The last minute holiday buys costing you too much

Sian Meades
Jul 11th 2009 at 8:35AM

Everyone does it. You get to the airport a couple of hours early and before you know it you've spent all of your money in the duty free and on overpriced coffees while you're waiting to board. Airports are designed to make you spend money. It's pretty canny. But, there are simple things that you can do to make sure you don't spend all of your money before you go on holiday.

Get a later flight. This might be more expensive, but if you arrive at the airport late at night and plan on sitting about all evening (which I did last time I went away), you'll end up spending more in the airport. I'm pretty sure that the amount I saved on the earlier flight, I actually spent on snacks, magazines, trains to the airport and airport wi-fi. I really should have just stayed in bed and got a later flight. Don't kid yourself you're saving money if you're spending it elsewhere.
Take food with you! You don't need to buy anything to eat while you're there. The food tastes horrible anyway.
Get your currency changed before you go. Don't leave it to the last minute.
Don't be tempted by duty free. If there's something you need then go ahead a buy, but don't pick something up just because you're there.
Don't be too early! I'm not suggesting that you nearly miss your flight, but if you get there an hour earlier than you need to be, you're going to have to find something to do to fill your time.
Pack early! If you pack late, you'll find yourself buying stuff that you really don't need. And you'll end up with double when you arrive back home. Very annoying.
Make sure you buy little travel bottles. The last thing you want is all of your toiletries being confiscated from you when you go through security. Make sure that you transfer what you can into smaller bottles, put everything else in your check-in luggage.
Treat yourself. This might sound silly, but if you allow yourself one treat, to get you in the holiday mood, you'll be less inclined to spend all of your money. Let yourself have a little something and enjoy yourself!

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