AIBU to say you can't afford to go abroad on NMW?

[AlphaBravoCharlieDeltaEchOFoxt]

If you are a working parent how do you afford to go on holiday abroad?

My teenagers and toddler have never been abroad. Family of five. I want to change this and COVID or no COVID I want to save up for an overseas holiday. How can people on the national minimum wage budget so they can go abroad? Please advise! Or am I right in thinking that if you earn NMW you cannot go abroad on holiday?

Yes - I am BU and it can be done on NMW.
No - YANBU and it cannot be done on NMW.

A pp makes a good point, 5 is a major sticking point in trying to book anywhere cheaply, even the likes of a premier Inn requires two rooms.

My last abroad holiday was cheaper than my British holiday all in all - better weather meant fewer in door things necessary and accomodation in holiday destinations tends to be cheaper.

Yanbu that holidays are expensive regardless.

I think it is possible for you to do it. Maybe you might need to save up for a year but you could do it x how about a euro camp/siblu style holiday in the south of France or Spain. What makes it cheaper is booking through an owner's site instead of going with the company, like a mobile caravan owner's site ,

I didnt have my first foreign holiday until I was 18 which I saved up from pt job, parents just couldn't afford it. My kids never been abroad as not a priority for us or money sacrifice we are willing to make

Poor people must never have a good time. They must just go around grovelling about how grateful they are that they don't get to starve.

I'm trying to decide if it is my CTC, CB or ds's DLA that bars me, or does the latter mean I get a free pass for a week's holiday in Scarborough?

And yes 5 is more costly as most rooms are set up for 4

@SheikhMaraca you are going to get an absolute roasting for that comment on here, but there are many who will silently agree with you.

If you have a car you can get a ferry to Holland quite cheap, think it is around 160 for 5 people return. Go to the hook of Holland instead of Amsterdam, it is only an hours drive from Amsterdam.

@Whitefire

Poor people must never have a good time. They must just go around grovelling about how grateful they are that they don't get to starve.

I'm trying to decide if it is my CTC, CB or ds's DLA that bars me, or does the latter mean I get a free pass for a week's holiday in Scarborough?

You don't have time to visit Scarborough, surely you're too busy going round thanking all the tax payers on bended knee, for allowing you to feed your family???

I’ve used Tesco Clubcard vouchers for the eurotunnel to drive to France and then stayed in a Dutch centerparcs (much cheaper than U.K.!!)

I think that would be really cost effective for 5 people.

The OP WORKS. she's on NMW not benefits. Yes 5 kids are a lot and mean hols will be expensive but if she saves carefully it should be doable. It's an important part of "cultural capital" to have travelled abroad

Ive just come back from tenerife and the test crap was almost the same price as the holiday (5 adults ans our 20 month old). Now is not a great time.

Saying that my friend who is wealthier and also quite 'tight' goes on camping holidays in Europe. They drive to dover, ferry then wherever they are camping. To me petroll would cost as much but with the extra luggage its prob even to flying. Dunno how the 2 small kids wore driving that long but the holidays looked really fun (after the epic drive). She was in Holland this year. Was cheaper than us going to tenerife and she had 1 more in her party.

I’d advise looking for cheap flights -as I said, I paid £13 for return flights to Budapest, and a bus ticket to the centre from the airport (about half an hour) is only a couple of quid - and then booking an apartment where you can all stay. Forget hotels. Obviously, if you don’t have passports, that’s an extra expense. We don’t have a car, so no need to pay for airport parking either.

[quote SisforSoppy]@SheikhMaraca you are going to get an absolute roasting for that comment on here, but there are many who will silently agree with you.[/quote]
Well then they're a bunch of arseholes too. God forbid someone on benefits goes on holiday abroad. They'll be buying themselves flatscreen TVs next!

[quote SisforSoppy]@SheikhMaraca you are going to get an absolute roasting for that comment on here, but there are many who will silently agree with you.[/quote]
You clearly agree with her.

What concern is it of yours if someone "claiming from the state" is choosing to spend that on a holiday? Are benefit claimants not allowed a break? Not allowed any leisure time? Begrudging a family on the bread line, who have saved £1 a week for four months, so they can take a fucking day trip to the beach and buy their kids an ice cream is fucking low.

I was a lone parent surviving on tax credits in the days when maintenance from exDH was taken off you pound for pound
I managed a foreign holiday every year for us by having a separate bank account which I put in every penny of extras - things I sold on eBay - refunds for work travel over and above what it cost me - cash back schemes - so if I got a £5 supermarket voucher I used it and transferred £5 into separate bank account x vouchers - gifts anything
On an average year we got a week in the sun

Hi OP, a lot of people I know do it on credit and IMO that’s better to avoid if possible. It is hard for people on lower incomes and sadly the gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing rapidly. I really hope things work out for you and that one day soon you can take yourself and your beloved children on an epic far flung, sun soaked adventure.

It's not impossible, but 5 does bump the price of accommodation.

You know you'll need 6 passports if you don't have them already so you could start by saving enough to cover that.
Then choose your destination and price it so you can factor in a budget- decide how long it would take to save enough and have some budget for clothes, toiletries etc and spending money or if you could book in advance and pay off monthly. I found a great deal to a hotel I love on easyjet, paid the deposit and would usually pay some monthly although with Covid I'm leaving it to later on so there's less at risk if we decide not to go.

You'll also need to add on Covid testing costs, you might not need it in a year but better to have the budget!

Ferries are also great, there are some lovely caravan and camp sites in france and Spain. You've still got the passports, testing, spending money but its potentially cheaper.

Obviously budgeting depends massively on outgoings, what one person can save would be out of reach to someone else on the same income.

so they can take a fucking day trip to the beach and buy their kids an ice cream is fucking low

The OP isn’t asking about a day trip to the beach for an ice cream. They want to take a family of 5 overseas. That’s extravagant by anyone’s standards.