It’s perfectly normal to look at your bank account after a night out and wonder whether it was really worth it and one mum clearly was thinking along the same lines.
Nichola Stafford decided against having a trip to her local pub last week and instead opted instead for a short trip out to a Spanish island in sweltering temperatures.
The 44-year-old from Astley, in Greater Manchester, jetted off to the Canary Islands with her niece, Lily-Mae, at 5.45am on Thursday 9 November.
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Nichola flew out with just a large handbag, which contained a bikini, towel, battery pack and a bottle of suncream. She changed from her leggings into shorts mid-flight.
Flying to Lanzarote from Liverpool John Lennon Airport, the return Ryanair flights cost just £45.
The mum-of-three said the day outing cost them £86 each in total, which included flights, food and cocktails. According to Nichola, she would spend more than this on a Saturday evening spent at the pub back home.
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When the pair arrived in Lanzarote, they took a bus to Puerto del Carmen where they checked out the shopping mall and then headed to the beach.
After sunbathing for a couple of hours, the pair enjoyed tapas and a jug of sangria at a beach bar before sneaking into a nearby hotel to use their facilities for free.
They then spent two hours exploring the hotel and sunbathing by the pool.
After catching some more sun, Nichola and Lily-Mae took a taxi back to the airport at 4pm and checked into a lounge where they watched the sunset and enjoyed a last cocktail before catching a flight home at 7:15pm.
Nichola said the pair landed back at Manchester Airport around 11pm and were in bed by midnight.
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Along the way, Nichola used a series of ingenious hacks to save money on her trip abroad.
Explaining how they sneaked into a fancy hotel without being guests, she said: "After enjoying tapas and a jug of sangria, we were walking along the beach front and we approached a hotel that looked really nice.
"I needed the toilet so we walked up to the reception and there was a security man.
"We just said 'Hola' and pretended we were a resident [at the hotel].
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"We went in and explored the hotel and relaxed on the sun loungers. We just told other guests [in the hotel] that we had just arrived.
"We stayed in the hotel for two hours enjoying the facilities. It was a beachfront hotel so it had really nice scenery and we just sunbathed under the palm trees.
"We attempted to go in the pool but it was freezing. Nobody was in the pool so we just sunbathed."
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The pair also enjoyed some more comfort for no extra cost at the airport.
Nichola said: "When we got back to the airport, we checked into an airport lounge as I have a Revolut card and you get three hours free in there.
"We sat on the terrace, watched the sunset and enjoyed a last cocktail and some sushi."
Nichola described the trip as ‘absolutely gorgeous’, with temperatures hitting 32 degrees. She has booked another holiday to the Canary Islands next month. This time she will be on her own, exploring more of the islands.
Nichola has urged others to follow her example. She has claimed her days off from her job as a rapid response healthcare worker would normally be spent on tidying up. Meanwhile, a trip out to the local pub would end up costing her more.
She said: "I tell people to just book the day trips. Life's too short not to, and I'd spend more than £86 in my local pub at the weekend.
"It's definitely worth it. I booked the trip two days before we went.
"I would normally spend my days off work cleaning and doing housework, preparing tea and taking my kids to and from school. It was nice to escape from mum duties for the day."
In a similar story earlier this month, a mum flew kids to Italy for just 24 hours to get pizza as it was cheaper than trip to London.
Jamie Greer