To not understand holidays

[RandomlyChosenName]

Aibu to not understand how people choose and book holidays and what they do when they’re there. Except millionaires...

My childhood was spent self catering in the UK. I get them! And as a couple we went on short city breaks. I get them too. And we had an expensive all inclusive chill out honeymoon. Also easy! But I can’t work out how to do an abroad family holiday without being a millionaire.

All holidays seem to cost £2,500+ for the family for 2 weeks- I’m looking on First Choice, Tui etc. And the cheaper ones are a self catering room and a shared small basic pool. My children would be bored after an hour or two. Whilst they love swimming, they’d need to do something else for some of the day. Do everyoneelses children just happily swim non stop for 2 weeks? All the holidays seem to be miles from anything. Everywhere with lots of things to do is horrendously expensive.

I can’t work out where you find self catering villas abroad- I looked at AirBNB but couldn’t understand it. I thought it might be cheaper we could maybe go sightseeing or on walks or something. I cannot work out how to even start finding something!

AIBU to not be able to adult enough to even find a family summer holiday that won’t leave us bankrupt? And to not understand how everyone else does it?

I can think of lots things I'd rather save £500 per month towards. Most people don't even have that to spend on food.

https://www.duinrell.com/holiday-park/special-offers?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuu26k-ie4wIV6btCh2SlAAUEAAYASAAEgIrNDDBwE

@SaveKevin I'm feeling like that this year. 2 of my DS's are home alone. AIBU to want to put the whole house in storage? 😂

Surely someone's mentioned self catering in France, but anyway, - France! The ex and I went to France booking through Gite de France, and had some fabulous holidays. I love the French practice of making artificial beaches at many of their reservoirs and suitable places on rivers. 'Le weekend' at the beach is a big thing in France, even if it's not at the seaside proper.

Driving on French motorways with kids is easier than in UK because there are so many service stations. Not all of them are full service, but always have toilets, a water fountain and a space to play at minimum.

The easiest port on the French side if you're going far south, is Le Havre (past Orleans to the A75), and it's also the closest ferry port to Paris.

Those were the days... sigh...

We used to do Owners Direct or French Connections. We used to book Brittany Ferries to get us and car there. That was largest cost. Then we would book two separate weeks in houses. We like northern France as beautiful clean beaches, but also Go Ape type adventure, kayaking on canal, bike hire along green routes, pitch and putt golf, body boarding in sea, visit a chateau, swimming pool complex with water gardens, looking around markets, eating out, walking around ports, going up and over huge viaduct and loads more at tourist information centers. We enjoyed it so much we bought holiday home at Morlaix in Brittany. We used to go on ferry with car and rent three bed house/villa for two weeks for about 2k in peak season. If you have pre school you can go much cheaper in early July or September.

YABVU for using adult as a verb

The reality is holidays are a luxury I suppose. By choice we go away in the UK, Norfolk, Devon, Dorset but we pay more than that for a week normally it’s v expensive during peak times ☹️

I do have a bit of an odd tip that saves a little bit of money for anyone who gets ferries to France. Instead of the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen or St Malo, Condor run a ferry from Poole to St Malo via Jersey. It takes 5/6 hours from Poole to Jersey, then it’s just another hour to France. It means you don’t need the extra expense of a cabin and you can get off and have a break too. Lovely beaches in Jersey for a refreshing swim!

I can think of lots things I'd rather save £500 per month towards. Most people don't even have that to spend on food.

Some people might not have that much to spend on food but certainly not most! The average food bill for a family of four is more than £500 a month and as many people could spend more than that if they wanted to it is definitely not "most".

Randomlychosenname........ Aibu to not understand how people choose and book holidays and what they do when they’re there. Except millionaires...

You don’t have to understand other people’s holidays and what they choose to spend. It is their business and their money!!
Some people enjoy camping and caravans in the UK and some people like travelling across the world or go on cruises. Each to their own and whatever their value is.

@Dungeondragon15

£500 on food for a family of 4? We are 3 adults and a teen and if we spend £300 a month then we have really been splashing out.

I guess it depends if you don't care about how much you spend because money isn't tight. Do you shop at Waitrose by any chance?

£500 on food for a family of 4? We are 3 adults and a teen and if we spend £300 a month then we have really been splashing out.

So what? That doesn't mean that "most" families are doing the same thing!

