Saving Money on Your Summer Holiday 2014

Almost a quarter of the way through the year, you might be thinking about planning a cheeky summer break to have a little bit of time to yourself and get some desperately-needed sunshine - because, let's face it, the British summer doesn't generally provide us with an abundance of Vitamin D! If you're working to a strict budget, though, planning a holiday can be a lot of hassle. Hopefully, today's post will be able to help you out there! The key to saving money on a brilliant summer holiday is timing. You can save money on holidays by booking early and you can save by booking late with sites like lastminute.com, but what other options are there to help you along to affording a great break? Here's a list of top tips to help your time away become that extra bit special as you won't be stressing about breaking the budget, leaving you free to unwind and come home feeling relaxed!
Dates
The fact that prices of trips away can inflate hugely over school holidays has gained some unwanted attention recently. The holiday operators argue that it's the other way round and they simply slash their prices outside of these times as they feel they're unlikely to fill the spaces otherwise. It's an inconvenience but if you want a memorable family holiday with the kids you may have to pay out a fair bit extra. Luckily, the October half term is a break that is far less likely to see such a price increase as it's not in the usual summer holiday calendar. Despite this, you can find fantastic weather in the beautiful Canary Islands at this time of year. If you don't mind switching up your dates, you can get a great autumn holiday with the added bonus of adding some sunshine to your life at a point where there's unlikely to be any around locally.

Times
Whatever time of the year you decide to fly, you should pick the time of day with the same amount of care. Flying at an unsociable hour may seem like a chore, but really there's not much to lose. If you're taking your kids they'll either be excited to be up at an unusual hour to get their adventure underway or be too sleepy to notice. Either way you'll end up saving money on your flights this way and a quick nap in-flight will help rebalance any loss of sleep – for you and your kids.
Packing planning
If you know you're planning on jetting away to a sunny destination this year then you can save money by planning your wardrobe now. Summer clothes are going for slashed prices all over the place in the winter and by picking up some great items early you won't have to pay the premium as you rush to get your outfits sorted a week or two before your flight. You can get George at ASDA's swimwear for great value prices right now, so you can be ready for your time in the sun for less. The same goes for suncream, though you should be mindful of the weight of your luggage here. You have to, quite literally, balance your savings as you can end up paying more on your luggage, resulting in an overall loss on your quest for a cheaper deal.
Everyone wants to have fun and unwind when they go on holiday, but worrying about how much money you're spending can put a downer on things. Be smart, be organised and you can have a blast on your time away this year, hassle free!
Are you planning to go away this year? What are your top tips for doing so as cheaply as you can? Where would you dream holiday destination be?

[Please note this is a sponsored post.]