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Allow me to recount a familiar tale. You've just realised that summer is fast approaching and, after days of elaborate WhatsApp negotiation between various groups of mates, you agree which festival to go to.
First hurdle crossed, and you now have to get your head around the huge amount of money you've just committed to spending. The manic scraping around for cash is only intensified by Agitated Mate, who is panic-messaging the group chat about the festival having sold out by this time last year, and Bossy Mate, who's texting to say she's not going through with the group purchase on the tickets until everyone (even you, Stingy Mate!) has sent her the full amount. Sod's law: the gang spent so long arguing about which festival to attend that you've already missed out on the option to pay in instalments. You wave goodbye to food and your utility bills for a few weeks, transfer the money and avoid looking too closely at your bank statement for a while.
Worth it? Absolutely. There's no substitute for the magic of being at a festival. But let's not forget that the financial burden doesn't stop at the ticket stage, or even when you're pre-booking transport. You've got to get through each day as well and when you've already spent about £200 on getting through the gates, it's a bit of a bitter pill to swallow. Especially if you and your bank account are not prepared for the hit.
Lucky for you, Refinery29's most avid festival-goers have been there, done that and destroyed their bank balances in the process. We paid for upgrades we really didn't need, naively took perishable snacks all the way to Glastonbury's well-trodden fields and have had to abandon full cans of cider that were pretty much mulled by the sweltering hot third day. We've compiled some of our expert(ish) advice on how to get by when you're really rubbish with money because, let's face it, you'll plan to stick to a budget in the weeks before and still manage to turn up with far less than you thought you'd have anyway.
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