Activities, shopping, restaurants, bank charges... How to spend less without depriving yourself on vacation

To save money, it's important to plan carefully. Before you leave, make a specific budget with an allowance for meals, one for activities, and one for indulgences. It's also a good idea to make a list of the activities you want to do, in order of preference. If your budget gets a little tight, you can always skip the activities that came last. Booking before you leave can save you money. Once you're there, make sure you visit the Tourist Office. It's a great source of information and tips.

If you're heading to a touristy area, you know everything will be more expensive. So it's best to do your shopping before you leave at your usual supermarket, at least for rice, pasta, and canned goods. And for fresh produce, take advantage of local produce markets.

Of course, that doesn't stop you from treating yourself to a few restaurants. But on vacation, we keep the good habits of the rest of the year, using apps to find a cheap table. TheFork will give you restaurants near you, validated by users, with discounts of up to 50%. Or Lastable will allow you to find an available table at the last minute, with a discount between 10 and 50%. It's more interesting for the restaurant owner to have you come in and pay less than to leave a table empty.

Outside of Europe, you may incur fees every time you withdraw money or make purchases with your bank card. To limit these fees, you can check with your bank to see what they offer. But you can also avoid them altogether by opening an account with an online bank with no fees . For example, Boursobank, Revolut, or N26, even if you only use it for the summer. You can put your vacation budget into this account; it will help you stick to it since you'll see the account empty as you go.

Also, beware of phone charges abroad. Consider purchasing a suitable plan before leaving or turning off data roaming in your phone's settings menu. Otherwise, you risk finding a hefty bill when you return from vacation.