Accommodation – £0

To start off with, all of my accommodation was paid for by other people – for various reasons. When I first landed in Alicante, I was able to stay with my ex-boyfriend (funnily enough, not an ex at the time) in a gorgeous little house by La Marina. This meant that I was basically adopted by the family, and didn’t have to pay a single penny for keep. Pretty convenient, honestly.

From there, I met up with a family that were complete strangers at the time, but that I would grow to consider my own. As an au-pair, I was taken across Valencia all the way to Madrid, staying in cute little hotels with the family and finally settling down in their quaint home in a town called Móstoles. I met several friends along the way, each offering up their homes – resulting in a wonderful little journey around Spain with the base rate of £0. Just the way I like it.

Travel – £257

As expected, flights were the most expensive part of my whole journey – and only because I was an absolute knob and missed my first flight out. In total, I spent a (wildly unnecessary, tbh) £227 on flights.

When I had finally landed in Spain, I found myself spending a mere £30 on transport due to a rather magic metro card I found (called Renfe+) where you pay a set price and can explore more or less the whole of Northern Spain on it for free. Pretty handy. You also get free entry to galleries and rooftop cafes, which is neat.

HITCHHIKING AND USING RANDOM STRANGER’S CARS

I also tried my hand at hitchhiking. Having never done so before, the only factor convincing me to jump into a random stranger’s car was the fact that I was literally multi-tasking heat exhaustion with a severe lack of water and 40+ degrees in the shade, going up a hill which featured absolutely 0 said shade. When a random couple pulled up to me and suggested I get in their car, I was so dazed I just hopped right in. The journey back to the centre of civilisation took so long, and via a strange route I had never taken before, that I found myself nearly nodding off as the woman told me stories from her childhood. Honestly, I’m still not 100% convinced I made it out alive and am not just living in some weirdly lucid coma.

As I spent the majority of my time in Spain living with my aforementioned au-pair host family -with around 10 days also spent with the family of my dear ex-love-of-my-life – I was driven around from town to town, city to city, without a qualm. Honestly, I feel like they were all just pretty happy to have someone nag at them to be more adventurous, and I’m thankful they spent so much gas money on my expeditions.

Food – £35

In concept, all of my food was free (all six meals a day). However, I have a secret love affair with sweet things, and found a good chunk of my money going on snacks. From cakes to churros to ice-cream, I spent day after day meeting new-found friends and checking out all the local bakeries.

I was taken out for meals with my ex-boyfriend’s family, my temporary au-pair family, and then to soirees and birthday dinners with my temporary extended family. And there you have it – three month’s worth of food for what I would typically spend on a week’s shopping. Budget AF.

Excursions – £4

I visited over 50 castles, museums, galleries, and little day trip cities as I ventured around Spain – paying absolutely nothing for all except one. Here’s how.

STUDENT’S/ EU CARD

With a bit of research, I soon discovered that everything was free. Kind of. In order to visit such a sheer amount of awesome little places, I had to do a bunch of research before I rocked up anywhere. Here’s the gist – if you are a member of the EU, a student (or simply someone aged 0 – 26), unemployed (with evidence), or someone that knows the free entry times, you can pass security without dishing out a dollar. It’s all there, if only you look. The only time I had to pay (this is where the £4 comes in) was when I went to a castle during peak times, simply because I CBA to wait around for hours for free entry.

SPONGING OFF MY HOST FAMILY

The aforementioned au-pair family would also take me places, and when they did so, I would find them paying for everything. Whether it was an entry ticket to go wild swimming in the mountains, or a little fee to enter an olde historical building, they would always pay for me (they also bought me a gym membership and other pointless little things). They were so incredible dishing out so much, and all I had to do was watch TV with their kids for a few hours a week on the rare days both parents went to work. A pretty sweet deal, if you ask me.

Extras – £78

Spending £78 on little extras was completely unnecessary and could 100% have been avoided – and yet I couldn’t resist window shopping. I ended up buying exactly seven incoherent Spanish novels, two equally as incoherent Vinyls, and a bunch of tourist souvenirs for family members back home (along with a really fancy, really tiny pot of moisturiser). In all honesty though, I don’t think that’s too bad for three whole months, even if the 6kg bucket of ColaCao nearly sent me to Customs.

Income

Whilst I was away, I also managed to secure a steady stream of income. I’m not sure how applicable it is, but due to the fact that I have been blogging and writing for magazines for years, I was able to do about five hours of actual work to make triple back of what I had spent. I made £550 straight up from au-pairing, £130 for writing articles, and £460 from various other sources – such as product placement, affiliate links, and sponsored posts.

Not to be dramatic, but I 100% felt like a mortal God when I was dishing out advice to my friends and followers about how I managed to travel. I really hope that this helps some of you, or at least answers some rather demanding questions about how I could possibly be living a Snapchat highlife.

Has this post helped or inspired any of you guys to take your own budget tours? Or have you got any tips I could use next time? Let me know in the comments below!

But before you do – why not pin this post?

BOOK AT THE RIGHT TIME

According to a study by the Airlines Reporting Corporation, the best time to book your airfare is around six weeks before departure. For international flights, consider 6 – 8 weeks, with peak flights best two months in advance.

FLY AT THE RIGHT TIME

Avoid peak times such as Christmas, Easter, and high-season in June, July, and August. Also, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays are typically the cheapest days to fly out, and overnight flights offer the most affordable time of day. It’s always best to use a comparison site such as Skyscanner to have access to a monthly view of the cheapest dates for your destination.

GO CONNECT

Whilst non-stop flights may be more comfortable, you could save up to 50% by purchasing a flight that stops en-route. I booked a flight to Cyprus that would stop for an hour in Antalya, which whilst inconvenient also meant that I was offered a whole week-long holiday for less than £140. 

BOOK A LAYOVER

Related to the above point, some budget airlines may be unique to a destination, meaning that if you book with a layover sliced in between you could save a considerable amount. I use AirWander to compare the best prices for this. 

BOOK FOR ONE PERSON

If you are purchasing multiple flights, it is usually best to book them individually. This is because if you book for three people and the seats are each priced at £100, £200 and £300, the transaction would charge each flight at the premium price. Buying separately means that only one sucker pays the £300.

 USE COMPARISON SITES

Everyone knows about Skyscanner by now, but other good sites to use are Momondo and Kiwi. You’ve got to feel sorry for the guys that only use one mass search engine.

AVOID HIDDEN COSTS 

Airlines such as Ryanair often make up their money by charging you for things you didn’t think you could get charged for. For example, by not printing your boarding tickets prior to departure, Ryanair charges nearly £18 per ticket – and don’t forget those extra baggage fees.  

GOOGLE AIRLINES THAT ARE SO SMALL THEY WOULDN’T BE LISTED

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MISTAKE FARES

BOOK IN DIFFERENT CURRENCIES

 BUY TWO SINGLES

Related to the idea of booking several tickets via different transactions, buying two singles instead of one return can also work out cheaper.

CHECK THE PRICE AFTER 24 HOURS

USE REWARD SCHEMES AND FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAMS

BUT BEFORE YOU DO – WHY NOT SHARE THE LOVE AND PIN THE POST?