Day trips are where staycation budgets often quietly slip, so it's worth planning a mix rather than assuming every day needs an admission ticket. A coastal walk, a free stretch of beach, or a wander round a market town costs nothing beyond fuel, and mixing these in with the odd paid attraction keeps the week varied without every day carrying a ticket price.

Cost works differently too. A self-catering static caravan holiday lets holiday means you control your food spend, cooking most meals in rather than eating out for every one, which suits a longer stay or a bigger family group where restaurant bills add up fast. A hotel bundles more into the room rate but gives you less choice over how you spend each day.

Off-peak months help enormously too. School holidays and the height of summer are when demand is tightest, so a late booking in May, September or October usually has far more choice than the same search in late July. The weather isn't guaranteed either way, but a coastal or countryside break in early autumn can be genuinely pleasant, with quieter paths and shorter queues wherever you stop for lunch.

Bank holiday weekends behave the same way on a smaller scale. Even outside the main school holidays, a bank holiday weekend pulls in extra demand because it gives everyone an extra day off without using annual leave, so these particular weekends fill up faster than an ordinary one either side of them.

Footwear deserves more thought than it usually gets. Bring proper walking shoes or trainers for dunes, coastal paths and pebble beaches, sandals for round the caravan and the pool if your park has one, and something you don't mind getting wet for rockpooling or a paddle. Flip-flops alone rarely survive a full week of coastal walking.

A UK staycation can be planned around almost any budget, provided you know where the genuine savings sit and where cutting corners actually costs you more in the long run.