To ask how you actually afford to go abroad

[lavenderpekins]

Aibu to feel fed up? Not going away again.. nearly everyone I know is going on a family holiday to the med this summer holiday.

Sort of lighthearted I know we're very lucky to live in this country, able to buy good/nhs/school.. I'll get over it too..

Look at self-catering and somewhere not in a major resort area. You can get some really good deals for family-sized places with pools or whatever, provided you're willing to be flexible about where you are. That way you can buy supermarket food for breakfasts and lunches, go out for dinner sometimes, but not spend much. If you drive to, say, Brittany, the costs of petrol and Channel Tunnel aren't much either.

Do your research well in advance, budget for it throughout the year, and be willing to be flexible.

I'm a single mother of 4 and earn 30k. What you don't see is that my ex is a very high earner and pays child maintenance of over 1500 a month. People who know what I do for a living probably wonder how I afford it. I also don't drink or buy takeaways. I borrow clothes from friends rather than buy if it's something I won't need frequently. I live close to work so my travel costs are low. And I was lucky enough to buy my house 20 years ago and now have a minimal mortgage. So I can afford to take my kids to the med in August, but other people who look like they have a similar lifestyle and job can't.

As a household we have always ticked the highest possible income box in any survey or market research but despite that we have never been able to afford foreign holidays. As PPs have said it's probably because it isn't a priority to us.

We have never had nice cars either, much to DHs colleagues amazement we drive battered 10myear old Toyota.

However after 30 years we do have a nice family home, help in that house and we also own two other properties and have supported DCs and me through degrees and Masters. I do still occasionally price up a family trip to Florida or a cruise but then I am so horrified at the price I pay a chunk of the mortgage instead.

We shop in Asda for clothes. We buy Tesco value food. We do our own haircuts. We don't go to the cinema. We don't do takeaways. We don't eat out. We rarely even go out unless it's the park (free!)

But this does not mean we have money for a holiday. A holiday would be very important to us too, but it ain't happening if there is no extra money. No matter how much we cut back. It's not always about priorities.

We both work. Our wages meet our bills. That's it. Holidays are too expensive.

Even UK holidays are stupid prices. Even a caravan for a week in August is over £1000.

Looks like another staycation for us!!

Examples of people I know, neighbours just got back from the Caribbean. Their jobs are average. But they have a very small mortgage. Kids grown up, so just the two of them.

A friend has an August holiday planned, again, average jobs, but they bought their house 20 years ago, and again have a very small mortgage with interest rates low. They have more disposable income and save for holidays.

Budget flights and airbnb?

It's about priorities and the cost of the actual holiday.

We prioritise holidays above other discretionary spending. A meal out is a toastie and chips in Wetherspoons. I cook cheap meals and don't spend masses at the supermarket. We don't go out drinking because a £4 bottle of wine in Lidl would cost £10 in the pub. We have very cheap sim only phone contracts. We change suppliers for utilities every year.

Every bit of money that those things save goes in the "holiday fund". I book holidays a year in advance, and usually get great deals. If nothing is cheap enough a year out, I will wait for a last minute deal instead. The people you see having a holiday in the Med maybe got it dirt cheap. There have been last minute holidays on HUKD and similar sites recently for £200 or less per person.

The true cost of holidays in the U.K. is way more than the headline price. It's mostly cheaper to go all inclusive to somewhere hot and sunny, where the kids can spend the day in the pool, than trailing around in the UK spending vast amounts of money trying to amuse them and spending a fortune to eat out.

We went AI to Tenerife last summer, and spent a grand total of €60 over the fortnight, which was on parking and ice creams and drinks while we were out. Everything else was paid for in advance.

We save every month. This year we are going to Cornwall for a week and Tenerife all inclusive for a week.
My dh inherited money and we paid off our mortgage early. We both work full time , we don't drink much, smoke or spend a lot on going out and prefer to save for holidays.

gluteustothemaximus I agree about housing costs. If your wages cover your outgoings and you are already frugal, there's bugger all you can do. We have very low housing costs, so although we earn way less than most people on here, we have some disposable income.

I'm a bit at the price of some holidays. Dh had a quote for 12 000 for one holiday, two adults, two children I realise it's possible to get something cheaper, but still. Disney/Florida seems to be the popular choice this year at DC school, but at £3 - 4000 + I think that's expensive and we both earn above average and could manage these things, but like a previous poster foreign travel isn't a priority (and the DC have lots of money spent in other areas, such as sports and dance)

I wouldn't be scrimping on food/clothing all year in order to fund foreign travel. If that's what it took I'd accept that I couldn't afford it. And if I had managed to save just enough to fund a holiday by way of scrimping, it would feel irresponsible to then blow it all on a holiday.

