Booked flights for a holiday but now can't afford it. WWYD?

[Cheeseer]

I booked some flights to a European country 6m ago for the summer. Was planning to take the kids to their first ever holiday abroad. They have never been and really want to go. The only holidays we get are in the UK for a week per year if we can afford it. The kids do love them but they yearn to go abroad.

I thought if I booked the flights early, I could put aside some money each month to save up in time for the summer.

However, each month something comes up and I haven't put anything away. If I start from now, I would have enough to cover accomodation which I haven't booked but nothing left for food, fun, travel etc.

I know Ive messed up but things are so expensive and prices are going up month to month and I just can't seem to have any money left over at the end of the month.

Should I plan to go to the hol and see what happens, can't do excursions or anything, very basic food or should I just leave it and lose the flight money and never plan a holiday unless I have the funds for it.

So, Portugal is pretty cheap so you’re money may go a fair bit farther than you thjnk. I’d look at an Airbnb on the coast - my son is currently surfing on the coast just south of Lisbon with lovely wide beaches - so that’s a free day of activities, with the odd trip into Lisbon to look at the old town.
if you’re fairly frugal once you’re there and have good weather it could be a lovely break for you all and not a fortune try Costa de caparia

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/apply-for-a-free-uk-global-health-insurance-card-ghic/

Don’t forget the health cards

Self cater, buy soft drinks and snacks in bulk in supermarkets. If you eat out pizza and pasta are cheap and tasty in Portugal.
Spend days at the beach, walk or use public transport - it’s very possible to have a budget friendly holiday that’s still very enjoyable.

You said there are 5 of you; do you have a partner and 3 kids or are you single with 4 kids?

You could contact your local citizens advice to see if you are getting everything you're entitled to in terms of benefits and discounted tariffs. Some offices might be able to offer help with budgeting, finding the best deals etc. Ideally your monthly budget would include some savings towards big annual costs like a holiday, Christmas, car service etc, as well as some emergency savings in case something unexpected comes up.

What's that got to do with anything??? Do you think the OP is an idiot?

Why are you even talking about taxis, coffee out and ice cream for 5 people if you really don’t have any money and need to do this holiday on a budget?

It's a fair question, @noquinoa, and along with the "no research done" perhaps says something about planning more generally

Fortunately Portugal's one of those places where the budget-conscious can have a lovely holiday, and for the DCs choosing food in stores can be presented more as an adventure than "needs must"

Watching like a hawk every expense in a major capital city in Europe, it's not fun.

Holidays abroad is a time to relax without watching every pound you spend. I'd prefer to delay the holiday and save a bit more money so my children and myself could enjoy the trip.

As I said, Lisbon is not cheap.

Hey OP,

When mine were young we spent every year on a teeny budget for a week in Spain. We got cheap flights, rented a cheap apartment with a shared pool (think holiday homes owned by Brits). We cooked and ate at home, made packed lunches with fresh bread, cheese and cold hot dogs, walked to the beach and the kids spent hours in the shared pool. All for nothing more than being at home. They had the best holidays and memories and we did that for years until finances became better.

Lisbon probably wouldn't have been my choice for a budget holiday, I don't think it is expensive as far as European cities go, but it is probably more about sight seeing and spending money and tramping up and down those hills.

Can you get accommodation with a pool near a beach? If you can do the latter, you can just do a single day trip to the city and see the main sights, but spend the rest of the week spending nothing and eating Lays by the pool.

You need to do lots of research into what there is that is free to do there. You can look at menus online to get an idea of costs and then see if you could manage with a daily budget.

Just got back from Lisbon.
We stayed in a 3 bedroom air bnb for £650 for 4 nights. Is this something you could stretch to?
you can buy in food from supermarket and do your own breakfast before you go out and lunches to take with you? Lisbon is a lot more affordable than U.K. for sure. Plenty to see, explore quite reasonably.

We paid 10 euros from airport to accommodation which was centrally located by the main square. An uber from Lisbon to Sintra and stops in between at sights was 50 euros (to give you an idea) and that was an XL for 5 of us.

Some good ideas with what to do

Euro camp with a pool or starting near a beach will be cheap /free activities for swimming

def get insurance. Just not worth not imo

It's just a different mindset.

You don't need to "watch everything like a hawk" when you know you have a lunch already packed that you bought in Lidl the night before, that mid afternoon treats are coming from the bakery, that dinner will be pasta back at the apartment, that your choices tomorrow are either to go to the beach or the castle with free entry, both of them on the metro or tram line that you can use your 3 day public transport pass for (and most of the kids are free or half price anyway).

Cities are pretty easy- you just live like an inhabitant rather than a tourist. Which can often be a richer, more interesting experience.

