How do people pay for a holiday? Decent income and can’t afford it?

We have similar income to you but much small mortgage and childcare bills so that's the difference I think. In a few years you will have that childcare money to pay for amazing holidays, it's a huge amount!

Our solution was camping. We bought a 20-year-old folding camper (easier to tow and store than a caravan but all the same facilities inside) for £1600 and had lots of lovely holidays in summer and half terms. Did us for a good few years and then we sold it on to another family so they could have adventures with their kids.

Definitely. We stayed in a 3 bed semi even after various promotions. So we could have afforded a mortgage for a 4 bed detached but didn’t want to. Likewise we’ve always paid cash for fairly old cars. It’s meant we’ve had enough disposable income each month for days out, some nice holidays, etc.

and before promotions and when we still had childcare bills we camped every year.

I think it's just a spendy or save-y mindset. Day out to a farm with a visit to the cafe is £60. Or find a free woodland/park/beach and bring a flask and sandwiches.

You have high fixed outgoings but if you track your spending and change your mindset you will find ways to save.

Its this, I can easily afford a holiday. In the past at the same point in life as the OP maybe not.

When our childcare costs were that high we did Butlins/haven/parkdene holidays in the uk. We are taking the kids abroad for the first time this year as we now have much lower childcare costs. However I do know people who stick it on the credit card and have more costly abroad holidays and just pay it off over the year.

Well.... people have different priorities, plus you are at a very expensive stage. When the kids were little and in childcare we had camping holidays. We have never prioritised cars or tech. Dh and I have never bought a new car or car on finance and we bought our first ever new TV 6 months ago (been gifted used by friends and family previously). We cycled to work (city) and when we finally really needed a car the other person cycled and used kiddy seats to cycle them to childcare. The car we have now is only the second car we have ever owned (and we are early 50's), we drove the last one into the ground and fully intend to do the same with this one. We put up with a leaky cold house in the childcare years because it wasn't the priority....We did still manage an annual holiday and actually mostly 'abroad' (cheap ferry to France, being prepared to drive and using municipal campsites).
On the car front cars these days are so much more reliable for years and years you be much better off taking a loan and spending 3k on a used car that will run for the next 5 years or more than the eye watering monthly payments......

It’s a question of priorities really. You are prioritising certain things over holidays.

Firstly, your two expensive cars.

Secondly, whatever you’re spending that £1k on every month.

You aren’t doing anything wrong. It’s your money to spend as you wish. But there will be people who, with the same income and fixed outgoings as you, would cut back in areas you choose not to so that they can prioritise holidays.

But if you do that every week, that's £240 a month. Add it up over a year and that's almost £3000 which would easily get you a holiday abroad.

When I was little, "big" days out like that were something we did once per school holiday - it certainly wasn't any kind of regular occurrence. Normal weekends would be spent at the local park, or going for a bike ride, or playing at home in the garden. You don't need to spend £60 on entertainment if you don't want to.

When we were in the expensive childcare years we did UK holidays such as camping, going to stay with friends/ relatives in different parts of the country and doing days out. We house sat for a friend who lives by the sea. Some friends of ours did house swaps when their kids were little.

It does get easier as the kids get older

You are at an expensive time of life and have large outgoings.

Having said that, there are many many UK holiday cottages available in UK outside school holidays for well under £1000 for a week.
Editing just read you have only 1 DC - Assuming they are under 5 there are approx 800 Jet2 holidays available in first week of May for under £1000 also.

So it's a combination of existing commitments, priorities and knowing how/where to find a cheap holiday that will work for you.
We prioritise holidays over everything else - if I were you I would have cheaper days out, stay local to save petrol and take a packed lunch instead of buying food - you only need to find £20 each week and you'll have a week in the sun. Find £30 pounds each week and you have have a separate week away in UK as well.

We are public sector workers. Ten years ago we had private villa holidays. Our salaries have not kept with inflation and we have kids in uni. Now I have a very good tent and a roof rack and have brilliant holidays with the youngest DC. It’s cheaper to drive to Europe and camp than it is to stay in the UK.

Not sure from your breakdown where food costs are, but assuming you have £1k a month left for spends after food shopping, book the holiday and pay £400 a month to the holiday company. Butlins, Haven and Hoseasons definitely just need a deposit up front and then the rest you pay at your own convenience, although you usually do have to pay it within about 6 weeks of the holiday. So if you book now for August you will have 5 months to pay for it. You will have to cut your cloth within the £600 budget you have remaining.

We had/have far less than £1k after all bills and food are paid, but we always have a holiday.

Can you downgrade the cars and save a bit there? Then put that money into a savings account, and perhaps afford a holiday in 18 months?

Different prioroties and different expenses. We would rather spend money doing things than buying stuff. So whilst our DC is small we are buying birthday and Christmas gifts secondhand and spending as little as possible. We try to do free days out most of the time and take a picnic with us.

Once your DC are in school you will be significantly better off and at their age they would be happy going to butlins for a few nights.

Op how old are your kids? I'm assuming quite small if you're paying for childcare. In which case, take them camping or to a holiday park in the Uk - it's not glamorous but they will love it, and then when they're in school and you have more money each month, then do the fancy foreign holidays. Before the age of about 6-7 they won't remember much about it, so you may as well stay local & save money while you can get away with it. A week in Cromer will do it 😊When they're late teens and eat adult meals and no flight discount, that's when you'll need the money!

Your outgoings are very high compared to your income, that's why.

Your mortgage and your childcare payments make up over half your income. Add in £500 on cars (which doesn't even include fuel) and that's a lot of money gone before it even really hits your bank account.

I often wonder this, too. My husband brings in a very good income.. granted, I don't work at the moment (SAHM), but we have no mortgage or rent to pay and we still can't afford a Holiday abroad. My SIL goes away 3 times a year but then again she works full time and has done since her son was 5 months old, and so does her husband. I suppose they've made that lifestyle choice (they constantly make little comments about us never going abroad 🙄) and we've made ours. For me I want to be home and more present until our son goes to school, and they chose a different work/ home lifestyle so they could keep having the holidays they had before their son was born.

I do hope though that we get to go away next year! I've had my eye on a few destinations and keep pricing them up.. but convincing HB is another story!

Your income is less than mine, your mortgage is higher, your childcare considerably higher (we only have one and he's now at school so it's after school and holiday clubs) we also chose to reduce to one car at own so no regular payments other than insurance etc.

We manage by not having to fork out for childcare any more, having a small mortgage (hammered it when ds was small so it'll be paid off completely by the time I'm 55) and by putting money aside each month (easy to do if you cut down on extra's treats and extravagances. For example we saved £200 this month just by cutting out coffees, takeaways and random trips for snacks lol).

To be fair, even in the days when we could very comfortably afford holidays on our monthly salaries we still almost always put them on a credit card. Much easier to get your money back should anything go wrong, plus we just liked spreading things out a bit.

Similar income. We don't go abroad anymore.

Hoping to be able to afford to in a few years (DH and my income should slightly higher and nursery fees will have ended)

We earn about the same and we can afford holidays but we're not frivolous by any means

• No kids food to pay for, no childcare
• Smaller mortgage 1300pcm
• older car outright years ago so no car payments.

We still struggle to go away in school hols just to 2 of us. We'd love to go away this Xmas for some sun but going to have to apply for a credit card !

It's do able , look at the canaries in February/ March for 4 nights for 3 people £700-£800 . Or for something more expensive book a year in advance and pay it off religiously every month as soon as you get paid , throw an extra £20 plus at the payments when you can