Well, two things. Firstly, all my fretting about credit cards came to naught as between then and now, I was able to save like a demon and cover the costs without resorting to plastic.

Secondly, I went and did it! Yes, I sneaked off to India a couple of weeks back and returned to the UK at the weekend. I’m clinging to the fanciful notion that if I hadn’t scheduled posts before I went, you would have missed me dreadfully.

Well, the holiday lived up to its top billing. The wedding was spectacular, the scenery stunning and we got to hang out in a tea plantation (above), drink lots of cups of delicious Assam and go on an elephant safari.

There is plenty to tell you about, but in the meantime another competition is coming up…

We landed in Colorado and hired a car. Then we drove up through Wyoming (my favourite state) into Yellowstone National Park, then down through Utah and Arizona to the Mexico border, before flying out of Phoenix. We gorged on Mexican food and beautiful scenery, stayed at lots of deliciously cheap chain motels along the way and had some… interesting experiences. It was amazing.

(These are my favourite holidays: here are my 11 steps to a great thrifty roadtrip, if you missed them first time around.)

Did you miss me? Hopefully you didn’t even notice I was gone: I scheduled some posts to cover my absence.  Then not long after we arrived back in Yorkshire last week, I went down with a lurgy. As they say in Utah: darn it.

As if the sight that greeted us when we landed back at Heathrow wasn’t depressing enough!

As you know, my husband and I keep our spending firmly in check. Take our annual holiday: we will be flying out to America in October and it’s going to be another thrifty roadtrip. Credit cards? Pah! The flights were booked and paid for back in February, and now we are saving up spending money ready for when we go. Exemplary, no?

So… friend is getting married overseas in February next year and we have been invited. It isn’t the first time this has happened: we have had a number of such invitations over the past few years and up until now we always declined them, albeit with regret, because it was difficult to justify a jolly to Southeast Asia or Scandinavia or wherever when we were scrimping to pay down debt.

Here’s the rub. This time it’s my very dear friend L and her wonderful fiance getting married, an amazing opportunity to spend two weeks exploring a beautiful part of India and a great deal… and I really want to go. However the flights have to be booked and paid for in the next four months. As for spending and accommodation: with this trip scheduled so soon after our holiday in America and the Christmas break, there is fat chance that we would be able to save enough before went. We are thrilled to have been invited but if we go, this trip will be going straight on the never-never card.

So what would you do?

In the interests of disclosure, I should point out that L is also having a wedding ceremony in England next summer. So although I wouldn’t miss her wedding for the world, if we don’t go to India we won’t miss out on her special day(s) altogether.

As for India: L’s family is from Assam, in northeastern India. Tourism is a growing industry there, but it’s no Goa.  L loves the place and it does sound incredible. Read the lavish Wikipedia description and you’ll see what I mean.

L and her mum have secured a very good deal on flights and compiled a fabulous itinerary, which includes:

First and foremost, L’s wedding! (Note: this picture is not her actual wedding!)

A visit to the family tea plantation. I’m a tea freak: this part makes my heart do a happy little skip.

Elephant safari!

A cruise on the Brahmaputra

(If we’re lucky.)

Also, a detour to visit the Taj Mahal on the way home.

I really want to see L get married, it’s a great deal and a once-in-a-lifetime experience… but but BUT! Should I, just this once, throw caution to the wind?

Help! I know what I want to do and I know what I should do. So what would you do?

UPDATE: Gosh, well you lot certainly helped me make my mind up! Thanks for all your comments – they were really helpful. The upshot is…(drumroll)…We’re going!

Image credits: Migraine Chick, appaji, Diganta Talukdar, DraconianRain, Tarek Salahuddin, brian.gratwicke, ToOliver2.

South of the Watford Gap?

If you are in or around London at 6:30 pm on Thursday 24 February, stylist Hannah J is running a Make Do and Mend workshop on Brick Lane. The tickets are £25 each, which I thought sounded a bit dear as you can get a whole new outfit from TK Maxx for that price, but as it turns out you get quite a lot of bang for your buck (in addition to plenty of tea and cake). You get lots of tips and advice; also, you take three “tired” garments with you and are helped to transform them during the course of the workshop. Further information is available here.

Venue: 26 Osborn Street, London, E1 6TD

Bookings: www.hannahj.bigcartel.com

Event Contact: hannah@hannah-j.com, 07842 918901

North of the Watford Gap?

Visit York got in touch to ask if I’d spread the news about their latest mini-break offer. It is called See You In York and gives you an extra night at participating hotels and B&Bs for free.  So if you book two nights you get three nights, if you book three nights you get four and so on. You also get a free bottle of Yorkshire wine. See their website for details. I only live down the road so shan’t be taking up this offer, but can vouch that York (above) is a Very Nice City. I can’t vouch for “Yorkshire wine” though…

So what are you still doing sitting at this computer then? Go on – shoo!

Image credit: whereareyousimon.

