How the fuck can people afford to go on holiday?

And yet we have a whole thread of people explaining how they afford holidays by being flexible, prioritising and saving.

For an abroad pretty standard tui/jet2 holiday, it’s unusual to be less that 5k. The extra child pushes us into either 2 rooms or a XL suite for which there are never free child spaces. But yes, we can and have done eurocamp and European centreparks. But I’m not sure that’s what the op was referring to.

@berksandbeyond 25k is not a good wage though! It's minimum wage! It's employers paying the absolute bare minimum to staff that they can get away with

Cress butties for lunch every day maybe, and/or staying away from alcohol and hospitality the rest of the year.

Private school fees and interest rate increases have definitely reduced our ability to spend money on holidays. We have 2DC and would love to be able to take the kinds of holidays we took when they were little (Oman, Caribbean, nice hotels in Italy and Greece). Now we usually do two Airbnb holidays a year, two weeks somewhere warm in the summer and a week in England (Lakes, Cornwall, Peak District) at Easter or October half term. Flights are paid for with miles. So the cost is just the Airbnb rental.

You could try Tunisia, eg here for £79 a night: www.airbnb.com/slink/sJtFArkk

You can fly with EasyJet to Enfidha. But it is true that flights will be expensive for 5 of you unless you're lucky, book very early or use miles.

Or drive and go to rural France? This is £72 a night: www.airbnb.com/slink/c3esjXCo

Don't have kids but have expensive taste in holidays and not massive earners.
We have a Monzo pot where every transaction is rounded up into there and everything left in joint acct after outgoings is scraped over into there at the end of the month too.

LOL....
I do not have a 6 figure salary. I am not gaming anyone's system.
Do you honestly think that only people who earn 6 figures or cheat somehow are going on holiday?

hah @CutthroatDruTheViolent I was responding to someone asking if I plan to take the children out of school for our family holiday, no school fines for 4 missed days so all good there, but honestly - even if there were a fine, we have saved £1,400 compared to going the week after so £320 fine would still make the holiday a much cheaper affair than going over the half term.

I mean, it might be a problem if you both end up being fined for both children, but ultimately, no it's not a problem.

It might be a problem for work if you're also taking that time unauthorised, but I suspect you've booked it (or will book it) as annual leave, so not really the same thing is it.

It's either the 6 figure's mums net set or people who are gaming the system who can still afford holidays.

@overbeingoverweight It's actually October we go (god knows why I said September) but yes, the holiday is 10 nights and only covers part of the half term, they will both miss 4 days of school. DH and I will also miss 9 days of work each too.
Is this a problem?

Exactly. And where you live! My wage in London would be shite but it's pretty good for where I live.

So true that everyone’s definition of that could be different depending on their background / area / peers

@tribalmango I saw a post on MN very recently where a poster said her DH was on a good wage and it was 25k

Correct answer

I think OP is a teacher.

I haven't seen people refer to MW (or National Living Wage) as ok/good; by definition, it's minimal and certainly people aren't expected to be able to save to go on holiday abroad if they are on MW.

By 'ok-ish' wage do you mean minimum wage, OP? If so, it's not an ok wage and means that your employer is just paying you the bare minimum they can get away with. Sorry, it's just a bugbear of mine on here when posters say they're on an ok/good wage and it's minimum wage.

It sounds as though your DH needs to increase his earnings and possibly you too if you're only paid minimum wage

Nothing🙄

Not sure why a swear word is required in the title.

To answer the question:

Short breaks instead of a week
Ferry or eurostar are reasonably priced
Off peak times

How old are your kids OP?

What’s wrong with that?

Son DIL and 3 have found a nice chalet in N Wales. Privately owned on a site with a heated swimming pool, slide etc. it's only a county away. Lovely lady who always lets them know when it's free of extended family visits. The price is reasonable, the area familiar. Everyone relaxes. There's a beach nearby. Nice chalet big enough for rainy days activities.

Boats are the same. Boat owners turn up with family when time and weather allow. Kids enjoy, crabbing fishing. Everyone's relaxed.

I've never been on a canal holiday but people we know love them.

So will you take kids out of school in the Sept?

You sound very sensible LoveRules, and Pembrokeshire and Cornwall are lovely, as are other places in the UK. We did both as a family a few times. I've never fancied camping but we did manage to rent quite reasonable cottages and, once, a flat, all of which were very nice. North Norfolk is lovely too.

We've decided to send our youngest to a private sixth form for the next two years and have accepted that holidays will be camping in Pembrokeshire and Cornwall for the next couple of years.

I'm lucky to have a best mate who lives in a beautiful part part of the world with a private beach and can have free accommodation there which we have just done but still spent £800 on flights/transfers/parking and another £800 on food/eating out so now questioning whether we would be able to afford this next year. Probably not.

Lots of asking Qs about what is important to us financially keeps us agreeing where we will spend or save.

I work in a volatile industry and although well paid I wouldn't want to eat into our contingency savings for holidays as have decided we need to ensure we have redundancy covered over expensive warm holidays.