I guess it depends if you don't care about how much you spend because money isn't tight. Do you shop at Waitrose by any chance?

I was actually looking at the official statistics rather than commenting on my own food bill. I think it includes restaurants and takeaways though. I probably spend about £500 a month on food/drink and shop at Sainsburys/tesco. If I shopped at Waitrose it would be higher!

Some people might not have that much to spend on food but certainly not most! The average food bill for a family of four is more than £500 a month and as many people could spend more than that if they wanted to it is definitely not "most".

I don’t think this is true. I don’t think most people spend that much on food. Not people I know anyone. My disposable income after rent and bills is around £700 so there’s no way I could spend 500 of that on food. Let alone a holiday.

I don’t think this is true. I don’t think most people spend that much on food. Not people I know anyone. My disposable income after rent and bills is around £700 so there’s no way I could spend 500 of that on food. Let alone a holiday.

How do you know what other people spend on food? Is that seriously the sort of conversation you have with friends. Anyway, you can't extrapolate what you and your friend spend to the whole country. According to this link which has used Office of National Statistics data www.nimblefins.co.uk/average-uk-household-cost-food

"The average annual food cost for a typical UK household was around £4,753 in 2018 (based on the average 2.4 people per household), including £255 spent on non-alcoholic drinks."

I think that includes restaurants and takeaways rather than just shopping.

Reading all your fabulous holiday ideas is a little heart breaking. We live on the other side of the world, and to get over costs $$$$$ and takes several days 😩. It’s more of a once in a life time thing than a yearly holiday!

On Eat Well for Less they give the average monthly spends on food for different size families. They definitely stated that the average spend for a family of 4 was less than £500 a month. That's a ridiculous amount to spend

Center Parcs abroad, Duinrell, Responsible Travel, a few different ideas!

No yanbu, a holiday with young kids is my Idea of hell especially abroad. A weekend break somewhere in the UK is preferable I never went abroad till I was 10 went to centre parks etc before that and it was great never felt I missed out. I went to Disney a few times 11-18 but that's only because my dad is rich and lives over there. My kids don't even like staying out for one night they are 5+3, but we are going to take them to Disney when they are older and actually appreciate and remember it. It's way too expensive and I wouldn't be able to afford it myself luckily my dad can though.

On Eat Well for Less they give the average monthly spends on food for different size families. They definitely stated that the average spend for a family of 4 was less than £500 a month. That's a ridiculous amount to spend

They are using ONS data too though so shouldn't be any different to the above link. Perhaps they are not including eating out.

Pickachew I agree mumsnet is full of privileged middle class women though who are very out of touch with how millions live in this country. Lol millions of people struggle to afford a bloody day out.

Eurocamp has lots of activities for kids and is reasonably priced. If you book a villa you will need to entertain them

If you google "average family grocery spend" the money advice service is top hit and says based on ONS its £60.60 a week which sounds about right as an average.

It the breaks down the report into what all those food products are with the variation in fizzy drink spend across the country!

If you google "average family grocery spend" the money advice service is top hit and says based on ONS its £60.60 a week which sounds about right as an average.

That is the average household spend on grocery shop though. The average household in this country is not four people. I think it is only 2.4 people. The figure also doesn't include eating out or takeaways which actually accounts for quite a bit extra.

From this link another £40 is spent on "catering services". www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/expenditure/bulletins/familyspendingintheuk/financialyearending2018#which-households-spent-the-most-on-takeaway-meals-eaten-at-home

I think it totally depends on priorities. Of course saving £500 a month is not easy for everybody...but as another poster has said, even for a family on 46k total income it is do-able depending on what other things you spend your money on. If holidays are super important to you, I guess you save for them over other things. If other things are more important, you accept that you are a UK breaks kind of family instead which is absolutely fine.

In terms of affordable abroad holidays, OP, have you checked out P&O ferries package deals? If you want until certain weeks such as the weeks between Christmas and New Year, they do a special sale where they do complete package holidays of ferry and hotel included at v low prices. You do need some flexibility with dates/travel times and a car to drive yourself around. But we've had breaks for family of 4 plus dog to France, Spain and Portugal on half board for 1.5 weeks at around 1300k each time. We always choose areas with lots to do close by (walking distance or less than 30 min drive) so we've stayed in hotels with zoos, theme parks, watersports etc on the doorstep.