How much savings/emergency fund would you have before contemplating a family break?

[Lovinglife45]

We barely have £1500 in our savings and emergency fund. We transfer a particular amount every month and dip into it for one thing or another so it does not grow. I am stringent with our budget, yet we are struggling to keep our head above water. My dc are complaining about another year of no holidays and my h is keen on a UK family break which I do not support as it would near enough wipe the little savings we have.

We cut back in many areas; shop at Lidl, hwve cut back on meat, food and snacks from home only, no coffees on the run, no magazines or newspapers, I dye my hair and polish my nails at home, I do my own waxing.

What is your minimum savings before you would consider life's luxuries?

How much would the holiday cost (including spending money, insurance etc etc)?

Sadly it doesn't sound like an option at the moment.

Is there scope to take on overtime/ an evening/ weekend job to raise some extra funds?

Family of 3 here (1 teen DS). My rule was always £1k. We've finally managed to get a bit more in there now (£2.5K).

Could you just do 1 or 2 nights somewhere? Have a look at travel lodges, you can get some cheap deals. Even one night away feels like a break sometimes, just enough to press the reset button.

I dont know where you're based but somewhere like New Brighton. Travel lodge right on the prom, you've got the beach, arcade, park, football golf, restaurants, massive soft play (called bubbles), morrisons for cheap meals in the cafe, all in one area. You could definitely do that, one night, 2 days.

I'd also recommend, a short, last minute trip, somewhere not too far away but far enough that it feels like a holiday for your dc. We've done 3 nights in Wales, a couple of nights in Kent etc.... just searched around for the cheapest places I could find.
What age are your children? That males a difference as well. Last time we went on holiday mine were young enough to enjoy beaches/forest walks/castles etc... so we didn't have to spend much on days out.

Equally I think it's totally okay to say, actually no we don't have the money this year. We are hoping to go away this year bit it will be the first time since 2018, not everyone has a holiday every year and that's okay. It's definitely not worth getting in to debt over.

I wouldn’t get into debt over a holiday. But. I think it’s important to enjoy things as well. Especially with children as they just grow up so fast. So I would try and find a middle ground like a cheap uk holiday or a couple of nights in a travel lodge exploring a new city.

I don't go below £5,000 in the savings account. Knowing it's there if we need it is a good stress reducer for me.

Unless you're talking about one night away camping there's no way I would spend money in your position. You have barely enough for a car/appliance replacement unfortunately so I would keep saving.

One or two nights away sounds like a good idea. Definitely don't blow your savings.

For me, it's not the amount in savings, but the inability to replenish them that would stop me.

If you spend 500, your savings sounds like they will sit at 1000 until something happens to increase your income.

Windybay
The cheapest I have seen is £550 without petrol, activities, food and drink.
We will have a staycation this year; pretty parks, beaches etc.

Socksies
Yes, we have looked at Premier Inn/Travel Lodge type places. Roughly £100 per night if we squeeze into a family room. New Brighton is doable for us - thanks for the tip.

Englishrose the youngest will enjoy building sandcastles, collecting stones whereas the eldest is a teen...........

Mol1628
A 2 night break is a good idea. I will try to avoid popular destinations as they are always more expensive.

Sadface
£5000 is a good buffer. I would like to save six months expenses but I cannot see how without a windfall of some sort. Lack of savings keeps me awake most nights.

I just booked 2 nights at The Barn Caravan and Camping site and it was only about £55. I had to book an electric hook up as they didn't have any non electric camping ones free or it would have been cheaper. It's near Lancing/Shoreham. You can get the train or bus to Brighton from there. There's some lovely cafes and a big Asda near the camp site in case you need supplies and don't want to spend much.

It's one of my favourite sites in the UK and so much to do nearby if you're looking for somewhere that's still priced reasonably but fun for kids.

You can book it on pitchup

WTF475
I agree and as home owners, lack of savings makes us extremely vulnerable.

Userxx
I do not wish to spend a penny from the savings. I would prefer to put slightly less in savings over the next two.months and go on day trips.

Karrot
No, we could not easily replenish the savings. We struggle to build it up and not through a lack of trying. I have read petrol and utilities are set to further increase at the end of this year......

Have you gone through every single detail of your budget written down using a list from the money saving expert website? A friend of mine managed to get a premier inn for 63 midweek but that was just for 2 of them and they just ate breakfast in their room. Any friends or relatives you could stay with at all?

