Hello everyone welcome back to my blog :) Hope you are all doing well! Firstly I just wanted to say a big thank you to everybody who has taken the time to read my blog and send me such lovely comments! It really means a lot to me :). 



This week I'm going to tell you how to travel the world and have fun on a budget, I personally love to travel to new places but don't always have a big budget, Now I must admit we won't be flying private nor staying in a five star hotel, But it will have priceless experiences and the downtime we all now rarely get. I visited the enchanting city of Barcelona again in march which will now be the third time I've visited I love it that much! I even spent my nineteenth birthday there and it was defiantly one of my best birthdays ever. 

Me and my friends Cassie and Arianne on our way to Dublin in April

So first things first... travel. Luckily air-travel is constantly becoming more and more affordable notably with european budget airlines such as Ryanair, Who often offer fares for as little as £1. If you are fortunate enough to have a flexible schedule and a get up and go attitude its easy to take advantage of the low fares and enjoy weekend get-aways many times a year.

For example my return flights to Barcelona in march only cost a total of £44.98, Yep.Its amazing.It's so ridiculously inexpensive that it would cost more to travel within the UK by train than to flight via another country. As Jordan cox hilariously proved when he flew from Sheffield East Midlands to Stansted London via Berlin to save money.

 courtesy of Jordon Cox, aka The Coupon Kid ©

Budget airlines charge a bloody fortune for luggage so you'll need to make do with hand luggage. Trust me if you pack strategically you'll be able to cram loads in, I pack pretty much my entire life when I go away and manage to cope just fine.

You will most probably need to be at the airport at an un-godly hour and stand in queues for what seems like a decade, Flexibility = Affordability.

NEVER BUY FOOD ON THE PLANE, Not only is budget airline food pretty gross but its always disgustingly expensive! Including drinks! So plan what you might fancy before hand cuz who doesn't love a snack ;)

Get to the front of the queue! Ryanair and a few other airlines carry the policy that only a certain number of cabin bags can be taken on the plane meaning they would need to check your bag into the hold luggage, Now although they don't charge you ( unless its over sized then they slap a fine on you -_-) It would mean that you would need to queue up yet again and claim your bag from the carousel and "aint nobody got time for dat"

DON'T FORGET YOUR BOARDING PASS! The paper might as well be made out of gold for the amount they charge for reprinting, check, check and check again!

So now that we've got your plane ticket sorted lets find somewhere to stay, Accommodation can sometimes be the most expensive part of any trip but there are a few tips and tricks to get the best deal.

Accommodation can vary quite a lot, from a shared hostel with no bathroom to 5 star luxury with chocolates on the pillow. I personally enjoy a few little luxuries so would probably go for something in the middle but by all means you do you.

Heres how to save money on your hotel to put towards a few extra cocktails on the beach...

Ask around!     There are now 100's of hotel compare sites always promising the best price, But why not give a few hotels a call in the area you are looking to stay, Let them know the price you have been offered and politely ask if they can beat it. It doesn't hurt to ask!

People really appreciate loyalty,  
So if you've stayed at a particular hotel in the past and had a good experience why not contact them and let them know how much you would love to stay there again I'm sure they could squeeze you in.

Keep an eye out for cancellations!  Cancelled rooms are a nightmare for hotels and they will do almost anything to have them filled. So check online and with the hotel directly and just see if they have any rooms they need filling you could nab a real bargain!

Phone a friend!   Now this one may seem obvious but I thought it did deserve a mention, Stay with a friend or relative! You never know they may even accept pizza as payment

And lastly, Stay mid week!   Just like with flights flexibility can work wonders, But do be vigilant with this tip as some hotels directed more towards business travellers may hike prices mid week so do some research.

So there you have it, Those are my tips from me to you hopefully you enjoyed this post and found those tips helpful! If you guys have any personal tips you use please share with us sharing is caring :)

Thanks again guys for reading my blog see you next time!

xoxo

Hey guys thanks again for popping by, Today Im going to be talking about how I make money at home and other genuine methods to make some extra cash. 

The internet is overflowing with promises of get rich quick schemes and fake work from home jobs, So it's really hard to tell who is telling the truth. I have been working from home for around 5 years now for a few different companies so heres how I personally make my money.

Taking calls from home was my first work from home job. I had been previously working in a call centre and I loved the idea of being able to work when I wanted without having to leave the house. So after a very long dredge though the internet scams I found a company called Arise Virtual Solutions. I was still even skeptical throughout the recruitment and training stages but once the first pay check came in there was no looking back.

With Arise you have complete control over which companies you service and when you service.

They always have lots of opportunities to choose from with some very famous companies.

Depending on the client you service and if you meet certain call targets. You can earn between £7-£15 per hour which is pretty decent for sitting around in your PJ's. And you don't just have to handle calls either, You can service customers via live chat and email too.

Now Arise does not directly employe you, We work on a self employed basis which means you need to join an existing independent business to be able to work, Or like I did you can create your own limited company and truly be your own boss. If any of you are interest in working for Arise Im happy to help answer any questions you have. You can email me at thejamienetwork@virginmedia.com :).

I found this company one day after having a long look around google, When I first signed up with User testing they were still quite new and unheard of but in the last few years they have really grown and have a lot more tester's. So you are basically testing websites for companies and individuals making sure they are easy to use and fully functional. You can earn an average of between £10-£15 for a 15 minute testing session which you cant really complain about. The testing is quite easy you just need to make sure you say out loud everything you are doing and comment on anything you think isn't working very well.If you prove to be a successful tester you may also be invited to test mobile apps as well which can be very lucrative. User testing are still accepting new applications so if you are interested go and check out their website :)

Another company I use to make some extra cash is Mystery Shoppers UK. Now they do not have as many opportunities as the other companies mentioned and I've only had two assignments to date, But they are a fun and easy way to legitimately make some extra cash. If you don't want to leave the house you can participate in phone shopping where you call a company and score the experience based on the criteria you have been set. The great thing about mystery shoppers is not only do they pay for your time and travel expenses but quite often you get to keep you're purchases too! They have even been known to offer test flights and holidays how great would that be, Free holiday!



So there are the ways I make some extra cash from home, If anybody knows of any other ways please share with us in the comments we'd love to hear them :) Thanks again guys for visiting my blog big hugs for you all see you next time! xoxo