Greeny News

From Glastonbury to Reading, the costs of a weekend at your favourite music festival can mount. So make sure you can save money wherever possible

It's time to get down and dirty. The festival season gets into full swing this weekend with Glastonbury. The weather will apparently be warm and dry, but Glastonbury and rain are not strange bedfellows: it would pay to be prepared for the inevitable mudfest.

Guardian Money has listed its favourite money-saving tips and discounts to help you prepare for the weekend.

1) Book your journey in advance to save on fares. Raileasy is the official rail provider for Glastonburylist all train times and fares, ensuring you get the cheapest deal. Big Green coach is an environmentally friendly way to travel with return tickets starting at £40 from London and Manchester.

2) Forget pillows. Glastonbury is not about luxury and comfort. If you are worried about getting a cricked neck, take a pillow case and stuff it with clothes at night.

3)Make sure you choose the right tent. Millets offers 20% discount for orders before July 4 , Blacks is offering 15% off all camping essentials including tents and sleeping bags, and Littlewoods is offering £15 off first orders over £25 when you open an account.

4) Save on footwear. With a relatively dry weather forecast it would be wise to take flip-flops and wellies. Barratts is offering a 10% discount on all footwear.

5) You are likely to end up paying way over the odds if you buy your ticket from a ticket exchange website. However, Viagogo is currently offering 10% off all festival tickets.

6) Don't forget to insure your valuables. Any items lost at a festival â€" for example a mobile phone falling out of a jacket pocket â€" would be covered by your home contents insurance under personal possessions cover away from the home, often up to a specified single item limit.

However, esure points out that you need to keep valuables such as your mobile, iPod and camera on you. If you leave them in your tent and they are stolen or damaged, your insurer is unlikely to pay out.

It is worth making a note of your mobile phone's unique IMEI number (which can be found by pressing * # 06 #). You should quote this when reporting a lost or stolen phone.

Spread any unvaluable items you don't want to carry with you about your tent to make them as difficult to steal as possible.

7) Save the cost of buying a map and download Orange's GlastoNav app for your mobile, which is also available on the iPhone.

8) For cheap shorts and T-shirts, plus neon accessories, a trip to Primark is a must. Superdrug is offering a 10% discount on festival necessities such as wet wipes. Check the official Glastonbury packing list before your shopping trip.

9) Withdraw cash before you go: queues at the cash machines will be horrendous. At Glastonbury some machines, particulary those near the Jazz World and John Peel stages, charge a £2 transaction fee. We recommend £25-£30 a day â€" £5 a meal plus drinks on top.

10) Finally, possibly the best way to save money and save yourself from the crowds (according to our resident festival refusnik) is to stay at home and watch it all on television. But where's the fun in that?