Prebikini defuzz: £50. Last-minute airline ticket: £250. Shopping spree based on miscalculated exchange rate: too embarrassing to mention.

Priceless holiday feeling? Hardly.

Save money while you travel with the help of Ivy Lettings. The trustworthy family-run lettings company will rent out your house for a minimum of three nights — whether it’s a studio or a four-bedroom — to respectful tourists visiting London (mostly 50-somethings from New Zealand, South Africa or Australia).

Simply hand over the keys, sign on the dotted line, and they organize the rest. Professional cleaners make space in the fridge and cupboards. The same team goes back in before your return to put everything back exactly the way it was. You can earn enough to really splash out on your holiday.

Making for favourable home economics.

Ivy Lettings (020 7603 4417 or ivylettings.com).