Cheap accommodation
Travel Inn and Travelodge both provide nationwide budget family accommodation. With 300 locations, Travel Inn (starting at £45 per night for a family-sized room) offers free breakfasts for children. See www.travelinn.co.uk and www.travelodge.co.uk for more information.

Among a growing number of low-cost (but clean and friendly) backpackers' hostels is St. Christopher's Inn. Its latest location - in the centre of historic Bath - costs as little as £12 per night. Others can be found in London, Edinburgh and coastal resorts such as Brighton and Newquay. Visit www.st-christophers.co.uk for a full listing.

More than 60 British universities and colleges provide excellent budget accommodation. This is often in central locations and, thankfully, is plentiful during peak holiday periods when the students are away. Bed and Breakfasts costs from £14 per person per night (£20 for an en-suite room). Go to www.venuemasters.co.uk to find out more.

Getting around
National Express, Britain's main long distance coach operator, is one of your best bets for cheap travel. They've just cut ticket prices in half for those aged 60 or over. The offer (also applies to people registered as disabled) is available every day except Friday and summer Saturdays. Other age groups (those aged 16-25, students and over 50s) can enjoy a 30 per cent saving by buying a Discount Coachcard, which costs £10. To find out more, go to www.nationalexpress.com

If you want to travel by train, you need to book in advance to get cheap tickets. Planning just two weeks ahead can halve the cost of your ticket. For more information on cheaper train fairs, visit www.nationalrail.co.uk

The amount of internal flights in the UK has increased dramatically over the last five years. If you're planning to travel longer distances, flying may be your cheapest option. Ryanair flies to 14 destinations in Britain for as little as £1. Again, you need to book in advance and be reasonably flexible about when you travel in order to take advantage of the super-cheap offers.

Economic entertainment
London, of course, has a marvellous range of theatre throughout the year. Visit the 'Tkts' ticket booth in Leicester Square, or check out their website for bargain seats. You can get tickets for up to half-price on a wide range of shows if you book on the day of performance, but don't expect all the big musicals to be available in this way. Both the National Theatre, on the South Bank, and the Coliseum (English National Opera) offer cut-price tickets from 10am on the morning of performances.

The National Theatre has an annual summer festival of outdoor performances - all free. In 2003 it ran from mid-May until 25th August and encompassed 75 varying acts at lunchtimes and evenings. Further along the river, you can watch a Shakespeare play at the replica Globe Theatre for £5 as a 'groundling' - you'll be close to the stage but don't expect a seat for that price!

For more cheap deals on theatre, comedy, dance and musicals across the UK, go to www.lastminute.com

Free museums
Admission to Britain's great collections - from the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert, the Science and Natural History museums to the smaller Theatre Museum in Covent Garden - is now free. Admission is also gratis to the capital's big art galleries: Tate Modern, Tate Britain, the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery among them. Outside the capital, the story is the same at the National Railway Museum, York; the Burrell Collection and Glasgow's other magnificent museums; the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, Newcastle - all among the best museums of their kind, and all free.

Liverpool, the fascinating port-city in North-West England (to be European Capital of Culture in 2008) has modern art at the Tate Liverpool, and maritime history (including details of the slave trade and emigrants who set sail for the New World from here) at the Merseyside Maritime Museum: both are free.

To the east, Manchester has a stylish new arts centre, the Lowry in Salford, its theatres and galleries provide a year-round schedule of special events - many of them free. Its new Imperial War Museum, housed in a landmark aluminium-clad building by Daniel Libeskind, is also free.

Visit the museum finder for a full listing of UK museums.

Moment of fame
If you love your celebrity gossip and are a TV addict, why not take your hobby one step further? Rather than simply watching it, you can actually appear on the small screen - for free. Many of your favourite TV shows want people to come along as part of their studio audience. It's a fun day out and a great way to satisfy your lust for fame!

For more information on how to get your five-minutes of fame, visit www.freeukstuff.com

Free makeovers
You don't have to go far afield for a fun afternoon out. If you want to freshen up your look, take the day off and go to one of your local department stores - many of the beauty counters provide free makeovers. All you have to do is go in and make an appointment. They may try and persuade you to buy the products, but don't feel pressured. Although most of the big brands will give you a makeover for free, some of them - Mac and Bobby Brown for example - will charge a small fee for the consultation and makeover, but that fee will be deducted from any products you choose to buy. It's a great way to take time out from the rest of your life for a bit of pampering, without spending any money.

Free stuff in your area

For your free FordFiesta Freedom brochure, test drives and for more information go to www.fiestafreedom.co.uk.