that taking the family away can come with a hefty price tag, but in the cold, dark months everyone could do with having a bit of sunshine to look forward to later in the year. Lloyds Bank would like you to share advice on finding a great family getaway that doesn't break the bank.

Here’s what they said: “Holidays with your family can create memories that last a lifetime, however sometimes your finances can overshadow the time away. Whether it’s early, meticulous planning or a spontaneous last minute break, we would love to hear Mumsnetter’s tips for getting the most value from a family holiday" – Lloyds Bank

We know Mumsnetters are a savvy bunch, so what tips do you have for keeping the cost of your holiday down?

Do you venture off the beaten track when it comes to choosing a destination? Would you plan your own holiday package to find the best individual deals and eliminate unnecessary extras? Maybe you go away with other families to share the cost - or go for self-catering options to control your budget?

Whatever your tips, Lloyds Bank would like to hear them for saving when it comes to booking your family holidays: whether at home or abroad.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw and one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks,

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Self catering, always have some snacks in a bag on days out.

Find and use a good LOCAL supermarket (i.e. not a convenience store for tourists), this will give you access to good value essentials while at the same time providing an insight into the food culture of the area you are visiting.

We've discovered Eurocamp! Kind of like camping with all the space and fresh air plus loads of things to do BUT I get to sleep properly for a week instead of being exhausted at the end of it.

France is great for a cheap hol if you book well in advance and pay it off gradually, book the tunnel/ferry early for cheap rates etc We end up with petrol/tolls and food to pay for.

If you want to spread the cost in France, get a gadget to zip through the tolls - costs a tiny bit more (about 11 Euros per year) but they take the direct debit the following month, and you look like a local as you sail through the tolls. Gets complicated with bikes on top though so watch out!

UK breaks are cheaper if you use Premier Inn saver rates, consistent quality and service at great rates, especially in London.

We go camping in the UK. My DP's family all have caravans and tents so we all go together and take up quite a large area. It means that we can all help out with the cooking etc and child care. Means that everyone gets a rest of some sorts and there is always enough going on to keep the kids entertained.

All inclusive or board basis holidays seem appeal to adult & young adults rather than children as it'll be too overwhelm to take to be settle down and may want to roam around the food aisles, also in distracted dining environment, where they may not eating their meals completely (or nearly depend on how they feel) and hungry later and may moan for specific food from somewhere mean may need to spend money more so self-catering seem more practical also in more appropriate surroundings as similiar to home routines

Grab what you can from breakfast eg rolls, cheese, croissants, cereal bars etc

We round up nearly every transaction to the nearest £1 and put the pence in a pot. This really adds up & last year we saved £500 for spending money.

We buy a week's food shop before we go to our self=catering beach holiday which is always so much cheaper than eating in the restaurants. We also take tea and coffee with us just making a few savings there as well.
Holidaying on a beach is always a good idea because if you take a picnic you have a whole free day's entertainment on a plate.
Vouchers for days out are always a good idea.
We save our pennies and 2ps during the year to take with us for the arcade games on holiday.

Don't forget to budget for insurance, airport parking, etc. All the boring stuff that can add £££ to your bill!

Only go to holiday destinations with plenty of places to buy decent pasties.

We save every month, usually around £50 a month though have done more in the past when planning a special holiday and nothing on occasion when other priorities occur. It works well enough for us and generally the cost of holidays is spread anyway so we might pay for flights 6 months in advance, hotel 4 months in advance, then a couple of months later car hire, then money and later buy the extras - works for us

Go self catered. Take picnics whenever possible, and bottles of tap water. Budget for icecreams/treats/places that charge admission fees. Go to free places - beaches, woods etc. Use membership - national trust etc. Use vouchers for days out - collect them off cereal packets for example throughout the year for major attractions. We share accommodation with relations to bring the cost down.

Save £2 coins all year. We have £300 spending money for Easter.

Look around for options - I have flown to Florida via Canada and saved over £800 and it only added a couple of hours on the journey. Flown to Alicante and then got the train to Valencia ...

We make the most of our LO not being in school yet, so book holidays in term-time. We keep holiday spending down by keeping meals out to a minimum - but try to mix things up so it's still exciting/a bit of a treat - packed lunches eaten on the go, picnics, making breakfast muffins, etc. We still have treats, but little ones like a bag of chips shared on the seafront in the evening after a cheap homecooked dinner - rather than 3 rounds of fish & chips which quickly adds up.
We find free/low-cost activities to do close to where we are staying - time spent researching these things are cheap, admission prices are not!!
:)

We do self catering and take pre-prepared meals rather than ingredients so it doesn't feel so much like cooking.

And book early rather than waiting for last minute deals ehich may or may not appear.

Self cater! We always take our own basic food (pasta, oil, bread) and buy the rest at a supermarket near by. My kids are fussy anyway, so this keeps our cost low, and the kids happy!

Look out for local caravan deals advertised in The local paper, online and in the national papers, you can get some great deals for Cornwall and the riviera as well as deals for holiday parks. We also pick up last min deals in travel agents, always cheap per person and if you don't mind where you go you always get a surprise adventure. The best holiday we had was a last min booking to a well know resort in the uk, it was a great deal and we just loaded up the car and went- we had a great time and the kids loved it!!

if your not picky about where you go wait it our and get a late deal, we saved over 1,500 on a florida holiday compared to when we booked it in advance a couple of years previously.

If you can, do it yourself. Book your own hotels using discount sites and always check with the hotel afterwards to see if they can beat it. Check charter flights as they sometimes have space and are just looking to fill seats.

Checkout the group buying holiday sites like Groupon Getaways, Wowcher or Secret Escapes for last minute bargains. Look for options where kids go free. Try and choose destinations where there are plenty of low cost or free activities for children.

We self cater where possible - cheaper (although we always enjoy a few meals out) and you get more space than in a hotel.

It's definitely worth getting a credit card/bank account that won't charge you loads for overseas spending if you go abroad.

If you're using your phone for maps when abroad, download as much as possible onto it using WiFi if you've got it at accommodation/in a restaurant etc to save on roaming charges.

Plan ahead- check what restaurants and attractions are nearby and then search for voucher codes for these. Also, remember things like o2 priority (£1 lunch on Mondays!), gourmet society, taste card etc and search on these using the postcode of your holiday accommodation!

When booking, don't forget cash back websites too!

We holiday at home in the UK. Each week when out shopping I buy a treat item that we wouldn't normally buy and stash it away so that we can have it on holiday. Things like posh hot chocolate, white chocolate spread, are in the box. Then we will only need to do the normal food shop when we get there and will have more money to spend on fun activities and meals out.

If you go all inclusive make the most of all the included food, drink and facilities. Venture out to explore but come back for meals etc.

I do an online shop for basics and essentials to arrive on our first day. That saves me spending more than necessary in smaller shops on essential things like toilet rolls and gives us ingredients for a couple of budget family meals like spag Bol which means we can treat ourselves to a take-away or a pub lunch some days too. I save little coffee/tea/ketchup sachets to take and take some things such as 7 dishwasher tablets to save the need to buy a big pack on holiday and waste or carry things home. I always try and save things like free comics for the kids, sticker books that come free such as the ones from Bear yo-yos when you collect the barcodes! These keep the kids busy in the car. I fill up mini bottles with shampoo etc again to avoid waste, free samples are also taken with us for bathtime treats!