Dreaming of a luxury holiday after all your hard work? But how can you get that luxury break on a shoestring? Read our top tips below to help.

If you are flexible, then take advantage and look for cheap last minute deals. Look just before. or just after, school holidays. June and September are great times for long haul bargains, as well as great value breaks in the Med. We saw Florida flights advertised for an unbelievable £69 this September.

October, November, January and February are also months to look out for superb holiday deals.

If, like us, you have children, and are stuck with school holidays, then our advice is to book early. If you are looking for long haul flights, book 11 months in advance for the best prices. If you want to splash out on a cruise, again booking early will ensure you get the cabins you need (3 and 4+ cabins are few and far between even on the largest cruise ships), and you will be able to take advantage of the early booking discounts, which can be as high as 45%+.

If you are looking to the Med. for your holiday, then free child places can help to ease the burden of the high prices in school holidays, but again, there aren't many- and so our advice again is book early.

Hotels can be difficult if you have 3 or more kids. If the expense of two rooms is just too much, think about a private villa, or apartment. If the thought of cooking all through your holiday is too much, just make sure that your self catering accommodation is within easy reach of restaurants. If, like me, you don't mind cooking, make sure you have a shop or two handy.

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Take advantage of the Sales

Now the kids are back at school, the end of the year seems to come from no where. And with it comes a host of festivals and celebrations, including Hanukah, Diwali, Ramadan and Christmas.

Gift giving is often part and parcel of religious festivals. If you have a large number of people to provide gifts for, it can be a very expensive time of year.

If you are really organised, like a friend of ours called Sue, you will plan your gifts a year in advance, taking advantage of the sales through the year, and the early bird bargains. She has a special hiding place at home, and is convinced that the money she saves through the year is the spending money they take on their summer holiday. The theory sounds great, but how does she do it?

Sue tells us that she starts off in the January sales. She always leaves the kids at home with her partner, or her mum, and she does her research before she goes to the shops. She uses the internet to check when sales will be starting, or she'll telephone the store and ask, if the date isn't advertised. She'll make a list of items she's interested in, again using the internet, or a store catalogue. January sales are good for toys and gadgets. She also buys winter clothes like jumpers and coats for children- adding one year to their current size.

She tells us that she is quite focused. She knows who she is buying for, and so doesn't end up with a load of cheap presents but with no one to give them to. Sue always sets a budget, because she said she found she spent too much on 'bargains' when she first started sale shopping.

Sue also buys goodies such as chocolates, that will be in date by end February, and party bag gifts, as she has a birthday party in January and one in February to organise.

Spring and summer sales she finds are good for clothes and household gifts for the adults. Again she does her research by keeping an ear out for what her family and friends would like, and checks out the sale dates and goods on offer. She sets a budget again, and lists birthday gifts and christmas gifts she will buy.

Sue tells us that she spends around £1150 per year on gifts, but the total of these if she bought them at full price would be nearer to £2600- that's a huge saving of £1450- and a tidy sum for holiday spending money!