How do you afford holidays?

[User46472874637]

Before you all come at me, please hear me out. I totally get how people are struggling to eat etc at the minute and impending winter is scary with energy costs! Totally get it.

I know we all have different budgets and income etc. we have a take home household income of around £35, 000. This includes my partners earnings of £32,000 before tax and others such as DLA for my son, child benefit, me carers and maintenance of his dad. We also get a small amount of tax credits.

many of my friends go on regular holidays when they don't earn anymore than us but how?!

we haven't had a holiday in 8 years. I would love nothing more than going away but it's not achievable financially even more so in current times. It's from paying for the actual holiday, spending money, fuel food and sorting kennels for our dog - or we could take her. We don't even have in date passports to go abroad. We've had a tough few years with lots of stuff going on in our personal life which I won't go into and I'd just like to escape the daily grind!

we don't go out, smoke or drink.

house is mortgaged and cheaper than rent in my area. But we've had to spend out quite a lot on house repairs. Don't have any luxuries.

I know I'm sounding pretty selfish round now complaining I don't get a holiday but where do we go wrong??

before anyone asks, we don't have sky or Netflix or whatever. No expensive phone contracts. We are in very little debt.

we don't eat out apart from an occasional McDonald's.

our utility bills are quite high which doesn't help.

I know we are likely in a better situation than most but I have a friend over the road, her partner and 3 kids, neither work (I'm not judging, just stating facts) and they go away at least twice a year! I just don't how people are affording it!

our food bills seems to be increasing week on week too! We are going over drawn month to month. There is nothing spare.

we are fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the country - on the coast which helps somewhat! But my kids had never had a holiday. My mums made me feel guilty saying all kids should go on holiday... my son has been on one in the U.K. as a toddler and my daughter hasn't had any!

Mil has been on 4 holidays this year. Maybe I am just a bit green eyed 😓

I’m a single parent and my income is less than yours. The only time we’ve been abroad is after I had a small inheritance from a grandparent. Other than that we do cheap caravan holidays with friends (it’s cheaper when you share a caravan and all pay towards it) or staying with friends. This summer I had one long weekend at a friend’s house who lives by the sea and we’ve just got back from a caravan holiday at a lovely holiday park in Clacton. I went with 2 friends and their children in a 10-sleeper caravan which cost us £130 each for 4 days. It wasn’t exactly luxurious but we loved it! If you shop around and self cater then it can be done on a tight budget.

I would ignore your MIL to start with and stop comparing, she will be a different demographic to you, no dependents and probably paid off mortgage so will likely have much more disposable income for holidays such like.

If you just want to get away somewhere, try booking a Premier Inn in a city - London and York spring to mind as having things to do for free once you get there. Sunday nights are usually cheaper so start your break on a Sunday.

For a caravan holiday, book well in advance and pay monthly. Go Monday to Friday rather than whole week. Go at May half-term instead of in the summer. Cheaper but still a chance of nice weather.

For further afield, use Tesco vouchers to pay for Eurotunnel or a ferry. Again, go Monday to Friday and half-term is cheaper.

You might benefit from completing a full SOA including absolutely everything. If you get yourself on moneysavingexpert and post it you’ll likely get some great advice.

We’ve done one recently as we’re temporarily on one income, we thought we had every spent penny accounted for until we actually went through everything.

Surely your household income should be higher than £35k if you include UC etc?

CMS for the year adds up to £1,440. Open another bank account and have your CMS put seperate in it and don't touch it.

That "only £30 a week" I bet you don't even feel it and you will have a decent amount for a UK break!

Budget and then budget some more. We may look like we go on a lot of holidays. Usually they’re very cheap, Ryanair flights, free child places, booked last minute or well in advance, never fancy, maybe not other people’s first choice of destination but trips away. We did have a blowout holiday with inheritance once but that was a bit different.

I know it’s tough but you’re going to have to find the energy from somewhere to fight for appropriate child maintenance-your son’s entitled to it and you’re really doing him a dis-service in not pursuing it for him

You need a budget. A monthly and an annual one.

That's nearly 3k a month so try listing what you depend and putting it all into categories. Include everything including car parking nails haircuts swimming prescription and all the random spending.

Account for every single penny.

If you can put away 200 a month for holidays that's a decent holiday.

Other people will be credit cards and they won't have done work on house etc.

Before you do anything save 1000 emergency fund. So if your washer goes you for. Spend the holiday money replacing it.

Premier inn are good for kids as free breakfast. Family rail card. Take time of school and go term time. Prefer all inclusive as no hidden costs personally. We went all inclusive at Easter school hols for £699 each adult and free kids places and the place was really decent. A week at haven or similar.

