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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask how much you spend on holidays per year?

113 replies

virgocatlover · 12/05/2024 17:35

I haven't been abroad in years and a bit shocked after seeing the prices these days. Even a week in a nearby European country is expensive on a budget airline.

I have family members who take 4-5 holidays/trips a year and they must be spending a fortune!

OP posts:
mondaytosunday · 12/05/2024 21:32

Until this past Christmas we have only been on a mini cruises in the last couple years - we didn't travel at all in '20 to '22. I'm trying to remember- probably £3k max? That would include kennels though and car parking, spending money.
This past Xmas we went to US. Flights £3k and about £2k while there. We stay with family .
And we are going to Spain this summer. Flights £900, car hire £400, probably £160 car park, luckily using Trustedhousesitters so no animal kennels fee. We own the house so it comes down to food/activities for two weeks. I reckon £2k. So £3600?
So if I count US trip as last year (technically I'd was as we flew back New Year's Eve) then looks like we spend £3k- £5k a year.
Maybe another £500-£1k/year on the odd short term break - we spent two nights in Durham and two nights in Glasgow for offer holder days for example, do they count? That would be £450 including train/hotel/meals each trip.
I earn £40k and have a small mortgage (until this past year also £7k in child benefit/widows parent's benefits which I really miss)!

ribeaner · 12/05/2024 21:27

Bananabreadandstrawberries · 12/05/2024 20:58

How on earth is it possible to go away for a week for so little money?

Could you break down flights/accom/food etc?

I think its online deals and cleaver planning plus poster did say she was single and childless so thats a massive price drop.
No one to look out for but herself.
I have had some good deals myself online its worth a look.

YorkNew · 12/05/2024 21:25

Last year I spent 45k on 7 trips abroad and one in the UK and this year will be just under 40k on 8 trips. That’s for two adults.

momtoboys · 12/05/2024 21:22

Normally we send 4k $ a year. This year we are traveling home to Ireland with a group of friends and that will run us close to 10k. So, this year we are spending about 14k. A lot for us.

Heatherbell1978 · 12/05/2024 21:22

Slightly less this year - £7.5k for 3 holidays (2 abroad) for family of 4 (DC 7 and 10). Normally I would budget £9/10k a year for 2 trips abroad, 3 if we can stretch it otherwise 3rd would be UK. Easter, Summer and October. That includes spending money too though.

Banana34 · 12/05/2024 21:13

Depends on the year and what deals I find! Last year we did:
Long weekend in Porto
5 nights AI in Lanzarote
7 nights AI in Tunisia
7 Nights AI in Mexico (this was my bargain - booked two weeks before we flew and paid £750 per person)
4 nights in Berlin for Christmas markets.

Limbo2 · 12/05/2024 21:12

6.5k this year to Lapland and Efteling

About another 1000 uk weekend breaks

It varies every year depending on what we do, kids aren't into typical hot beach holidays, 10 year old wants to visit Rome and 7 year old wants to go to Legoland so looking at Denmark for next year

BreakingAndBroke · 12/05/2024 21:03

£300 for a week in a caravan in Norfolk, and probably another £300 for food, entry tickets etc for days out while we were there.

Bananabreadandstrawberries · 12/05/2024 20:58

livingfreedom · 12/05/2024 17:57

I go on holiday or short breaks all through the year..
I went to spain for a week for £300 that was spending money as well.
But i dont buy stuff i go for the weather and a look about.
Went to ibiza for £230 for a week got a flash deal saw it bought it went the the following month.
Went to barcelona for £180 return flights also been for as little as £80 return.
Paris and nice less than £200.
Just search around.
My sister booked a flight for £32 to milan round trip for june fingers crossed i can get the same price.

How on earth is it possible to go away for a week for so little money?

Could you break down flights/accom/food etc?

ILoveholidays2 · 12/05/2024 20:51

I normally struggle to spend money on things like this which aren't strictly essential, but a life changing event at the end of 2021 changed our outlook and shortly after we had some good luck as my dh was promoted, which increased our income quite a bit, so that we're now comfortable, and with 3 important milestone events in 2022 we decided to really splash out.

Last year, we got a small lump sum paid out, which is just enough to cover the holidays for 2023 and 2024.

A few sets of our friends spend in the region of £30,000 to £50,000 a year on holidays every year and really prioritise them.

We aren't in that league, but we've made the most of the last couple of years.
Next year, it will probably go back to our new normal, so £2,000 to £4,000 all in, including kennels, etc.

AlexandraJJ · 12/05/2024 20:51

Very little in recent years £1000 in 2021 for 1 Welsh cottage 2 of us, £3k last year on a cottage holiday and a week at Center Parcs. Splashing out this year for 2 weeks in the sun for 3 of us £14k. No other holidays planned. I’ve missed beach holidays and hopefully more to come although not at that price.

Cornflakelover · 12/05/2024 20:47

I spent 4k on a 3 week holiday in Jan to Lanzarote it was AI for the 2 of us
but factor in kennel for dog and car parking that’s another 500
plus we took 6-700 spending money
we like to go out a for a meal few times a week even if we are AI

we are off to Futureventura for two weeks in June and that was 3k AI
with kennels and parking and spending money makes it around 4k

we have a weekend in London in August that I reckon will cost around 1k in total

and we will probably go away in Oct so probably another 3-4 k

familyissues12345 · 12/05/2024 20:42

It's very variable, but probably averages 5-6k a year on 2-3 holidays.