I manage by planning a really long way in advance. I know where I want to go and book the flights as soon as a good deal opens up (you can set alerts for price decreases on skyscanner). I book accommodation way before everyone else and then save up. It works!
That said, you can still fly to Trieste in Italy for £100 in August so all is not lost

Unlimited you have a point so I will offer our situation.. husband works, I don't.
We have 2 children - 1 under 10, 1 over 10. Husband earns 30k, we don't claim any benefits. We have one car which is 10 years old, his work van is 2/3yrs old. We don't smoke & rarely drink or go out drinking. We do have meals out (a couple of times a month) but don't really get takeaways. We don't have gym memberships, we walk the dog & go on bike rides instead. We take the kids to the cinema/trampolining/park etc etc & they do various football & swimming classes we also have Merlin passes for days out. We aren't massive shoppers but do buy some high street designers fat face gap boden etc but generally only when needed. We don't have any loans/credit cards, hP or catalogues. Our monthly outgoings are relatively low as we aren't in any debt & don't have lots of subscriptions.

We are very outdoorsy people & our priorities are holidays so we do our research. I find out the best time to book flights, plan flights at cheaper times of the day. find out when free kids places are released. Compare hotels/theme parks/car parking etc etc.
We have always found holidays abroad to be cheaper than the U.K (apart from camping) when you look at total spend.

We do a big holiday abroad once a year, a big family/friends U.K. Camping trip, a few w/ends away camping & me & my husband will usually have a weekend on our own somewhere & then have a weekend each with friends. Last year me & dh went to New York (without kids), Disneyland Paris with the kids & Italy with friends. This year was a family hol to Thailand at Easter, morocco with friends in Sep & Lapland at Xmas with the kids. Next year will be a longer Hol in Florida & New York so will probably not do the weekend alone.

Some relatives question how we afford to do this, it's just forward planning & saving. We are already looking at where to go in 2019.

We've quite literally saved for 10 years to be able to go to Florida this summer. It will be a 'once only' trip for the kids. It sort of frustrates me that some people go year after year and treat it as if it was a trip to butlins (which is flipping expensive!).

I work long hours, I don't really have any hobbies apart from travelling and so I go abroad maybe twice a year. I don't buy a lot of clothes, we don't currently have children (although that's on the cards), I don't really drink or go out much. When we do go out, we go to cheap restaurants or we have a picnic. When I holiday, I pay for budget flights and look for cheap accommodation, and I always book it very far in advance.

I used to have a holiday every year with my 3 kids and ex but having lost my job, the relationship ending and moving house, the job I have now pays 18k whereas before I was earning 27k, so no money for a holiday if I want to be able to eat and pay the bills. If I get a better paid job again I will go on holiday as a priority as its one thing I miss the most.

Camping for us this summer. A week in the Bordeaux region was €400 for 3 of us. We'll use the beach, DS can body board to his heart's content. There's a pool, coastal walks, markets for cheaper food.

Stick here's a link to a credit union website. www.creditunion.co.uk Brilliant for small loans as lower interest than banks and no early repayment clauses.

Cheap holiday - or we save up x

Tbh it's not that expensive if you shop around but I can imagine with kids/DP.
You can holiday within europe very very cheaply. Groupon also have fab hotel deals sometimes including flights.

I'll try to find an example.
Ok this is the first Groupon deal I clicked on there could be cheaper ones.
But a 2-4 night stay in a hotel in Rome with flights could be as little as £69 per person.
Accomodation and flights is the biggest holiday cost IME.
www.groupon.co.uk/deals/ga-weekender-breaks-732
If you can book it say 6 months in advance and save a tenner a week towards it, that's £240 of spending money to take with you.
If you can then use cashback sites like quidco and topcashback (providing you're in the UK) to make a few ££ a month doing shopping you would've done anyway you could likely get yourself an extra £30-£150 to take with you too in that time (depends where you shop and how much you spend).
It's not a holiday in the med but it's a lovely experience and abroad. You can find similar deals for loads of destinations the cheapest are always in Europe though.

I don't want to come across as insensitive as you may not have even £69/ £10 a week spare.

But this is how I had my first holiday abroad with STBXH.
Hope this helps

0% credit card and pay it off in equal monthly instalments.

SabineUndine thank you

Limited I drive an old banger and I still cant afford a holiday abroad In fact not even a holiday in the UK.

Sadly this past year I've had countless bills and there is no left over money for any luxuries, I could barely afford necessities as it is.

Because I have a high enough income to pay for several great holidays. And I don't have any dependants.

We have enough disposable income as we are both high earners. It's really that simple. No debt, no saving up specially, we have the money over and above what we save as normal.

We earn quite a lot but also holidays abroad are a real priority as it's time we spend just the 4 of us witout other people /family/school/work/activities etc.
We own a property abroad so that's a big help, we rent it out over the summer when it's too hot and busy for us which then pays for us to go there out of season.
I also agree that holidays abroad can work out cheaper than in The UK. We planned a long weekend at the seaside in Whitby and were looking at almost £700 for a cottage. We are flying to France and staying with friends for much less

My sil's family earn the same as us and they always ask how we can afford it

We just live very different. They chose to spend more on designer clothes, expensive hobbies and shopping at normal supermarkets.

We have the travel bug bad so that's a priority for us, we live in supermarket sale clothes, shop at Aldi and meal plan carefully.
We book a year in advance and pay off a bit at a time.

They do have an extra child so I imagine that's a factor in abroad holidays. It's the main reason I'm stopping at 2 dc, despite being very broody!