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Original poster

WWYD- going on holiday when in debt

28 replies

Rustybin · 26/08/2024 11:14

Hi,

inspired by another thread, I’m intrugued to hear other people’s views on this… would you go on holiday if you were in debt ( non- mortgage debt) or would you have to be totally free of those debts before you considered booking a holiday?

OP posts:
heldinadream · 26/08/2024 11:15

Depends how big and the nature of the debt and how big and the nature of the holiday.

SoManyTshirts · 26/08/2024 11:15

I wouldn’t go. I’d manage the odd day trip or night out on the cheap but not a holiday.

peebles32 · 26/08/2024 11:15

Nope. We are in debt and still go on holiday!
We have reasonable debt and I will pay it all off eventually when the kids are older. If I wait till they are 18 then we will never go on holiday.

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Debt
Youcancallmeirrelevant · 26/08/2024 11:17

Depends on how much and why we have the debt and what type of debt it is, e.g. cars etc on finance i don't count as debt, we just pay for it monthly.

LoneHydrangea · 26/08/2024 11:18

How much debt? If you’re talking about a couple of hundred quod on a credit card, or a regular car loan payment you can afford, I wouldn’t worry.

BankHolidayReset · 26/08/2024 11:20

Depends how much what type of best and if it's being managed.

Car load - yes I would
Credit Card - No pay that off as quick as possible

Sethera · 26/08/2024 11:20

heldinadream · 26/08/2024 11:15

Depends how big and the nature of the debt and how big and the nature of the holiday.

This.

Purplecatshopaholic · 26/08/2024 11:24

Does depend how much and what kind, but on the whole, yes. Not going to worry about it or I’d never go anywhere and life is short, debt will get paid as long as you factor it all in and are sensible without getting overly tight assed, lol

Doggymummar · 26/08/2024 11:27

I went for a week earlier in the year and bunged it in an interest free card. Last installment this month to pay it off. Then it's £2600 for the flipping dentist next week. So won't go again till I've paid that off.

Crunchymum · 26/08/2024 11:29

We do. But we have cheap UK holidays and whilst we cannot clear the debt completely at the moment, we do pay off any holidays immediately / in full (without compromising debt repayment)

EvilNextDoor · 26/08/2024 11:33

Of course.
Debt is reasonable
A holiday gives me something to look forward to - my life is a steaming pile of shit I need something

I am going to book a week away for next October and pay it off monthly for the next 10 months

Bumbleboohoo · 26/08/2024 11:40

We have circa £20k debts, not inc the mortgage. We have 3-4 holidays abroad every year. The debt is moved around on interest free in several different places. We will probably never pay it off but we make the min pymts every month. Some large (loan) debt ends in 2 weeks. We've been paying this debt off for 5 years @ £500pcm. I can't wait to be £500 a month better off. Will we use that spare money to clear off the other debt ? Nope ! It's already earmarked for (another) once in a lifetime holiday !

Pippa908 · 26/08/2024 11:46

Yes, I have quite a large loan that's been used for house renovations. I make monthly payments and there's an end date. The interest is paid up front so even if I paid the loan off sooner I wouldn't save anything/reduce the debt in doing so.

We still live life have days out and go on holiday. I don't take out more debt to go on holiday but I also don't use my disposable income to pay the debt down more than the monthly repayments. Other people would think this is reckless but I think it's balanced.

Mitsky · 26/08/2024 11:50

No but I’m quite unusual maybe in that I’ve never been in debt (apart from mortgage).

champagneplanet · 26/08/2024 11:57

If it was £800 on a CC for general expeneses, or car debt or a general loan with an end date then yes I would.

However if the debt resulted in overspending previously and was in the £000's then no I wouldn't have a big holiday, possibly a long weekend away as a break/treat.

I'd also be wary of where the holiday money is coming from, will it be financed or is it a chunk of money you already have?

Personally i'm very debt adverse so would get more satisfaction from paying the debt off as quickly as possible. That is just me though and I understand that circumstances vary.

startstopengine · 26/08/2024 12:07

I would, and tbh the more this current government are screwing us the more I just want to go all out and spend on things I enjoy, I'm going to get taxed into oblivion and then won't be able to retire until I'm 71!!

So while I can still holiday travel and pay the debts I'm going all, I maybe typing this from a sun lounger.

loropianalover · 26/08/2024 12:16

It depends on the size of the debt and the size of the holiday cost, but in general, no. It was always drilled into me growing up to pay bills on time and pay off debts ASAP. I was very shocked in my early 20s to live with people who would put off rent payments, ignore their phone bill, miss monthly repayments because they had too many nights out etc.

Now that I’m older, I think I could balance it a bit more. If I had a trip I really wanted to take (a bucket list place, an event etc.), I would plan for that alongside the debt repayment. But I wouldn’t be going for 5 nights in Ibiza or weekends in London ‘just because’, I’d rather pay the debt quicker.

MuggleMe · 26/08/2024 12:18

If I was paying any significant interest on the debt I wouldn't do more than a cheap UK break, but we've got a kitchen we're paying off interest free and I don't really count that as debt.

Whatisthis12 · 26/08/2024 12:18

What's a holiday? When we were really broke but not in debt it was a night at a youth hostel reduced?

Shudacudawuda · 26/08/2024 12:25

We have done in the past, as a PP said, if we hadn't, we'd never have had holidays with our kids while they were little.
Someone close to me died very young recently..... life is too short not to have some trips as a family while you can, you never know what's around the corner.
It's about balance though obviously - you need to know you can pay it off comfortably too.

mitogoshi · 26/08/2024 12:29

All depends. A cheap holiday (£1000 max for accommodation and travel) yes as long as payments for the debts are affordable, total is decreasing and no need to borrow more for holiday. I would never use a loan or credit card for a holiday (except to pay then immediately pay off for free insurance!)

Holidays don't have to be expensive, if you owe 10's of thousands it's irresponsible to spend thousands on a holiday

TortolaParadise · 26/08/2024 12:38

Yes, maybe not a luxurious holiday but a getaway for sure.

dudsville · 26/08/2024 12:47

I've always preferred to live within my means. I would scrimp to pay off debt and then enjoy the relief of that and my holidays would be guilt free. I've never had debt, aside from the mortgage. I often have a 0% interest credit card, but it always gets paid off.

Alarae · 26/08/2024 12:50

We do, but that's because our CC debt is at 0% and will be paid off at the end of the term (Dec). Our CC payment is basically like having a car payment really, as we have a paid off car, so it's our only 'extra' payment. The CC was from home renovations so not overspending.

Realistically though, we could pay off the CC debt now if we wanted to with other savings, but don't see the point as our savings are earning us interest and we aren't paying any on the CC.

I think even if we didn't have the savings we would still have a small holiday, but making sure it's within our overall budget.

redskydarknight · 26/08/2024 13:05

I wouldn't go on holiday if I was in debt.

I wouldn't book a holiday unless I had the money already saved to pay for it.

I had no money growing up and being financially secure is very important to me.