I'd cancel. Or at least postpone. Spending every penny you have on a holiday and potentially 'running' out of money over there just because your kids 'yearn' to go abroad? 🙄
I can't believe people are suggesting you borrow money to go. Don't throw more money you don't have at a holiday you don't need to have right now. Go when you don't have to scrimp and have supermarket meals everyday and have to forego anything with a cost attached. Sounds miserable.
I suspect that travel insurance hasn't been factored in either. Sounds like a GoFundMe waiting to happen

@Alondra The thread is full of people saying they have had lovely holidays on a budget so I'm not sure why you think your opinion is more valid? You may not enjoy a holiday unless you had cash to splash but plenty of others do and would never have a holiday otherwise.

One of my first holidays on my own with the dc was to Eurocamp in France. The nearby supermarket was amazing and it was a treat for the dc to choose puddings from the massive array of Danone stuff that cost not much more than yoghurts at home they would have had anyway. We did a couple of days out but mainly just played at the pool (free). Each evening we went for a clifftop walk (free) accompanied with a bubblegum from the machine in the bar. I had never allowed these before so they were a massive treat and cost 20c each! Ds also saw being on the bouncy castle when it automatically deflated at 10pm as a huge treat - free. I had a sachet of hot chocolate from the cabin on the ferry and eked that out across the week with milk for a bedtime drink for them on our patio after the walk. I wasn't that poor and could have bought more, but it became part of the routine and they loved it because it was so different from bedtimes at home. I told them they could have 2 crepes across the week and they were fine with that because they knew in advance.

I feel sorry for anyone thinking that no one can have fun on a budget. You must be utterly devoid of imagination.

Maybe you could do a house swap or rent out your home here for the week.

Is there any way you could make up some money, they say people have on average 2k worth of items in their attic. Can you sell anything?

Whatever you do, GET HOLIDAY INSURANCE, whatever else you cut, don’t cut that!! Good luck x

Have you thought of contacting the airline/booking agent to see if you can move them until next year? Some (I appreciate not all) will give you a credit note which you can use within 12m, so you could rebook after saving?

We only live once.. she might not get the opportunity again due to being even skinter in the future, something happening etc.
I would go OP and enjoy what you can.

I was wondering about a houseswap myself, @3luckystars - I've done dozens of them - but of course there's a membership fee to pay, and while free ones exist IME they're full of timewasters with no real commitment

That said, one yearly fee would mean OP could then make as many swaps as she can arrange, so maybe it would work

If you’ve got flights and accommodation booked then you can manage to be frugal with spending money. Take some bits with you to bulk out packed lunches for the kids (breakfast bars, little individual packs of haribo, other treats) then just go and buy bread and sandwich fillings when there to make packed lunches and toast for breakfast. Then maybe budget for a meal or 2 out but if you’re self catering then plan to cook simple things a few evenings (pasta, etc). There’s always a MacDonald’s in Lisbon so that could be a reasonably cheap meal out. As you say the kids are desperate to go abroad and I’m sure with some budgeting and planning you could manage it.

Also look at selling bits on Vinted or cash back sites where you do surveys or tasks to make a bit extra cash. There’s a few people on instagram that have good tips and links.

Don't forget travel insurance.

Another tip for buying ice creams - whilst it’s nice to go buy artisanal ice creams, some days just pop into a little supermarket and buy a multi pack of supermarket ice creams to save some money.

What’s the cheapest accommodation you can find? I’d be tempted to go and then try and spend as close to the amount you’d normally spend at home.

Lisbon is a great walking city (as long as you're quite fit - there's a lot of hills), and there's so much to see just walking through the streets.

You can walk down to the beach, even walk out to Belem, but maybe the trams would be fun, even if you work out specific days for using them (when you want to explore a bit further).

Yes, you're going to need a bit of spending money, but as long as you think you can manage that I'd say go for it. The kids will enjoy the experience even if you can't afford non stop attractions.

We did Europe by train last year and stayed in apartments (self-catered). The accomodation had free WiFi so I planned each day in the evenings. We did parks, botanical gardens, rode on the tram, walked around the cities. Some paid things like museums too. Honestly the kids just liked trying different sweets, crisps, ice cream from various Lidls/Aldis we went to, they were easily pleased 😂plus they enjoyed finding playgrounds (Google maps satellite view helped).

Consider taking outdoor games like skatch to play at the beach/park. My son took an old digital camera we found in the attic so loved taking photos while we walked around.

Agree with getting ice creams at the supermarket, my kids got holiday pocket money from grandparents so they bought their own souvenirs. Kids also carried their own backpacks and we made packed lunches. Also took water bottles.

Travelled around by public transport, no taxis needed. We loved taking the tram or bus and it was easy to find out about tickets online.

You need to sit down and do some research on free/cheap things to do.

On the plus side, staying in one location means you can do one shop and plan your meals, which is quite economical (we were travelling around which was more problematic)