Top ways to have an amazing holiday for less

1. Book your flight well in advance. You can find cheap flights using Google Flights, search your destination and use their tools to find the cheapest days to fly. There are many other different websites to search for cheap flights, one good tip is to clear your cookies after visiting as one trick these websites use is to increase the price if you keep visiting.

2. Make sure you find the cheapest room. If you shop around a bit, checking AirBnB and Expedia for or a place to stay when you're travelling instead of a hotel you can save big time, with AirBnByou can stay in Budapest for 7 nights for under 80 pounds, and get £20 off your stay with that link, an absolute bargain. My last holiday I booked via Expedia and paid less than £300 for 5 nights in Athens, flights for 2 and a rental car.

3. House swap or rent out your home. You can do this via a few different mediums, you can use AirBnB, Home Exchange or Homebase Hols, I prefer the easy no strings attached AirBnB. You could also house sit for free accommodation in exchange for just looking after their house.
4. Work while you travel for some cash or just a place to stay. This is a good one to learn more about the local culture/language and perhaps negate your costs a little bit, if you want a long holiday you can consider Workaway, where generally you will help out in exchange for accommodation and sometimes food. You'll get to meet some new people and have a blast especially if you're travelling in groups. There is a lot of different work you can do, from an au pair to a bartender, and some of them can be a lot of fun as well.

5. Sign up for a travel credit card and get free flights. Instead of a normal credit card, consider using a travel credit card to collect miles and then ultimately fly for free, most cards offer a sign up bonus and there are a number of ways to boost your miles faster.

6. Take a free walking tour. Most major European cities have them, the local tourist office, or Google can tell you all about it, these are a great way to learn the city, see the biggest sites and get some exercise all for free! Admittedly usually they ask you tip what you think it was worth, but if you're on a budget maybe just take a cool drink for your tour guide.

7. Cook your own meals. Cooking for yourself is so much cheaper than eating out, even if you just buy some bread/cheese etc. for breakfasts it can make a big difference. Go to a supermarket when you first arrive and buy a load of bottled water and other staples.

8. Get an offline translator app in advance. This one may be a big help if you're going to a country with poor English, we experienced this to our surprise in Corinth where we were almost out of fuel and the only petrol station we could find was closed for lunch, almost no one spoke English and we were struggling to communicate that we wanted fuel.

9. Buy your travel accessories before you fly. You can buy adaptor plugs from your local pound shop or Amazon for a pound each, why pay £3+ at the airport?

10. Book car hire before you go. Generally the earlier you book the more you can save, hiring a car can save you a lot of money in taxi fares, check for any discounts via vouchers and cashback deals. To prevent misery check that your UK licence is valid as well, an international driving permit is needed or recommended in many countries, in some of them you may be refused a hire car if you don't have one.