Some of the rooms are going for £10 for one night; others are going for £10 for an extra night; others are going for £10 for a third night. The accommodation on offer includes celeb haunt 42 The Calls, and the serviced apartments at Roomzzz Central.

If you aren’t familiar with the city: do check the location of your chosen hotel, as some of the places taking part are quite a way out of the city centre. If you’re coming by car, please note that you will get totally and utterly lost somewhere inside Leeds’ notorious one-way system.

Reasons to visit Leeds, apart from shops and that: on the doorstep of Bronte country, within sniffing distance of the Yorkshire Dales, um… museums and galleries. Nightlife. Victoriana (as above). A really good T.K. Maxx, where yours truly purchased a silk Ronit Zilkha frock for £25 at the weekend. Although I appreciate that T.K. Maxx isn’t a bona fide visitor attraction. Oh yes: and lots of free stuff!

Order a brochure and you will also be entered into a competition to win a weekend at the Thorpe Park Hotel & Spa.

Image credit: Eric The Fish.

Summer is upon us. It’s a great season for spending more time with the family. Many people use this downtime to explore their own towns and to enjoy events in the area that they normally don’t get to visit. Unfortunately, this can lead people to spend more money in the summer than the do during other times of the year.

Follow these tips for reducing summer activity costs:

1. Make a summer activity budget. Knowing how much money you actually can afford to spend will allow you to get the summer off to a good financial start and to keep it that way.
2. Create a calendar of free events. Find out when all of the free events are in your area and build your summer activities around those. This may include music in the park, outdoor movie nights, street festivals, farmers’ markets and free admission days for museums.
3. Make a list of free activities. In addition to your free events calendar, you should have a list of free summer activities that you can enjoy whenever the kids start complaining that they’re bored. This list includes things like going to the pool, photographing the neighborhood or visiting the pet store. Brainstorm a list at the start of summer so you’ll always have something free to do.
4. Eat at home. So many families waste money by picking up meals while they’re out having fun. Eat at home. Pack snacks and lunches to go with you. Use your money for better things.
5. Enjoy cheap activities at home. There are so many affordable kids’ activities for summer. Drawing on the pavement with chalk, affordable crafts, looking for ladybugs, playing with water balloons and going to the playground are all options that cost very little and keep the kids entertained.

By keeping your summer activity costs low, you’ll be able to enjoy a wide variety of different family adventures without having regret when the summer is over and the bills come due.

www.promotionalcodes.org.uk/frugal-blog

Image credit: Porcelaingirl.

Ah Paris, Paris, how je t’adore! Even though I speak French like Del Boy.

This competition has been organised by Paris Ile-de-France Tours, and you can enter by visiting the competition page and filling out your details. You also have to answer some questions, but they aren’t very difficult as, erm, every question also contains a link to the correct answer.

The prize draw is only open until Sunday (21 December), so get in there quick!

The winner gets a long weekend in the city, which includes the following:

• A return ticket by train from London to Paris.

• One night at the Hôtel Everland… on the roof of the Palais de Tokyo!

• One night in a three-star Accor group hotel.

• A cruise dinner on the Bateaux Parisiens on the Seine.

• Tickets to this winter’s great exhibition events: Picasso and the masters at the Grand Palais national galleries, Gainsbourg 2008 at the Cité de la Musique and the Sonia Rykiel Exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.

• Two Paris Museum Passes to explore more than 60 museums and monuments in Paris Ile-de-France: the Château at Versailles, the Saint-Denis cathedral basilica, the Musée d’Orsay on the Quai Branly, etc.

Note that the organisers have stipulated the weekend on which the winner’s holiday is to take place: 31 January 2009 to 2 February 2009.

Also, this competition is for UK residents, but there are two accompanying competitions for residents of other European countries.

A competition for residents of France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland is here.

A competition for residents of Germany and Switzerland (yes, the Swiss get two shots) is here.

SKY Travel is running a competition to win a week’s holiday in “one of the best ski and snowboard destinations in the world”.

The winner and his/her guest gets to stay in the Banff Caribou Lodge and Spa in the Canadian Rockies. The prize also includes return flights to Calgary from London Heathrow, car hire, ski lift passes and equipment rental. 

To enter, fill out this form at the SKY Travel website. To enter, you must be a UK resident aged 18 or over.

The closing date is 20 December 2008.

Like M&S, Debenhams is going big on sales and heavy discounts in the run-up to Christmas. Check out the Debenhams website for the full range of offers.

I’m looking for new luggage at present: it’s horribly expensive and up until now, we’ve been the grateful recipients of our parents’ cast-offs. (Why do parents buy so much luggage?) However, the old case that I dragged off to America decided to divorce its trolley handle en route; hauling the thing around four states was most irksome. Lesson learned…

…So the Debenhams suitcase above, which weighs 3.2 kg and stands 42 cm high, has caught my eye. It has been reduced from £110.00 to an extremely attractive £20.00. Perfect!

Heck, even the gas stations were scenic!