Hotels: book direct or through a comparison site?
Booking sites are good for searching and sometimes for prices. Direct booking often wins on flexibility and perks. How to check both in ten minutes.
Money-Saving, Travel and Food editor
Tomas Reyes
Tomas covers Money-Saving, Travel and Food & Drink: how discounts are built, what a trip really costs and how to cook for the week. Tomas is a Wordzex house pen name.
Articles by Tomas
Your rights when an online order goes wrong: returns, refunds and chargebacks
A quick guide to cancelling, returning and disputing an online purchase in the UK and US. General information, not legal advice.
Five fridge habits that cut food waste without much effort
Most waste comes from forgotten leftovers and wrong storage. Small changes to how you arrange and label the fridge help.
Pantry staples that are worth buying in bulk, and the ones that aren't
Bulk buying only saves money on food you will finish. A short list of what keeps, what doesn't and how to check the unit price.
Better coffee at home: grind, water and ratio
Before you buy a more expensive machine, fix the three things that change flavour most. They cost almost nothing.
Batch cooking a week of lunches in about two hours
One base, three sauces and a tray of vegetables make five different lunches. The method, the containers and the food safety rules.
Travel insurance: what to check before you buy a policy
Policies differ more in what they exclude than in what they list. Medical cover, pre-existing conditions and gadget limits are the lines to read first.
Subscribe and save: the maths of when it pays off
A 20 percent subscription discount only helps if you would have bought the product anyway. How to work out the real saving and avoid the traps.
Is the sale price real? Four checks before you buy
A crossed-out price proves nothing. Compare sellers, track the price over time and read the small print on "was" prices.
The true cost of a cheap flight: bags, seats and the journey to the airport
A low base fare can end up costing more than a full-service ticket. A short method to compare like with like.
How promo codes actually work, and why so many of them fail
A code that "doesn't work" usually isn't broken. It is expired, limited to certain products or one use per customer. Here is how to tell what is going on.
A carry-on-only packing list that works for a week or a month
Packing light saves baggage fees and time at the airport. A method that scales, and the things people over-pack.