The steep discounts touted by group buying sites like Groupon may not always be as spectacular as advertised, but I’m now able to take more holidays than ever before, in quality accommodation, thanks to selective use of their daily deals.
Ditching a lavish annual getaway in favour of more frequent, shorter holidays can help lighten a life of frugality in austerity Britain. Group buying offers are an excellent way of executing that strategy.
Group buying works
Let’s stake out our territory.
I’m not trying to stuff your inbox full of offers for collagen facemasks or stylish ottomans. My first recommendation is you unsubscribe from those product-led, group buying emails.
What about the wider concerns? Groupon’s public image, in particular, has been battered by bad press and a rap on the knuckles from the Office of Fair Trading.
Well, personally I’ve never had a bad experience with a group buying offer – and I’ve bought plenty of them.
It strikes me that group buying is like most other forms of retail. Things can go wrong, and it can be distressing for individuals when they do.
These businesses wouldn’t be growing so fast, however, if a large proportion of their customers were being badly treated.
As ever with the new, the media has a brief window in which to exploit general ignorance with a dose of attention-grabbing fear. That may at least partly explain the rash of horror stories.
Finding a deal
The first thing to do is to sign up for the email newsletters of a couple of group buying sites. Then adjust your free subscriptions so you only get the holiday daily deals.
My favourites are:
(I still can’t quite get over a company that calls itself KGB Deals. It sounds like a false confession you might sign to avoid getting sent to the Gulag).
Once your subscriptions are sorted, you’ll get a daily dose of lovely breaks to daydream about before you start scything through another sprouting of work-related emails. (Those things grow like weeds!)
Group buying holiday deals dovetail perfectly with a frugal lifestyle because:
- Most are UK based.
- Many are two-night stays – tying in with short, frequent holiday strategies.
- Good hotel or inn accommodation is available for less than £50 a night.
- They offer a viable alternative to a camping mud bath.
Group buying holidays in practice
Mrs Accumulator and I had initially set a holiday accommodation budget of £50 a night. But once inflation kicked in, that target proved near-impossible to maintain without heading for the red lights or resorting to Travelodge blandness.
The likes of Groupon saved us from that fate. By twinning group buying deals with doing our due diligence via online reviews, we’ve visited some lovely places that would normally be way out of our price league.
I have no doubt that savvy holiday ferrets can root out equally good deals on their own, with enough research.
But group buying eliminates that faff by providing excellent suggestions without overwhelming you with choices. A little holiday moment also helps to take the edge off the daily grind every time your deals email comes through.
Just make sure you book your accommodation well in advance, and watch out for the expiry dates on your voucher.
The promise of living a little can be all you need to save a lot. With my escapist group buying holidays to look forward to, I firmly believe I can continue to fend off the occasional crisis of frugal faith.
Take it steady,
The Accumulator
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That summer has apparently come early this year demonstrates how effective passive investing is. Is that right? 🙂
I love it, and more power to you, but holidays are wants, not needs 😉 ‘holiday deals’ juxtaposed with ‘frugality’ did raise a smile!
@ Alex – Heh. Passive investing is only responsible for the sunny days of my retirement. Many years hence.
@ Ermine – hey, in my world a holiday is a need! For me frugality is about extracting maximum value from spending. If a few budget holidays keep me on an even mental keel and stop me doing something dumb like buying a HDTV the size of the Isle of Wight then they’re saving me money.
Whilst I’m definitely not a fan of Groupon, I have been pleasantly surprised by their holiday deals. I’ve found that Live Social is pretty good for holiday deals too. Secret Escapes isn’t half bad either.
If you want to get selective on what Groupon, KGB etc deals you get sent use an aggregator service like buyometric.co.uk that allows you to set filters.
@ Harri – Agreed. I’ve only just come across Secret Escapes as a result of this post.
@ Paul – Buyometric looks good. Have just signed up. Thanks very much for the link.