I never went on holidays as child and wished we had. We always went to realatives house while they had three weeks in the south for France.

We go on a 1k holiday a year in this country. The money comes out of savings.

other people might save monthly for it. They might know someone with a holiday home which they can get for free or for a reduced price. They might go somewhere cheap and cheerful out of season. The sun used to do vouchers so some scheme like that. They might put it on a credit card or they might have a family member willing to pay for them.

Varies between £100-150 a week at the minute for 4 of us but that includes everything including dog food. Depending on what I need. It depends vastly on what shift pattern Dp is on. If he is on earlies we will all eat together whereas when he's on lates he takes ready meals for dinner etc!

this week I spent £100. Last week was £150. Summer holidays is increasing the cost as the kids don't stop eating! Dd was in an infant until July so got free school lunches!

how are people cutting down on food costs at the minute? I'm genuinely curious? We don't buy expensive food, I meal plan etc, we don't waste any of it!

Where is all your money going? You’ve not mentioned anything in the way of outgoings that seems to come close to adding up to £3,000 per month. You have a gross household income of £45,000 per year, say that your mortgage is not particularly large, and the “big” monthly cost that you mentioned was £90 per month on water.

What’s it actually going on?

My BIL doesn’t work, nor does his wife so me and DH pay for them to go abroad. We have a niece who is 5 and we do it so she gets to experience holidays. We’ve also paid for MIL & FIL to go abroad before and have given holidays as Christmas presents.

Maybe your neighbours get gifts like these?

How do you use so much water? I'm with Southeast Water and my bills are £90 six monthly! I do a load of washing and run the dishwasher daily.

I live out in the sticks too, cut down on fuel by always doing more than one thing when you take the car out. Do the shopping on the way back from the doctor's. And only take the car if you really have to. How far are you from the closest supermarket? I'm about 2 miles through the fields so I take a shopping trolley and back pack. It's a little awkward over the styles but it's fine when I have the time.

Sadly our savings have took a battering due to the sheer amount of repairs needed this year. But I'm keeping everything crossed things stop going wrong and we can start saving again but it's impossible at the minute!

Judging by this thread which suggests a dog cost £1200 a year. I suspect not having a pet makes a big difference.

south west water here. We have the most expensive water I believe.

washing machine on at least once a day, often twice, my kids have additional needs and generate a lot of washing and need daily baths or showers! We don't have a dish washer! There's nothing that I could cut down on. Barely ever wash the car, hose pipe ban currently but never use the hose anyway!

I think it’s this or camping OP.

House swapping is great though. And you can get pet friendly ones.

The only alternative would be for you to get some virtual work from home work in the evenings as holiday money.

8-10 miles from nearest supermarket. Tend to get shopping delivered now though!

We usually have one holiday a year for 4 nights-a week in a caravan near the coast.
I've not been abroad in 15 years and none of us have in date passports.

A colleague at work often goes camping with his boys. As they have all the gear it's a pretty cheap holiday so they can go more frequently.

For a start your dh needs to stop taking ready meals to work! I work shifts and take what everyone else is having in a Tupperware.
I’m probably about 20 years older than you and was brought up in different times…I’ve never bought ready meals (other than pizzas) and we’ve always taken packed lunch/teas to work-ready meals/sandwiches run away with money.

If you're on a meter, look at the water usage information in your washing machine book and make sure you're not inadvertently using high water usage cycles.

Dishwashers use a lot less water than washing up by hand, but if you can't afford a holiday, you probably don't want to be buying a dishwasher unless you can find a cheap second hand one, so not an easy saving unfortunately.

Are you sure about not being entitled to help with water costs? If you have DC entitled to DLA, that leads to lots more washing, that seems to meet the criteria:

www.southwestwater.co.uk/help/need-help-paying-bill/watersure/

we don't earn that much.

Dp earns £32,000 before tax so £25,000 after tax. We get about £10,000 extra in DLA, carers, maintenance, child benefit and tax credits!

I would like to know that too. Neither of drink alcohol and haven't in 10 years, never have many days out, don't have nights out. Me and so be never had a night to ourselves either.

OP people here are telling you it's a lot of money. You have no childcare costs again a huge save
Until you realise what we are saying I'm not surprised you can't save.

There's people here on a lot less and manage to holiday.

If it helps, we have a lot less coming in than you, we rent our house, we have debt and we can't afford holidays either apart from the odd weekend in a caravan on the east yorks coast every few years.

The very thought of going abroad with my two makes me incredibly anxious. I would be very happy with a holiday in the UK!