2Sugars
Thanks - will take a look. Not that we are a family of campers!

I don't think I could contenplate a "proper" holiday in your situation, which is precarious and there is so little capacity to cut corners and build your savings up again afterwards.

Maybe there's a compromise... How old are your kids?

Wondered if there is a grandparent or sibling or cousin or another relative somewhere you could go and stay for a few days - even better if they have kids too. You could plan some simple day trips; in my area there are some fantastic woodlands and children's adventure play areas that are completely free. We have had amazing days out when relatives have come to stay - picnics, scavenger hunts, football or frisbee or rounders. Also some parklands have a bbq area, worth researching.

Or if you have a car, maybe see if you can borrow or cheaply rent someone's camping gear and find somewhere to camp for about 4 nights? Camping is fun if your kids are the right ages and cheap. Aim for the back end of August when weather is hotter and drier and look for somewhere not-too-far-away to keep travel costs down?

Adversity
I use a formulated spreadsheet which lists every single expenditure. We earn a decent income (not quite £100k as a household). However, we have a largish mortgage and a house the size of a shoebox which will take me to retirement age.

WhatsInA
We have family on the outskirts of London only.

Ahh that’s depressing that you have a high family income and can’t afford a holiday.

Some good tips for cheap alternatives to holidays though.

Are you DC really 'complaining' about no holiday .... if they are old enough to voice that sound of comment (which sounds very entitled) then they are old enough to understand how the family budget works.

I absolutely wouldn't go on holiday in your financial situation.

With a teen it's slightly trickier, but still doable. I think if I were you, I'd work out an amount I was happy to spend, say £300 from your current savings and £100 from your income ( some can come from food shopping, you won't be eating at home whilst you're away)

Then I'd break it down and plan if it's viable. How much are you comfortable spending on fuel, work that out, then that will set a distance for you.

Then see what is available in that distance. I've found a few apartments for let on booking.com that are around £200 for 3 nights, but I have no idea where you would be looking. Apartments keep costs down because you can cook rather than eat out the whole time.

Then research the area, what free events do they have on over the summer? what restaurants are doing kids eat free? Do they have cheap bike hire so one day could be picnics/sight seeing and exploring by bike etc....

I wouldn't go over £500 including expenses in your position and I would only go if I could plan it well enough that it felt like a genuine treat for the children, otherwise it cpuld end be stressful and resented by all. Mainly I find you have to be prepared to plan well. Plus any money I'd be planning on using for days out at home would go to the trio away and the rest of the summer would be totally free activities, seeing friends, baking, parks etc....

I would take a holiday , even a couple of days change of scenery and routine will do the whole family some good. I know everything is so expensive now but if you look for something close to you ( to save petrol/ traveling costs) and stock up on easy food - crossiants, rolls etc I think you could manage it.
If you are near a beach , that’s a whole day out, bring a picnic and get chips for dinner.
I see you have a teen which is harder to entertain but they may enjoy a family beach day!
I hope you get somewhere .

Mybeautifulfriend
Definitely some great tips on here.

Ragwort
Yes, eldest is complaining as school friends travel often.

Englishrose
I will.plan days to parks, beaches, museums. There are a lot of three activities in London so will take advantage of this.

Givemeallthegin
I could do with a break but not to the detriment of our savings.

We try and always have three to six months expenses put away before we consider ourselves safe to spend a bit but sometimes you just need a break.

I don't normally do this on threads like this - but seriously, if you are on £100K you should be saving more per month. That is over 5K per month in your hands.

What is it all going on? Even with 50% on the mortgage that still leaves you with a chunk. You need to really question every single penny.

We have had to do this recently - DH is retraining and our income is going to drop from £150,000 a year to £45K a year. That opens your eyes somewhat to how "essential" some things are and how easy it has been in the past to just buy stuff. We have been living off our future budget for the last 6 months in preparation and saving all the "excess". It has been horrifying how much we have frittered away on needless stuff over the years.

Put £1k a month into your savings. Every single month. Then you can only spend what is left. If you have an emergency (washing maching needs replacing) then you have that buffer to pay for it.

We save to spend. So if we had enough for a holiday we would spend it and go abroad for a week. We always go away every year without fail.

But we are able to put around £500 a month easily into our savings, so we can build it back up relatively quickly.