to buy a caravan against DH's wishes

[Babieseverywhere]

Short Version
My DH thinks I am being very unreasonable but AIBU to want to sell MY things to fund a cheap old caravan which I will use ON MY OWN with our children, so they can have a holiday ?

Long Version
My DH works very hard to support our family, whilst I'm currently a SAHM to our 4 DC's. DH is happy with this arrangement and I will be returning to work in a couple of years time, when our youngest is at school.

Our budget does not cover luxuries like proper holidays and so we usually have a few day trips each year. However last year my MIL invited us to stay in a static caravan for a week with the DC's and we had a ball. Really enjoyed the beach, the children's playgrounds on site and the onsite swimming pool.

I have been trying to convince my DH to buy a tourer caravan to enable us to have cheap self catering holidays but he claims to hate tourer caravans though he has never had a holiday in one. He had previously claimed to hate static caravans too, but really enjoyed last years holiday in one...all I wanted him to do was have a go before making a decision on how he feels about it, but he is stubborn (like me) and he remain unconvinced.

I decided that I will sell anything I have of value which I paid for pre-children...my laptop, my mobile phone, my collection of baby slings (bought with maternity money for first child), mobile cashbacks etc and buy a cheap caravan.

Looking to spend (if I manage to raise this much money) £400 or less on a 4/5/6 berth one with a minimum of two double beds, to pile my small children on. If anyone has one they are getting rid of in the North West PM me.

I don't expect my DH to come away in this caravan, I will go on my own with the children. No, it won't be a relaxing holiday for me but the idea is to give the children a nice time and I'm on my own with all the children every school holiday anyway. I do hope DH might try it one day but I am buying it with no expectations of him ever setting foot in it, as he hates caravans.

DH is still against the idea of me even self funding a caravan and when I mention my caravan fund (barely started), he is very negative and is trying to put me off the idea...telling me I can't put the caravan on our drive...I could put the caravan on our double drive but this would mean I would have to park my car on the road which I am willing to do but he says no.

I aim to buy a couple of food tins every food shop through out the year, to put in the caravan, that is what we did as children. Had a tourer holiday where we ate tinned food for a week with fruit ! Then the money I would of spent on a food shop the week of the holiday, can cover site fees on a basic caravan park...we'll have so much fun.

Caravan insurance will be around a £5 a week/month (can't remember which) and this I will take out of the child benefit for our youngest which we have just started receiving and isn't currently in our budget IYSWIM, as it is a benefit for our children.

My father has already agreed IF i get a caravan he will be willing to tow it nearby for me (within a couple of hours drive). So I don't need to get a tow bar, nor worry about towing the caravan. I'm sure my father will help me set it up for me on site :)

DH's parents live permanently in a caravan travelling around Europe and England and I'm sure I could pitch up next to them for a few nights. They don't see enough of the grandchildren and I'm sure would love for me to do this. Likewise my own parents are retired and have a tourer and would love to spend a few days at the seaside with their grandchildren.

AIBU to buy a caravan ?

'I would not go camping on my own, as I can not put up a 5/6 man tent on my own and I would get zero sleep, trying to prevent the children from leaving for a midnight crawl/walk around the camp site....currently aged 6yo, 4yo, 2yo and a 7 week old baby '

That's what caravanning is, though.

old carvans can also have asbestos in them as it was used as insulation and a caravan can be damp anyway it is a tin box so if it has damp it isn't going to be pleasant to sleep in, people seem to be trying to put you off but i think we are trying to help you be realistic, there is loads of ways you can have a summer holiday for not a lot of money, newspaper vouchers teletext holidays midweek breaks we once got a static for £99 one year,

Yourself, a 6 yo, a 4yo, a 2yo and a 7 week old baby, in a caravan?! Are you insane?! :o

I had a four berth caravan (for 400 surprisingly) it was nice but a tight squeeze for 2 never mind 4

I would not like such young children to be sleeping in a damp caravan and ok you will want to be out all day but you cant rely on the british weather so what happens if it rains for 3 days solid, the caravan leaks and is damp and you only have 2 gas rings to cook and heat the thing.

Can you not just borrow your mil's static one a bit more even if you have to pay her a bit of cash for it?

That's what caravanning is, though.

this you still need to get water supervise your littlies and sometimes the weather is just rubbish and if you are on your own with 4 children it will be stressful,

My children are feral. They go missing often. They've never managed to escape from a tent without being noticed. Nor have they tried, they're too tired.

You can get really great camping gear now. My Dad is really into his tents and camping gear. They're often found with a whole village full of tents. You can even get shower cubicles and flushing toilets (they flush the same way a caravan toilet does, they still need emptying) for tents now. It's nothing like it used to be when we were young. Most pitches have the option of hooking a power supply up. They had freeview in their tent last time I went with them (don't ask me how I am clueless) Pus they have a mini generator for if they end up somewhere with no electric hook up.

Pitching and transporting a tent is cheaper than a caravan. Easier to store too.

Mine have been camping since newborn and they love every second. I've only been twice but despite my apprehensions we had a lovely time.

