How to live like the RICH (when you’re not)

Buy a racehorse with Tesco points. Hop on a private plane for £171 . . .

Ever wished you could jet off on a Caribbean holiday twice a year like that flashy couple from the golf club? Or longed for as many designer dresses as your well-off friend?

You’re not alone: keeping up with the Joneses has reached new heights. Last week, a study from the London School of economics showed that many of the UK’s highest earners ( who earn £140,000 or more per annum) don’t feel particularly comfortable because their prestigious jobs mean they are often surrounded by those in the top 0.1 per cent of the country who earn millions.

But with a little bit of ingenuity and insider knowledge it’s surprisingly easy to live the champagne lifestyle of the super rich — on a lemonade budget.

From chartering a jet to eating in Michelin-starred restaurants and even owning your own racehorse, we show you how you can do it all without earning — or spending — very much . . .

BE ONE OF THE HAVE-YACHTS

FANCY lounging on the glossy deck of a smart yacht in Monaco, glass of champagne in hand? Well you can, for less than £45 per person per night, through bedsonboard.com.

The yacht equivalent of airbnb, Beds On Board offers cut-price, floating accommodation on privately owned yachts moored in amazing marinas around the world.

as well as being able to sleep in luxury, you can use the cooking and dining facilities.

From a spacious, vintage motor yacht that sleeps four moored near Portofino in Italy from £155 a night to a 110 ft tall ship moored in San Miguel, Spain, which can sleep up to seven and costs from £54 per person per night, it’s a holiday solution that offers a taste of the jetset lifestyle for less. If you prefer to set sail every day, try antlos.com, which puts you in touch with private yacht skippers.

Offering individual cabins or entire yachts for all-inclusive day trips, weekends or longer, often at reasonable prices, antlos offers include a tour of the venice lagoon and adriatic for £60 per person per day (hiring a gondola costs £70 for 40 minutes).

GET RACY AT THE SHOPS

a TOP quality racehorse might cost more than £100,000, and £20,000 or more a year to train and stable, but online syndication company own a racehorse.

co.uk allows you to buy shares in a mount from £99.

The shares are valid for a year and entitle you to regular updates on your horse and a small cut of any prize money.

You will be invited on yard visits to meet the horses, trainers and jockeys and can apply for free owners’ badges when your horse runs, giving you free or discounted entry into the racecourse owners’ enclosure.

even better, you can use £25 of Tesco Clubcard boost tokens and get £75 towards the price.

and if you’d rather just go to the races? Get your Clubcard out again to buy tickets to ascot, newbury and Kelso with your supermarket points.

TURN HEADS DRESSED LIKE A CELEBRITY

SHOPPING sites such as rebelle.com, vestiaire collective.

com and hardlyeverwornit.com sell second- hand designer clothing at discount prices.

vestiaire Collective is where celebrities such as emma Watson, Keira Knightley and Kim Kardashian sometimes sell designer clothing and accessories for charity.

Other famous names sell incognito on all the above sites (hardly ever Worn It has a VIP section).

PICK UP A BARGAIN WORK OF ART

YOU can decorate your home with original paintings, sketches and sculpture for as little as £100.

The affordable art Fair holds four annual exhibitions, with original art works and sculpture from more than 1,000 artists, costing from £100 to £6,000.

Or buy stylish prints and other items from their website, afford

ableartfair.com, from £25.

MICHELIN STARRED — BUT CHEAP AS CHIPS

FOR a membership fee of £39.99 a year, tastecard.co.uk gives you up to 50 per cent off food or two-for-one meals at thousands of restaurants nationwide.

It includes several fine dining and Michelin-starred establishments including ellenborough Park in Cheltenham, L’Ortolan in reading and Silk in London.

Keep your eye out for smart new restaurants and hotels opening, too.

Most start with a ‘soft launch’: providing meals and services at significantly discounted prices while they train staff and test menus.

Local papers are a good source of information. In London, soft

launchlondon.com will point you in the right direction.

INDULGE IN A STAR TREATMENT

FOR high- end hair and spa appointments that won’t break the bank, treatwell.co.uk offers reduced price appointments for last- minute bookings and quieter times at top salons.

It is offering 30 per cent off beauty treatments at Daniel Galvin in London, whose clients include Madonna, and up to 25 per cent off spa days at the fivestar Fairmont St andrews hotel, near the Scottish golf course.

JOIN JET SET FOR COST OF A BUDGET FLIGHT

PRIVATE jet hire peaks in the summer, so there are plenty of empty journeys — to move aircraft to and from destinations the rich and famous have paid to get to — that private jet companies are keen to sell.

These flights can prove cheaper than a budget airline.

Privatefly.com has a trip from London to Cannes (an airport only for private jets) in July for seven — at £171 per person.

EXPERIENCE BUSINESS CLASS ON A BUDGET

The lounges of major airlines — with free snacks, newspapers and the odd glass of bubbly — are normally only accessible to business, first-class and passengers with a lot of air miles.

however, most airports have lounges open to all for about £20. The website lounge-buddy.

com has a useful worldwide list. Or buy an annual membership at prioritypass.com (from £69) for access to more than 600 lounges at discounted rates.