Festival Season: Check Out These Money-Saving Tips

Festival season is in full swing which means it’s time to dust off those wellies and get ready to PARTAAAAAAY!

We know that festivals can be pricey when it comes to food, drinks, travel in fact the whole shebang, so we have put together some tips to help you stay savvy and have a stress free weekend.

Bring your own food; this will save you roughly £20 per day which is already £80 if you are at a 4-day festival. If the vendor food is too tempting then balance and buy one of your three meals each day but only if the food looks truly worth it!

Set a daily budget. This seems like an obvious one but you don’t want to blow all of your money in the second day and then be panicking for the rest of the festival about what you have left. 

Car share with friends. The price of petrol and parking can work out cheaper than getting an individual train/coach ticket, depending on where you are travelling from. Also let’s face it, there’s nothing better than throwing your camping stuff in the back of a car and enjoying a nice drive home, not forgetting the McDonalds drive thru en route. 

Bring a portable phone charger. Charging at festivals can be costly and there is nothing worse than missing your favourite artist because you have lost your friend. There is so much to think about when packing for a festival but this is the one survival item that you don’t want to forget. 

Don’t use ATM’s bring cash instead. This is the one of the only times that we encourage you to carry cash because 1. The Q’s to withdraw cash are 10 miles long and 2. We are in a bid to fight bank fees for all Emma users.

Print out stage times and maps beforehand. By taking your own printed versions you will definitely save yourself the cost of a pint or two! Festivals have started to introduce apps where you can access everything for free so keep an eye out.

Check festivals restrictions on Alcohol. Alcohol can be the most expensive part of the weekend with pints costing anything from £5.50 – £7 and spirit mixers costing £7-9 so check whether you can bring your own in beforehand. 

Book your travel in advance. If you need to get trains, buses or boats to the festival you are attending then book this straight away to avoid prices rising. 

Check the weather before you go. You don’t want to turn up to a festival with a bag full of crop tops and shorts and then realise that it’s going to chuck it down for 4 days and you have to buy an overpriced poncho. Come fully prepared!

Keep you money safe. Last but not least make sure you take something that will carry your money safely. You don’t want to arrive at a festival and lose everything on the first day (trust me we’ve been there!)

Do you often oversepend when it comes to your food budget? Why not check out our latest blog post: ‘7 Tips To Help You Beat Your Food Budget’

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