AIBU to think he should cancel his weekend away ?

[poshfrock]

DH and I are having a tough time financially. Mainly due to house move last year which means cost of living has risen by £500 per month ( increased mortgage, council tax etc) and his recent change in work shifts means he can no longer car share so fuel costs for his commute have doubled to about £400 per month.
I have been worrying about money recently and it culminated in him sending me a text this morning suggesting that we cancel the family holiday. Holiday cost £1500 and is paid for but we will still have to find spending money and travel costs which will mainly come from our usual fuel/food and spending money with a bit from savings. This is our only holiday and we all look forward to it so much each year. We used to have one big holiday and two shorter ones but knew that when we moved house the shorter ones would have to go and perhaps the bigger one too. We accepted that as part of the deal because of the benefits of moving to a bigger house, nicer area etc.
I think that cancelling the holiday may be sensible. We won't get the full amount back and will probably lose the deposit of £300.
However, DH has a lads' weekend booked for later in the year which he is refusing to cancel. His reasoning is that the weekend only costs £60 which would be true ( 5 of them going to rental cottage - cost £300) except that the holiday has been booked with our credit card in DH's name and although all the other 4 members of the party have paid DH they all gave him cash, which he has spent, so when the charge hits our card next month we will be bearing the full cost. In addition he "needs" £400 spending money ( based on the same trip last year). So all together this trip will cost us £700. He says he can't cancel because the booking is in his name and he is the designated driver ( he has the biggest car). I say pay the £25 admin fee to get the named changed and the others will have to cough up an extra £15 each to cover the fact that DH is not there.
I don't think it's fair that me and the kids miss out on a holiday while DH still gets to go away.
We both work full-time and earn the same to within a couple of thousand of each other. Our finances are arranged so we have a joint account for bills and family costs ( food, kids' activities etc) and then an equal amount each month for personal spending. If he had saved enough from his spending money to go ( as was the plan) then I would mind less but the credit card is paid from joint funds so it feels unfair that he is using family money for a lads' trip and the family are missing out.
AIBU to think he should cancel ?

[Snazzywaitingforsummer]

Both holidays should go ahead now you have paid some/all of the costs of each, but the spending has to drop as far as possible. And the best candidate for cost-cutting there is his "lads' weekend" (wonder if they day will ever come when money is allocated towards a "girls' weekend" for you?

£400 is a really excessive amount to spend. He will just have to spend less, which I expect will = drink less. He may be surprised to find that it is physically possible to go on a weekend away and just have a few drinks. That's what has to happen when you and your family are short of cash, if you're going to go anywhere at all.

Oh, and if this downturn in your income is set to last a while (and I can empathise there - the same has happened to us) then make it clear that this will be his last solo trip for a good while. In those circumstances, a family holiday has to be the only one you take (if at all) next year.

[SerBrienne]

There's no point cancelling the holiday. The only costs still to cover are travel, and food. You'd eat and go out even if you stayed at home, so those are not truly incremental costs. And you could probably do it all for the £400 he's trying to ring-fence, and which IS an incremental cost.

He should cancel, though I think it would be wrong to ask his friends to cover the £60. And given there's one less going they won't need so big a car, will they, so the designated driver bit is rubbish.

I think he's being a selfish dick. I'd put it to the kids jury in his presence and watch him squirm.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

He should be funding his trip from his personal spending money,that way its up to him how long he saves and how much he blows he just has to go without whilst he's saving.

[CloudsAndTrees]

There is now way you would cancel the family holiday. You will spend the time that you would have been away miserable, and spending some of the same money anyway.

Your DH needs to either cancel his holiday, or pay of the credit card from his own personal spending money.

[flumposie]

Please don't cancel the family holiday, if anything should be cancelled it is his weekend

[ChippingInWiredOnCoffee]

I don't think you should/need to cancel either.

He needs to fund his spending money out of 'his' money and he needs to 'pay back' your joint a/c the amount he has put on your credit card out of 'his' spending money - this means he probably wont have much other money until he goes on his stag do - but them's the breaks!

[waterrat]

I can't see any sense in cancelling your holiday - you would lose a important thing - your precious family time - and hardly save hardly anything. Go on the holiday - there is more logic in him cancelling as its his benefit only.

Surely he priorities the family?!

Even if he won't cancel I think you shoul go on your holiday

Tell him he has to cut his budget for personal spends on the trip with his mates ... Or sell something??

[SolidGoldBrass]

It should be his holiday that's cancelled, not the family one. He is not the most important person in the family. But definitely look into selling off stuff to raise money, whether via Ebay or Cash Converters.

[poshfrock]

I honestly don't know what he spends it on. I went to Madrid for a girls' weekend 5 years and only took £100. I did the same for a trip to London. He can't understand how I manage with so little. I suppose when beer is ?8 a pint it can be easy to spend so much.

Thanks for the suggestions raisah. We only moved 12 months ago so are tied to our mortgage for 5 years. We are on the cheapest possible tariff for utilities and we already shop at Aldi. I put in a PPI claim last October. It went to the Ombudsman last month and I've heard nothing so not holding out much hope there. 15 years of working in tax means that I know my code is always right.
To be honest I don't know that we will save much by not going on holiday. The accommodation and ferry are paid for. Fuel for there and back will be about £300 but our normal commute for 2 weeks costs £330 for the two of us so that's covered too. We already have a food budget. So it's just fuel while we're there and extras.