Hmmm...you won't be out at the beach the rest of the time OP - you will spend more time than you think in the caravan if the weather turns bad. Trust me on that one if nothing else.

If I had a caravan I'd pay for a seasonal pitch somewhere out of the way and lovely, and use it as a wee but n ben as well.

We stayed on a very pretty campsite in Wales this year, and the place was populated by a good few 'weekenders' who turn up Friday teatime and leave Sunday night. Lovely!
Then they towed them away if they wanted to take them anywhere.

It cost £25 a month - but they got the use of the campsite and it's facilities whenever they liked, so it was a convenient holiday home.

That's what I'd do with a caravan.

In the meantime why not ask your parents/in-laws if they would like to take your eldest away for a few days? DS goes with my parents and sleeps on the floor of their 2 bed caravan and it's a great adventure. His cousins also did it but only ever one at a time as they were growing up.

Its not going to be £400 though, unless you're very lucky. Caravans still require sevicing and fixing of problems, eg brakes, wheels, tyres, etc.. You need bedding, hot water bottles, hook ups, light bulbs, heaters, smoke alarms, stoves, etc.. And its going to have to be quite large, to sleep 5 of you. And site fees and petrol/diesel as well.

And relying on someone else to tow it is very restrictive. Not much fun for your father to drive to yours, hook up caravan, tow it to wherever you want to go for the weekend, drive away and repeat two days later, assuming he is available. How would you get it to Europe?

Get a dome tent, easy as pie to put up and get a very small padlock to put on the zipper for the door. You leave little kids strapped into the car while you set up.

That is what Mum used to do if we were camping with littlies.

TBH I think your plan sounds like madness. Expensive madness.

As a camper, I'm going to say good tent over shit caravan any day.
We have all the home comforts and a very cosy fun time.

If your heart is sert on a caravan, that's fine - but you'll have to up your budget. Imo.

It cost £25 a month - but they got the use of the campsite and it's facilities whenever they liked, so it was a convenient holiday home.

we are looking for a seasonal pitch in the next few years just for me and he only 1 dd comes with us now so a wee weekender would do me fine

I'd borrow the ILs static until I got into work and then buy a nice caravan. A 6-berth for £400 isn't going to be something I'd want to stay in, or my kids. I'd rather sleep in a nice tent than some asbestos-laden, leaking tin can.

I fell out of one of those pop up camper type ones once. There were 4 of us squeezed into the bed and I ended up falling out of the gap between the tent bit and the bed.

Onto to concrete as we were sleeping in a relative's drive.

I should probably leave this thread, it is reminding me of camping (and caravanning) and that always stresses me.

Anything less than 3 stars is camping now.

The difference between tents and caravans is that caravans has a lock on the door no midnight roamings.

Yes, if the insurance went up/caravan leaked/insert another problem here, I would have to admit defeat and send caravan to the breakers yard and forget about holidays for a few years. All I would have wasted my own money.

But best case scenario, we could have a few days break a couple of times a year very cheaply and the kids enjoy themselves.

My father is an engineer/mechanic and will look at any van before I buy one. He will ensure it is safe to use. Damp can be treated and isn't dangerous in small levels.

MIL rented the static last year at a cost of £1000 for a week's break, not happening this year.

'The difference between tents and caravans is that caravans has a lock on the door no midnight roamings.'

Put a small padlock on the tent door.

You can also hire touring caravans and then not have to pay to store it, for all the kit you need, etc.

As I said, a mini padlock on the zipper works a treat for keeping toddlers in.

Hostelling also a cheap way to travel.

My parents have tents (many of) and a caravan. Their dog broke out of their locked caravan last time. If a dog can manage it a child certainly can.

They're back to trailer tents and doggy tents these days.

yes you can also hire campers but they look tiny saw a family with 1 on holiday this year obviously hired and it looked like they played tetris every night to get in it and the mum looked bloody miserable putting the carseat with baby on the ground to do stuff,

Hideous idea with such a small budget. You'd get a rusty damp tin can. Honestly, wait till your wee one's a bit older then get a part time job and save up enough for you all to go away as a family.

Just don't leave anything of value in your tent when you go out. That's what we do. Lock it in the car even.

As for toddlers getting out - well, it's never happened to me, so I can't imagine it.

Security on a tent isn't really an issue. If you remove your valuables there's nothing there to steal really...maybe camping gas, I dunno.

pictish you have clearly never been camping with my mother.

There is the fridge, the freezer, the TV, the DVD player, the stove, the beds, the duvets and on and on and on.

Why she doesn't just rent a cabin I will never know.

I will talk to DH, I guess he isn't being unreasonable but I don't think I am either. I will keep saving and looking for a bargain, if it is meant to be I will find a caravan, if not I won't.

I hate tents and camping and frankly would rather remove my leg with a rusty knife before camping on my own. If my DH had agreed to go with me, I would tolerate a tent for the children's sake but not on my own.

I will try and comprise with DH if it is possible but I am not sure if there is a comprise. It is either have a cheap caravan holiday or no holiday, maybe it will have to be no holiday for a few more years.