Ditch flash hotels to have great hols
TELLY consumer champion Angellica Bell is urging people to rethink fancy foreign summer holidays and enjoy the best of Blighty to save cash during the cost-of-living crisis.
The Martin Lewis Money Show cohost has enjoyed the delights of the north of England as well as Devon during quiet periods in her career when she was watching the pennies – and last year explored the beaches at Thanet in Kent.
Angellica says: “Hopefully, there will be that light at the end of the tunnel when things will be easing off financially but I know for a lot of people it’s really tough.
“Remember the purpose of a summer holiday is to relax. It’s about adapting but enjoying ourselves as much as we can.
“I went to Margate last summer and love Blackpool – experiences you get can be just as valuable, you don’t have to go long haul.”
Saving
Angellica reckons swapping a flash all-inclusive hotel for self-catering is a perfect way to rein in the spending, leaving dosh spare for treats.
The 47-year-old says: “I love Airbnbs, they give you flexibility.
“You can cook for yourself so you can budget to treat yourself to fish and chips.
“I’m a big fan of picnics in local parks and getting other people to come and share food.
“You can plan activities, get two-forone tokens for theme parks in the paper, go away with other families.
“Without going to the airport and paying the hidden charges on flights and bags, you can make savings and get a bigger room in Ramsgate or something like that.”
The former CBBC star is renovating a new home – and while she’s saving cash by getting her hands dirty, she’s also giving small businesses a leg-up.
Angellica says: “One night I was up taking up the carpet downstairs and getting rubble out, running up and down to the skip.
“If there’s anything I can do to save myself some cash, I’m on it – but big
You don’t have to go long haul for your holiday
up to all the skilled tradespeople. “I’ve found this amazing joinery family I’m hopefully going to be working with, who have been doing it for years and have passed on the skills. “It’s really important to me, someone who has learned their craft from their father and grandfather – we don’t hear about it enough.”
The current financial climate has crippled many households and Angellica warns it’s being made worse by an uptick in online rip-offs. Sneaky sales tactics – such as popups warning there are a limited number of items left to buy or promising deals will run out in a short space of time – are seeing shoppers panic buy
fearing they will miss out if they don’t press checkout.
Angellica says: “People feel the pressure and end up buying because they think it’s now or never.
"They cycle of the economy we want to keep moving but you shouldn’t force people to give up their hard-earned money.”
The Competition and Markets Authorithy is launching a new phase of its Online Rip-Off Tip-Off campaign, asking shoppers to report online rip-offs after 67% said current spending pressures have made them more desperate to find the best deals.
Angellica says: “It’s empowering the consumer to go, ‘No, this is not cool', especially in a cost-of-living crisis.”
•Angellica is encouraging consumers to call out online rip-offs and report them to the CMA at gov.uk/ripoff-tipoff