If you feel in need of a holiday but times are hard and the budget does not stretch to one, you are one of many people looking at a staycation.

A staycation can have various meanings:

1. a holiday in one’s own country,
2. a holiday based at home that includes lots of days out or
3. a stay with a relative who lives in another part of Britain.

Any holiday contains the following costs:

• Travel
• Accommodation
• Food and drink
• Entertainment
• Clothing or specialist equipment
• Insurance

Travel

The ways of reducing travel costs are to travel by car because it is generally cheaper per head and a car is usually necessary to make the most of British holidays. The other way of reducing travel costs is to opt for a nearer holiday destination.

Keep holiday accommodation costs low

The only way to minimise the costs of a holiday is to remove one of the holiday constituents shown above, such as travel, or to reduce them to the lowest possible cost. All items can be kept to a minimum with good decisions and careful planning.

Apart from staying at home or with a friend or relative, the cheapest forms of holiday accommodation are hostels, camping and rented self-catering cottages. Camping generally relies on people owning tents and camping equipment. Hostels are low priced accommodation and holiday cottages come in a wide range of prices. Shopping around can produce good value accommodation. Booking at the last minute often provides a source of cut price accommodation.

Self-catering reduces your food budget

Self-catering on a camping or cottage holiday means that you are in total control of your expenditure on food and drink. You buy the food and cook it for your family. Holiday cottages always have a refrigerator that keeps food fresh and many also have a freezer which makes the task manageable. You might like the idea of shopping on a daily basis during your holiday but you will not have to if you can keep it fresh. It is also an excellent opportunity to give the children some responsibility and involve them in cooking. They may learn a few culinary skills and how to work as part of a team. You may encounter some unexpected benefits when they help at home.

Keeping entertainment costs low on holiday

Holiday cottages will have a television and most probably a DVD player so that guests can watch television in the evenings. The most expensive entertainment on holiday is visits to theme parks, zoos and stately homes. These venues offer a full day out but if you have to purchase a number of tickets for the entire family, the cost can be huge. It may be possible to obtain special offers but inevitably, this type of organised entertainment may just have to be avoided if you want a cheap break.

Sadly, we tend to expect ready-made entertainment instead of providing our own. Holidays in the countryside involve lots of walks and wildlife encounters – all of which are free. It is possible to research things to do with children in the countryside, for example bark rubbing, leaf rubbing, tree identification.  

Seaside holidays are wonderful because children need little more on a beach than a bucket and spade. They can build sandcastle, bury each other, collect sea shells, paddle, find creatures in rock pools, crabbing. And they are happy to do this all day. Take a picnic to reduce the cost spent on food and drinks.

This list of free or cheap activities may be helpful:

• Kite flying in windy areas and on the coast
• Cycling on traffic free roads if you have or hire bicycles
• Playing cricket or rounders
• Making and sailing paper boats in a stream
• Paddling in a shallow stream
• Feeding ducks, squirrels or other local wildlife. It does not cost much and small children love it.

Holiday clothes or specialist equipment

It is not necessary to buy children new clothes when you go on holiday unless they have grown out of essential shorts and tops. Specialist equipment may be necessary if you plan to spend time on a particular activity. Surfing is very popular in Cornwall and Devon and to do this you will need a surf board and wet suit. These items can be hired, purchased second hand or at a reasonable price from a supermarket or auction site. A little forward planning is needed to assemble everything that is required for a family activity holiday.

Holiday Insurance

With the best will in the world, it is not possible to plan for all unexpected events in a holiday. The car could break down en-route, a member of your group could fall sick, your holiday accommodation could be unavailable because of a natural calamity or double booking. It is always wise to take out holiday insurance.