MSE’s Money Tips New energy fixes, free McDonald's, 20GB Sim £4/mth, cheapest ways to spend abroad, free £25 cashback

Max the bang for your buck (or baht) this summer

8 travel money must-knows - so you don't overpay to pay abroad 

Including FREE £175 'spending money', top cards for you & the kids, cheap euros and more...

Schools are out, summer's here (even if the sun isn't) and many are heading overseas for a well-deserved break. So while you may have picked the perfect destination, it pays to pick the perfect way to spend overseas - rocking up to the airport with the wrong card or no cash can cost you dearly. Just see what $1,000 costs through different payment methods:

Excludes cashback. Card costs calculated as 5 x $100 ATM withdrawals and 20 card transactions.

So if you've yet to sort your spending money, here are our last-minute travel money must-knows...

1. Play your cards right for the cheapest way to spend abroad. Spend in a foreign currency on most plastic and while the banks get a near-perfect exchange rate, they charge us a 3% non-sterling exchange fee, so £100 worth of euros/dollars etc costs £103. Yet top specialist overseas cards don't add this, giving you the same near-perfect rates as the banks. And you've a few options...

• FREE £175 spending money and a specialist card. If you're willing to switch bank right now, there's a double winner with First Direct*. It gives you one of the top free cash offers and near-perfect rates for spending abroad (though you can beat this a smidge with a few of the best spending cards listed below).

  
  Other perks include a linked 7% regular saver and a £250 0% overdraft for many. Full info including key eligibility criteria in Best bank accounts.

• The TOP specialist cards for spending abroad. If you don't want to switch bank, there are three cards vying here - the reason they're top is that two give cashback, the other lets you lock in a rate before you travel. So let's compare their key benefits...

Which wins? Chase is the standout here - it's easy to get and offers unbeatable cashback on spending in the UK and overseas. But with a £1,500/mth ATM withdrawal limit, it's not the best if you want to take out larger sums of cash.

With Barclaycard, you just use it and get billed later (and remember to pay it off IN FULL). It also gives Section 75 spending protection, so if you're buying important things abroad costing over £100, this is stronger protection than Chase, which only has the lesser chargeback (which Barclaycard has as well).

Revolut has more caveats. You can lock in an exchange rate in advance, which is near-perfect Monday to Friday and on £1,000/mth (there's a 1% fee on weekends or £1,000+). Though you can beat this by loading the card with pounds in advance and exchanging on a weekday.

• Left it too late to get a new card? If you're travelling imminently, First Direct may not work as it takes 30 days to get the free switching cash, while a credit card can take up to two weeks to get after application. But Chase and Revolut require no credit check and give virtual cards you load on to your smartphone via Apple or Google Pay so you can use instantly (you can avoid Revolut's £4.99 card delivery fee doing this, too). Just make sure you can pay contactlessly and won't need to withdraw cash.
  
  The cards above are only marginally better than some of the other specialist cards, such as Santander Zero, Monzo and Starling, and some Virgin Money and NatWest credit cards. If you've already got one (check yours), don't feel you need to switch.

2. Want cash for budgeting? TravelMoneyMax compares 16+ bureaux in seconds. The top cards above are usually the best way to spend overseas, and these days cards are much more widely accepted. However some people prefer cash in their pockets, and find it helps them budget.

If you do want cash, the cheapest bureau depends on what currency you want and how much, and changes by the hour. Our TravelMoneyMax tool quickly compares 16+ bureaux to find you the best rate for delivery or collection. Here's what €1,000 costs in cash vs a big high-street name (rates correct Tue 1 Aug):

• Via cheapest bureau for delivery (including delivery costs): £865
• Via cheapest bureau for collection (in London): £868
• Click & collect cash from M&S on the high street (non-cardholders): £873
• Walk-up cash from M&S on the high street (non-cardholders): £888

3. Travelling outside the EU? Beware these debit cards... Most debit cards add a 3%-ish load on the exchange rate, but some ALSO add a charge each time you spend outside of the EU (plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), so buy something for a fiver and you can pay £6.65 for it. These are the worst cards to use in the USA and elsewhere. See our card-by-card overseas charges calc to find out how much your cards cost. The main offenders are:

Bank of Scotland (50p) | Halifax (50p) | Lloyds (50p) | TSB (£1)

4. Top cards for under-18s to spend on abroad. With fewer using cash to spend abroad, it's tougher to give children spending money. The solution is kids' UK prepaid cards, where you (or they) load up money to spend. These also often let you set spending limits and monitor via apps too.

Some offer near-perfect exchange rates. You should get the rate on the day you spend. Full info in Top kids' travel cards, but some of the main ones that do are...

- HyperJar* is FREE, though it doesn't allow ATM withdrawals.

- Nationwide's FlexOne is a fee-free bank account debit card for 11 to 17-year-olds, but doesn't have monitoring facilities like other cards.

- GoHenry* is the most well-known brand, costs £4/mth, but go via that link and you get 6mths free, so you could get it for hols and cancel later if you're not using it. Or if you already pay for a Starling Kite* card, it also has near-perfect exchange rates.

- If parents/guardians are a customer, Revolut <18* can be opened for free (£4.99 delivery fee). NatWest Rooster Money is similar, but its fee-free foreign spending is only on up to £50/mth.

5. What you should say when they ask: "Do you want to pay in pounds?" This is now very common, both at overseas cash machines and in stores - they'll pressure you to pay in pounds, but is it the right thing to do?

In short, the answer's NO. See Martin's 'Pay in pounds?' video & blog to find out what to do and why.

6. Beware cash machines' own fees. When we talk about fees for withdrawing cash above, we're talking about fees charged by card providers. But it's becoming more common for the actual cash machine to charge you too.

There's no way around this - but don't assume all ATMs charge the same. While making a film on this for his ITV show, Martin found cash machines within 200 metres of each other ranging from a €2 fee to a €7 fee, so it's best to try a few.

Also check whether your UK bank operates ATMs abroad. Santander doesn't charge its customers for using its overseas ATMs, while Chase doesn't charge for using its ATMs in the US.

7. Don't use a credit card to buy cash or load a prepaid card. Most credit card providers count these as a cash transaction - and thus charge fees and interest. It's always better to use a debit card if you can. More info in don't buy travel cash with a credit card.

8. Withdrawing cash abroad on a credit card could be a pain for your credit record. On the right card it's cheap, but there may be a possible minor impact on your ability to get credit in future. See why in credit card ATM withdrawals.