Saving tips for trips

A reply to a post earlier about spending all your money setting up the 4WD and not having enough left for actual holidays got me thinking that this was a worthwhile subject because most of us (presumably) don't have an endless supply of $$$. So how do we all save for trips, particularly big ones???

Because neither my husband or I get holiday pay we not only have to find the money for the trip itself, we've also got to ensure the bills at home are covered for the time we are away. This is what we do:
1) Pay extra into the mortgage to cover payments when away using the redraw facility. This is better than putting the money in the bank because we save on interest and there's no risk of us dipping into these savings.
2) All year around we put every bit of coin (gold & silver) into a sealed can-type money box. It adds up very quickly. I open it just before each trip and there's usually enough to pay for special holiday treats such as a camel ride on Cable Beach, scenic flight etc.
3) As soon as we have some idea when we'll be away, I start buying holiday consumables such as food & grocery items and hoarding them ready for our trip. Early on I buy the non-food items and canned food, then long life food and lastly things like biscuits that have a shorter useby date. Buying a few extra items each week with the normal grocery shop is barely noticable. By the time we're ready to head off all I need to buy is fresh food such as fruit & vege and meat. For a family of four, already having 3-4 weeks grocery shopping bought and paid for before the trip is worth $650-$900 in the bank.

So, that's our technique. Anyone else out there got some good saving idea's?

:o) Melissa