DH and I try and have a night away a few times a year, so that'll be another 1k+

We do love our holidays Grin

Sdpbody · 12/05/2024 20:40

It will probably be close to £10k for the year. 3 abroad holidays inc one 5* and some local places.

Lancrelady80 · 12/05/2024 20:39

Sobbing quietly in a corner at some of these amounts...many are 1/2 our annual household income! As for 80k holiday budget!!!!

We used to manage 2 x UK holiday cottage stays per year, often Oct and May half terms, at around £700 each. This year prices have gone up so much that we're only having one week away. Same cottage as stayed in at similar time of year...was £650, this year it's £1050 by time deposits and admin fees are paid.

Fortunately, like a pp, we live in a beautiful area with beaches close by (if you can get to them past the holidaymakers) and have a big garden in a quiet village.

DinnaeFashYersel · 12/05/2024 20:35

About £8k so far. One USA trip and one UK break. Hoping to go to the Caribbean later this year. That will be about £6k

Paninaro94 · 12/05/2024 20:33

Between me and DP, probably about 30k a year if you include long weekends too, but not tickets for some stuff and food when we’re away.

ILoveholidays2 · 12/05/2024 20:28

You can't really compare what others spend.

We've been on both sides of the fence as excluding the last 3 years, we could only afford 1 holiday every 5-7 years (spending about max £2,000 all in each time), apart from the odd cheap voucher offer caravan break (£50-100).

In 2022, we spent around £25,000-£30,000 on 5 holidays (2 for 3 adults and 3 for 2 adults). We went to Mexico, Greece, Malta, Turkey and Austria.

In 2022, we also spent another £1,000 to 2,000 on shorter city breaks to Germany, several UK cities and Italy, etc. The shorter breaks were all for 2 adults only.

Last year, we spent about £4,500 on 2 x 14 night holidays for 2 adults. We went to Cape Verde and the Greek Islands. We also had a few shorter city breaks to Spain, London, and Brussels. I'd estimate this cost around £2,000 extra.

This year we only have 2 trips planned, although we're now looking for a quick getaway next month for between 5 to 7 nights. The budget for this extra trip will be around £1,000 to £1,500.

We're spending £1,100 on 11 nights on yet another Greek Island. This doesn't include evening meals, etc, so we'll probably end up spending another £1,000 on top.

Our 2nd trip is long haul for 23 days. Flights and luggage are costing £2,000. We're not pre booking accommodation and will look for hotels, etc, once there.
Our budget for food and accommodation, etc, is around £3,000 to £4,000.

We tend to avoid school holidays, etc, and can take advantage of the cheaper times of year.

For the last 5 years we've had 2 large dogs and a cat which require kennels costing £60/day, which adds around £1000 to a 14 night holiday as they go away for 16-17 days.

The kennel fees (£780) for our Greek holiday are not far off the cost of the holiday itself (£1,100), and these fees aren't included in my estimates.

AlltheFs · 12/05/2024 20:22

Bluebellsanddaffodil · 12/05/2024 20:12

80k!!!

I’m not sure how much they earn but both have good careers. I’m assuming it’s in the region of £500k between them based on other outgoings and size of mortgage.
They are very lovely but have a lifestyle that is very different to ours (and we’re not poor but have a household income under £100k).

Keeva2017 · 12/05/2024 20:20

These amounts are eye watering! Surely this can’t be representative of people on average wages?

Im clearly jealous but also cheering you on, enjoy your hols!

caitlinsjoy · 12/05/2024 20:20

About £6.5k so far.

3 nights, 4 days in Disneyland Paris half-board (that came to £1,700ish). But then we had to pay for petrol, Eurotunnel, hotel in Folkestone, a hotel in France either side of our 4 days in the parks, a few lunches and snacks. Six nights away from home.

And a week-long cruise from Southampton (all food included but drinks and trips extra).

I’ve added some money to the total to cover what we paid to reflect the meals/drinks we had.

Travelling in school holidays.

No plans for the summer holidays yet but it’ll probably be staying with relatives and visiting nearby National Trust places (we’re members) and/or a few nights in Premier Inns for UK city breaks (e.g. York, Bath, etc).

So I suppose we’ll end up spending about £7k this year on everything. We’ve generally spent half that in the past as it’s unusual for us to go away twice a year.

PrincessofWells · 12/05/2024 20:13

We're away roughly 6 to 7 months of the year and you'd be surprised how little it costs us. We have a motorhome we use for 4 months in the summer. In the winter we go to Asia for 3 months. Asia costs less than 2k in flights, plus what we would normally spend wherever we are. Its so cheap there . . .

Bluebellsanddaffodil · 12/05/2024 20:12

AlltheFs · 12/05/2024 19:29

We only go every few years as don’t have the money. Last year we had 2 weeks in a lovely villa which was about £4k all in. But can’t do it annually.

Friend of mine has an annual budget for holidays of £80k. I’m a bit jealous I mist admit, they just did New York business class on a whim.

80k!!!

NoddyfromToytown2024 · 12/05/2024 20:11

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines - previously banned poster.

Bluebellsanddaffodil · 12/05/2024 20:09

Last year we spent about £3k in Spain, £2k in Cornwall. Both school holidays.

This year we are doing a big holiday outside Europe so about £6k then probably £2k on Cornwall.

All of these are school holidays.

Also a festival this year.

There are five of us - 2 adults, 3 children.