Holidays are just not worth the money

I know this gets dismissed a lot on MN but honestly talk about it with a chatbot, I similarly obsess about money and have on occasion questioned my approach, and I found it really useful discussing with ChatGPT. Yes I know it can be validating, but it helped bring in some wider context, compared us financially to other similar households, broke down costs etc. It came up with some compromises.

£500 a day isn’t actually unreasonable, if you can go all inclusive then that’s 3 meals a day for the family, plus snacks and drinks, and a pool/beach day, plus a night in a hotel, all of which would probably add up to £500 in total if you tried to do that in England.

Mine are in their 40s and still talk about the holidays we had - I struggled to afford them but they were worth every penny

Not really. The set up we have is DH and I both earn about the same. He pays the mortgage, household bills, car, food etc. I pay school fees, any child related costs and holidays.

It works out about the same.

Your children are desperate for a holiday, you can afford it, yet you would rather they have no holiday memories to look back on than part with money. I can see the sense if you were struggling but according to your posts this is not the issue having inferred even if you were wealthy you would feel the same. On reflection are you subconsciously waiting for your children to leave home then you can spend money on your own holidays free from having to pay for them🤔

I am on holiday with my young adult son right now, we usually do uk camping or sc or stay with family. This time we are in a resort and my god it’s glorious to have all our meals cooked and housekeeping coming in to clean the room everyday. It feels like a real holiday rather than being busy in a different place. No way can I afford to do this every year though.

To be honest, I think £3k for a family of 5 abroad sounds like a bargain. We spend £5-10k per holiday for our family of 4.

Holidays are important to us. We love going to new places, seeing new things, eating new food, relaxing together. We go away about 4 or 5 times a year.

We factor the cost of holidays into our normal annual budget as we see them as important as any of our other costs. If we were a bit short on money there are other things I’d cut back on before holidays.

Look, it's expensive because there are 5 of you. That's on you, because you chose to have 3 kids. But also there's no going back now! So figure out how you can make a holiday work for all of you, and how you maximise your cash, and enjoy the kids you have, rather than wishing you could magically have a big family but with everything being cheaper.

Which countries are you going to? There might be cheaper countries to consider.

Exactly our situation and sometimes I’m actually glad I didn’t face kids. Cost of living being one of the main things.

Deffo try Eurocamp... 500 quid could pay for the whole week if you fancy a better park maybe add another 500. Done Spain several times on the Costa Dorada, well worth it... It's all about the planning and researching... Suggest some sort of calendar planner to dot some dates as everything changes price wise accordingly to dates...

So you have the money, you enjoy it, children enjoy it and you arent happy.

I do think that this is a issue that therapy could help solve.

What did you parents value? What holidays did you have as a child? What do you value in life?

No me neither. We went to Pembrokeshire every year and had a great time. My first trip abroad was a school trip to Brittany at 16, and my first time on a plane was to LA at 21, on my own to visit sibling who was working there.

I pity people who think like you and are stuck in their ways on what a holiday "should be".
Close minded and miss out on so much as a result.

Been there Op with family of 5. When younger it was load up the car, eurotunnel to France (paid with Tesco vouchers) then a euro amp or other campsite but a caravan. Took some basic meals with us and explored supermarkets.. One of the favourite bits were the supermarket trips as different flavors of squash etc they can try.
Now bigger we fly but buy flights in boxing day sale (got for about £60each way) and hired a villa.
Its the family of 5 which sinks you as lots set up for 4. Good luck

I couldn't disagree more. Holidays are the thing we spend on over pretty much anything else. Our kids get SO much out of having new experiences and seeing the world. I also really enjoy it so feel it's money well spent! I agree with pp that there are cheaper options so you feel you're getting better value for money if that's the thing that stops you enjoying them.

That’s good, I get you. BOOK IT 🤣🤣

Agree with PP Cambrils has some gorgeous hotels and it’s got good prices, as does Lanzarote.