Can't remember who suggested a holiday in the UK might be cheaper, for travel certainly, but last time we looked at that a week in the Lake District in a caravan at Easter was £944. A week in a 4 bed, 3 bath detached house with washing machine, dishwasher etc. in France was £283 for the same week. Even adding on £140 for ferry and extra fuel (although not much as live pretty equidistant between Lakes and Dover) it came out about £400 cheaper. We are having 2 weeks in Germany in a 3 bed bungalow with 2 pools, play area and mini golf on site plus bar, shop etc wifi package included in peak season for just under £1500 for 5 people.

[tungthai]

Sorry that was £600 per month not week!

[tungthai]

It would be a waste to cancel
holiday. We don't spend any extra on holiday, in fact we save £600 per week because we don't have to commute to work.

The children spend all day at the beach and we go for walks etc. We continue shopping in Tesco and might have the odd drink in a pub or takeaway fish and chips. I save my clubcard vouchers to pay for a couple of days out at a nearby zoo or theme park.

A relative of mine was telling me that she can't afford a family holiday because they need £1k spending money per week! Why? I don't take any extra money.

[raisah]

Dont cancel the holiday as you will lose money that you cant afford to lose. Can you make savings elsewhere or sell old toys/ clothes etc put towards spending money? Most people dont realise the amount if money they can save switching utilities, mortgage providers, shopping Aldi Lidl for better deals.
We saved £300 per month by doing the above.

If you think you have been missold PPI then Apply directly to your bank rather than a claims company so you avoid paying handling fees. My friend did this & got £4000 back from being sold unwanted policies.

The citizens advise bureau runs money management courses which are useful. Also check that you are on the right tax code, I wasnt for 6 years so the refund came at the right time for me.

Apart from the cost of the lads holiday, how is your dh going to pay for food/drinks/nights out? A bit unreasonable for him to have a treat & expect you all to go without.

[coppertop]

He seems to have a habit of paying for things for others, and then spending the cash on himself when they repay him. Does he not see that this is going back on the agreement to each only have a fixed amount to spend? Or is he just too selfish to care?

I think if he wants to go on his trip, he needs to seriously cut back on the spending money. And there is no way I would cancel a family holiday just so that one person can spend £400 on themselves in just two days.

[dreamingbohemian]

You may actually find it cheaper in Germany than France, at least for food.

But would it be possible to downsize the family holiday at all -- perhaps cancel and stay in the UK? or go to Ireland? at least to save on travel costs. But I imagine if you have to pay the deposit no matter what, it might not work out cheaper.

I do agree he should cancel, especially as the money for his trip is coming out of family money and not his savings. If it really only cost £100 or so, then maybe not, but £500 is a lot of money.

[JackieTheFart]

I am gobsmacked that £400 for a weekend away is deemed as acceptable.

How on earth does he spend that much? £400 for all of them, yes, but for one?

I don't know what to say. Apart from I would expect my DH to tear me a new one if I behaved like that, as I would with him.

[flowery]

If you'll have to physically find £460 to fund his trip and the same amount would enable you to go on the family holiday, then of course he should cancel.

Presumably if you eat the same as when you're at home while you're on holiday, you could manage with very little extra and £460 spending money would enable you to go?

[Bramblesinforrin]

Thanks, posh frock. And yes, echoing what yellow says ^

[poshfrock]

Yellow yes exactly.
He says it is "too late" to cancel his holiday even though we are due to go in 6 weeks and he is not going until September.

[ENormaSnob]

He taking the piss.

He wants to cancel the family holiday yet is happy to spend £460 on his own weekend away

Is he always so selfish?

Personally i would look at how the accounts are managed, it seems balanced in his favour.

[poshfrock]

We eat the same on holiday as at home. We meal plan and make lists and everything. We take condiments with us so we don't end up doubling up on stuff that we already have. We make picnics to take out with us for the day. We don't go into cafes or bars or buy ice creams. Our weekly food bill for 5 of us ( incl packed lunches) is about £100. We always struggle to do it for this on holiday as there are always extras and food seems to be more expensive. We usually go to France but this year we are going to Germany which I'm guessing will not be cheap.

[YellowDinosaur]

So to clarify, you each have the same amount of spending money each month but he thinks his spending money for the lads weekend should be on top of this? At a time when money is so tight he thinks you should cancel the family holiday?

Why does he think this is reasonable?

[poshfrock]

Funds that would have gone on saving for holidays ( his and family) have been eaten up by his increased commuting costs and now this increase in gas/elect bill. That's £285 per month we suddenly have to find just so he can get to work and we can use gas /elect.

[badguider]

I don't think you should cancel either thing as both are already part paid - but I do think both should go ahead with a very strict budget.

He can survive this weekend on £200 i'm sure... what is he buying? just food and drink?

And you can holiday for not more than your usual food bill for the week if you're really careful.

[poshfrock]

Brambles we always self-cater on holiday. Maybe eat out once in two weeks as it's usually my birthday whilst we are away. Fuel and food are always our biggest costs on holiday. And we shop in local shops.

[poshfrock]

We have two joint accounts - one for bills that he has no access to, basically my salary goes in and then all bills paid by direct debit. Usually less than £5 in there at month end. Unfortunate that British Gas sent bill last week and want to double direct debit from £90 to £180 so we already have a shortfall there of £85. The other joint account is funded by his salary. We each have a set amount from this account paid into our personal spending accounts to cover fuel and spending money. He gets more for fuel as commute is much longer but amount for spending is the same. The balance on this account is then used for food, meals out kids' clothes, activities etc and for paying credit card. His plan was to put the £400 spending money on credit card.
Last year for this trip he took £300 ( which he had saved) but on first day filled up car from joint a/c at a cost of £85. His friends repaid the money ( he drives they pay) but as it was in cash he spent it all over weekend so effectively spent £385. Hence this year he wants a budget of £400.