How much do you spend each year on holidays?

[peachjuice]

We're pricing up for next year, haven't been since 2015 as we "can't afford" it, yet our household income is ok - about £90k gross. There never seems to be spare money though.

Curious to know how much other people spend on their holidays each year as a proportion of their income.

Yes, it's a public service really.

Am I allowed to say I prioritise holidays because my income is low?

In all seriousness though, holidays are important to me and I have made decisions that mean I can afford them. For example I live in the cheapest property I could find that meets our needs.

I've never had a high income so I can only speak from my experience but I see a lot of people with high incomes who take out huge mortgages, have multiple DC in private schools etc so they don't have many holidays. If I had a 6 figure income I wouldn't send DS to private school or have an enormous house because I'm not bothered about those things - I'd probably spend tens of thousands on travel if I had that income!

Household income of £78k. We’ve spent around £2.5k on holidays this year.

I wonder what percentage of these posts are bullshit..

My household income is £500k and I spend £150k per year on holidays.

Household income about 80k 2 adults, 3 kids

A few years ago we spent £2k on an old caravan so we holiday a lot. Summer hols prob £600 in caravan and weekends away about £100.

This year we spent £2k on flights to Thailand and prob another 1.5k on accommodation travel and food. We were visiting family so not resort prices.

We have never stayed in a typical holiday resort.

We did once go to Disneyland Paris which was about £500

When we took our caravan to Spain it cost about £2k

Yes this thread should be called “if you have disposable income, do you prioritise holidays with that money rather than material things, and if you do, how much do you spend?”

But that’s a mouthful.

We have a 60k joint income. Can only holiday in school holidays. So it’s bloody expensive. We are lucky to have paid off our mortgage this year thanks to an inheritance and also bought new cars. We spend nothing apart from bills and food during the month As not into material stuff or designer bags etc. I hate shopping actually. After years of having no spare money I get anxious going shopping and worry i’ll Make a bad purchase. Don’t have much of a social life just with DH as not many babysitting opportunities so don’t go out much (and am shocked at how much a night out costs now when we DO go out!)

But I LOVE searching for holidays. We have been to London for a short break at Easter, week self-catering in Devon in may half term and 2 weeks in villa in Majorca. That’s the 4 of us. Parents also Very generously paid for the whole family to go to Centerparcs for a weekend in May.

Normally I would get away with DH for our anniversary to a hotel for 2 nights but it didn’t happen this year as babysitting and work didn’t work out. So we haven’t been away just the two of us for a year now and only had one night out in the U.K. all year too. . I woukd definitely prioritise that but again, babysitting is an issue at the moment.

Oh so total was probably 7k this year. Over 10% of our income!

We have a good household income, over £150k but we don't always spend loads on holidays.
This year we went to Norfolk for a few weeks. The weather was amazing, spent most of our time at the beach. My DC said it was the best holiday ever. You really don't need to spend mega cash to have a great holiday.

Heck,I'm in the wrong job! I've not been on holiday for 25 years! Can't imagine trying to find £5000+ for a holiday! We tend to go on day trips instead,as I don't have a car at the minute,till middle of next year.

Ok im not being snippy but i am genuinely nonplussed by the incomes quoted here. I don't know anyone with an income of 100k and many of my friends are professionals. I am in a job that pays 20k when i qualify (after 3 years) i have higher level qualifications (PhD) and my dp says i sell myself short but i just dot see jobs with that pay level. What dobyou people DO? Also do you think there is a bias on this thread towards very high earners? I feel like a poor minority here yet irl i actually feel comfortably off.

As i said not being snippy.

Arms dealers. All of them.

Or HR. (Much the same.)

LEM, I don’t know many people with a family income of more than 80k I don’t think. That’s only one or two. The rest are lower. 50-60k I would think. That’s with both people working full time. The families I know where one is part time obviously have a lower income than that.

Probably about £4-5K pa for a family of three. Includes a week's foreign sunny holiday and a couple of UK based hols pa (usually a week IN centerparcs plus a self.caterinf cottage). Might also sneak in a city break for DH and I for that.

Household income of c.£135K. I think we probably understand vs average for people in our income bracket but I don't hugely value holidays. I'd struggle to justify more.

LEM the OP said she has a household income of £90,000 so while I know threads like this will bring out the extremes, I think its understandable of those who have similar incomes to have replied. The people I know on those kind of incomes are in senior management positions, so it's something that would be earned over a number of years, I don't know many (if any actually) on a 6 figure sum in their 20s, or 30s even but then we don't live near big cities.

LEMtheoriginal When I was younger I didn't know many people on high incomes at all. I am not prepared to say what my household income is but we are very comfortable and obviously know people and households that earn similar amounts.

I also think it depends on the setup as I know lots of couples who both work full time in their professions which obviously bumps up their income compared to single parent families, part time or having one sahp.

But this thread will be the equivalent of the “I need a new handbag, help me choose, budget is £500” in Style and Beauty. Only attracts the people who spend that sort of money on handbags themselves. I went on one of those once to express my shock at the money that people want to spend on a bag and was told that they can choose to spend their money how they like and it was no skin off my nose. They were right, you know.

Don’t come into a thread like this if you are going to be horrified at people spending a lot of money on holidays. Fair enough if you’re intrigued as to how they can afford it,,what profession etc. But if it’s just to feel sorry for yourself and moan you haven’t had a holiday in years and some people must be boasting or lying, then what is the point of you coming on the thread?

I’m a patent attorney. It pays pretty well once you’ve passed all the professional exams and have a few years of experience on top. It isn’t especially unusual to be earning £100k.

Household income is c 80-90k depending on bonuses. Just 2 of us but has to be in school holidays which bumps the price.

This year we have spent about £8k, next year it will be similar. However, as others have said, holidays are our priority and come significantly above cars, house and clothes - most of my clothes are from eBay!

Probably about 2k a year for flights and accommodation. Hard to keep track of spending money.

I love holiday hunting so always find the best deal. Got a 2 bed apartment in lanzarote for €500 for 2 weeks last year.

Also using travelrepublic and sites that you can pay as you go is so so handy.

I don't want anyone to "shed a tear" for me @Zephbloggs, honestly! I know it sounds absurd on paper. Probably more so if I revealed how small our mortgage costs are a month too. That's why I asked the question. But since seeing this thread I've sat down and tallied stuff up. We take home about £4.4k a month. Household bills £1700. Then worked out that our dog costs us £5k per year. Probably £3-4k in childcare. £700 per month in debt payments (these are mostly DP's before anyone has a go at me!). So I guess for the moment we are mostly prioritising focusing on debt repayments and our pet dog.

I don't mind the cost as holidays are just fantastic! I love going to new places so would rather waste all disposable income on holidays any day

We spend about 400 on cottage? 200 petrol. 600 food/ days out when there.

Household income is 65k but out childcare bill is 1000s so can't imagine spending serious money on hols

Ah you see, if you didn’t have those debts you would be going on fancy holidays too. It will happen one day. I woukd be prioritising the debt too, very sensible. When will it be paid off?

About 20k but we have a holiday account and pay into it monthly 750 each.