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

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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.

I'm not sure what the figures involved are, especially your outgoings, but choosing to be a family of five is presumably going to be costly whatever activities you decide to do.

We work full time. We also qualify for UC. A tiny amount. Calm your tits Judgy ones. We also both work with supporting people with benefits and getting back to work.

Save your benefit scum should eat beans and broth bullshit

About 5 years ago I did it. When I was on UC and working as a single parent I took my dd to Spain by collecting tokens out of the sun newspaper. Cut back on absolutely everything, and flew by Ryan Air for 80 quid. Used my newspaper tokens for a euro camp and did self catering.

It was bloody brilliant and cost less than 400 pounds. It did take my 12 months to save for but it was so worth it and one of my most treasured memories.

If you don’t already have passports then that will be a major expense even before you look at booking a holiday .
Adult passports are £85 each
And under 16’s £58.50
Plus passport photos would be around £5 each.
So even if you could find cheap flights and accommodation it will still be expensive

Cheapest options is camping or caravan in france. Normandy has amazing beaches and great museums too. Pierre et vacances is a good starting point. Cheapest travel is drive via Dover on ferry. It's all we did until my kids were older and we had significant pay rises

@SisforSoppy

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.

The point is that people like you think it's acceptable to decide and/or judge what people spend their money on.

If they want to save up for a holiday, and can do so on benefits...then what concern is it of yours?

My sister came on holiday with us many times when she was on benefits with her two sons as a single mum she just budgeted and saved
However she’s been working full time for a few years now and has another baby and is with her now DH and they haven’t been abroad together so not sure really
I think it depends on your outgoings someone on minimum wage with no debts or childcare outgoings may be able to afford it over someone who’s on a relative good wage with high outgoings childcare and debts

I think a trip to France would be achievable. I have used the £1 megabus tickets before, £1 each way.

Depends if you have any money at end of month

But yes even if save for a year or two you should be able to get a cheap week abroad

Do any of you have passports? That is a big cost but I went to the South of France when I was 16 on an overnight coach and we stayed in a mobile home. It was lovely for a 16 year old helped by the weather and I also met a very good looking French boy!

Having said that a family of 5 is a lot on NMW and we stopped at 2 because I knew that three would just finish me off.

I would really think about why you want to do this, and what you want to gain from it.
If it’s because you think it makes you a better parent - save your money! It doesn’t.
Don’t rush into any abroad = good.

You don’t want to save hard for a year to end up annoyed because you’ve got grumpy teenagers who are complaining the wifi is shit and they don’t want to go for a walk on the beach, thanks!

It’s all very well saying that camping is cheapest… (and I love camping!) but if it’s not your “thing” - then it’s awful. And think about what you’re going for. If it’s just to say you’ve been abroad - fine. But if you want to have seen foreign cities - then maybe it won’t tick your boxes.

You can go abroad, definitely. Save, save some more. Go during term time if necessary. But I’d definitely wait until Covid tests aren’t needed, and I’d be really clear about what I wanted from the trip.

Good luck!

Self catering
On the beach
Jet 2

Look at main stream holidays then contact places direct and go with easy jet etc.

Single parent but only have 1 DC so we self cater in Greece mainly. Make breakfast in apartment and lunch mainly but do eat dinner out but that's only 2 of us but it's cheap in certain places out there.

Go 1 or 2 days before school ends.

Trip advisor.

Teletext holidays also. Combine luggage as everyone always brings home stuff they haven't worn.

To the person who asked if OP was 'taking money from the state', I hope that you're in the 1/3 of people in the country who are net tax contributors, or you too are 'taking money from the state', I hope you're not pissing it away on luxuries!

I just had a look and it's 7% of UK workers that are on minimum wage, so it's nowhere near most jobs in the country @WonderfulYou.

I see all my friends jetting off all over the place and winder how on earth they afford it. We are not on benefits (except child benefit). Wage is more than minimum wage. 2 adults, 4 kids.

We always have a UK holiday, but would love to go abroad more. But usually the travel costs make it unaffordable. I keep seeing on here people saying abroad is cheaper than UK, but I don't get how.
I costed our holiday this year. Just over £1500 for everything. And that was more expensive than usual because we went to Devon and covid made accommodation more expensive.
Whenever I've looked at overseas holidays the transport alone has cost that much!

How much money do you have left over at the end of the month? That's your holiday fund. If the answer is none, and you can't make any changes to improve that, then you can't afford a holiday abroad.

Look outside of peak - May half term for example
Eurocamp or booking.com self catering
Book your own flights
I used to use skyscanner.net
Think about going by ferry or train
Or stay with friends
Flights to Malaga are not expensive, for example. Then book self catering accommodation.

@Hankunamatata

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

This is what I was going to say. I barely left my home county and never my country — nor had my parents or grandparents, apart from one grandfather working as a labourer in London — until I got my first passport aged eighteen and worked in France as an au pair for a summer. There simply wasn’t the money, and also it just never occurred to my parents as something they ‘should’ be doing.

I earn more than minimum wage but I am 'taking from the state'.
I work full time and am a single parent but I've only got one child, we go abroad.
For 2 of us sharing accomodation with other family members a holiday in Spain at october half term was actually cheaper than a summer holiday at home.
Flights to the continent are often cheaper than train fares to London.
I'm planning an easter break for next year, Prague, Budapest or Krakow for 3 or 4 nights.
With 3 children it will be 3x more expensive like anything else.

I am a single parent, I earn just over minimum wage and get tax credits. We go abroad at least twice a year, usually one long haul and one short haul holiday and a couple of European city breaks (haven't been abroad since Covid though). I do only have one child though, could not afford to do that with a family of 5.

I think you and others similar can do it. It depends do you have expensive phone contracts you can cut down to sim only? TV packages can you cut down? Shop at Aldi.

There's so many changes you can make.

Top tip though I always take my DS out of school to go on holiday and there's just me and him to pay for! With 5 of you I think that's what you would need to do as well.

You could also go to NI/Wales/Scotland/England (which ever one you don't live in) and get a domestic flight.

Domestic flights are often a lot cheaper than long distance trains and some just want driving licences for ID.