To think my DH is a miser when it comes to holidays? How much do you spend?

[Pipsquiggle]

We are a relatively high earning household. We earn between £7k and £9k a month net. Have a small mortgage, no debts to pay off, monthly bills but essentially never spend over what we earn (we have saved for so long, we have kept up with this habit)

We both agreed that we needed a foreign holiday where we could relax, so I looked at options for an all inclusive 4/5 stars, pools, kids clubs etc. for 7 days. The quotes I got back were circa £5k to £6k (school holidays, family of 4).

My husband then says 'We can't spend like this every holiday - it will be a 1 off' - which is fair enough, I don't mind camping or hiring a cottage etc.

But then I got thinking - am I taking the mick with this holiday? What do other people spend when they go abroad?

I don't want to start a 'showing off' thread but genuinely How much do you approx earn as a household and how much do you approx spend for a week abroad? This holiday is slightly lower than a month's earnings - is that too much?

Thanks in advance.

1. Make him do the research and see if he can do better
2. See if his amazing 'savings' are worth it.

DH used to insist we didn't get a taxi from the airport as it was a waste of money. Until the time we had to walk ages in the rain, lugging the suitcases up and down stairs from the station - no escalators, me moaning loudly all the way, and arrived looking like drowned rats.

Next time he spontaneously walked to the taxi rank

stupid expensive holiday was meant to be stupid expensive hobby.

similar income have been to decent places in this country for around £2k week last few years but every 5 years or so let the handbrake off for a week ( Ashford Castle , Fregate Island , Eagles Nest ) and enjoy both sorts equally , would not find me camping !

I think 7k should be better used to cover a 10-14 nught trip. Its very expensive for one week.

No kids, earn 100k between us, probably spend 2-3k a year on various holidays. We're easyjet and airbnb people, not into all inclusive and don't often go long haul, our holidays tend to be 3-4 long weekends in European cities rather than one big holiday. Our 3 week honeymoon cost about 7k and that was about as luxurious as we will ever go I imagine.

That sounds like a good deal to me. Our monthly net income is similar to yours, but dh does usually get his annual salary again in a bonus (so double, but not guaranteed). We have school fees x3 to pay for and a biggish mortgage, no other debts. I am happy as long as it doesn't start with a 2 - we've just booked 2.5 weeks in Florida for the 5 of us for £17k. Different people have different priorities - our house is fairly modest for our income, but we love to travel.

If he still seems uncomfortable with the cost at the end of the holiday (he may love it!) can you work out a compromise where one year you have an expensive holiday and the next year a cheaper one and keep alternating years?

It sounds OK given your income and lowish outgoings

I think it’s probably just sounds a lot to your husband, which it IS, but holidays are expensive.

I wouldn’t get into a debate, just do it this year. Who knows, you might not want to do All Inc again, and before next year comes round, stage some kind of financial review where you check all your savings etc are in order. At which point he’ll likely relax a bit.

No, it's about right and what much lower earning families would pay too. Our family holidays cost around that 15 years ago for 4 of us, and we earned about half your salaries.
That said, it is objectively a lot of money to spend in two weeks if holidays are not a priority to you. That sort of family holiday is not always that enjoyable either, often noisy, busy and quite basic compared to the lifestyle he's probably used to at home, so I can see why he might think its not much bang for his buck, and just because its easily affordable, not money well spent.
However, he is just one member of your family, and everyone's needs are important.

You might find this recent thread useful www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4433172-how-much-do-you-spend-on-holidays-and-how-often-do-you-go

I'm not going to say how much but we spend a lot more than that as travel as frequently as possible (when we can) is a priority for us.

We fly business, stay in the best hotels, high end rentals and dine out at excellent restaurants.

With DS 17 who has SLD life can be very challenging and our holidays are a complete break from that. No way would we get that from camping etc!

One thing I am pretty sure of is that when I am lying on my deathbed I'm not going to be reminiscing about what expensive curtains or designer crap I bought, but about the experiences and things that we have done and seen as a family.

If you can afford it, life really IS way too short!

We usually spend around 3k on 10 nights AI, that’s 4 of us (but primary so usually just pay the LA fee and miss a week instead if paying 5k for the same holiday) never under 4* and usually canaries or Lara beach in turkey, take home pay is £3800/month joint.

V interesting! What do you get for £6k holiday? Is this Maldives/Caribbean territory with private infinity pools? Genuine question!

I’m only asking as we normally spend about £1k in August for a UK cottage for 4 near beaches. Not including overspending at all the tempting wine and farm shops!

This year DH has a big birthday so I’m paying a bit over £2k for us all to stay a week in a suite at a small hotel in the med with an on site Michelin restaurant. Flights are extra and with EasyJet. It looks v pretty and feels really lux to me so I’m just wondering how fancy a £6k equivalent might be. I’m quite tight with money so I’m not sure we would ever do it - but v interested in drooling at other peoples experiences!

Sounds expensive for 7 days, I would have thought 10 days for that price range

If it's all-inclusive in an European country (including flight, food + alcohol) quite reasonable for the school holidays.
Worth a month's salary? Depends on your priorities. Seems like a waste if all you're going to do is relax by the pool in a luxury hotel. People usually go to places like this because they can, not because it's value for money. You can go to normal 'family resorts' which would be 1-2K cheaper, also lots of activities to occupy the kids.

For me a month's salary would mean a trip to somewhere exotic, lots of things to see and do.

@Pedalpushers

No kids, earn 100k between us, probably spend 2-3k a year on various holidays. We're easyjet and airbnb people, not into all inclusive and don't often go long haul, our holidays tend to be 3-4 long weekends in European cities rather than one big holiday. Our 3 week honeymoon cost about 7k and that was about as luxurious as we will ever go I imagine.

Having kids makes a massive difference to holiday options, especially with school holidays

*sorry not food and alcohol i meant to say flight and food!
Alcohol of course can't be counted... :D

YANBU, but how good a holiday you have isn’t always down to how much you spend.

IMO very stingy - & why rough it in a tent or self-catering with that income?
We earn less than you, & probably spend a month's income 3 times a year on holidays.
Last 2 years we've spent more as we had to holiday in UK - so much more expensive than anywhere abroad.

[picks jaw back off floor and reverses out of room]

Given your income I was expecting you to say quite a bit more than you did.

We earn about the same as you, but just two adults. Usually spend around £2k - £3k per holiday (one or two a year). Bearing in mind we can avoid the most expensive parts of the year I think your costs sound reasonable for four.

What I mean is ‘given your income and your DHs ‘this is a one-off’ comment.’

I'd never spend that much on a holiday.
I was infuriated watching antiques roadshow one year when a most beautiful antique was valued and then sold for a 10k holiday, bloody cave dwellers.
I'd much rather have the antique.
I can afford a decent holiday but I'd much rather go camping or to a motorbike rally.
After 2 days on holiday I want to go home.

@FridayiminlovewithRobertSmith

V interesting! What do you get for £6k holiday? Is this Maldives/Caribbean territory with private infinity pools? Genuine question!

I’m only asking as we normally spend about £1k in August for a UK cottage for 4 near beaches. Not including overspending at all the tempting wine and farm shops!

This year DH has a big birthday so I’m paying a bit over £2k for us all to stay a week in a suite at a small hotel in the med with an on site Michelin restaurant. Flights are extra and with EasyJet. It looks v pretty and feels really lux to me so I’m just wondering how fancy a £6k equivalent might be. I’m quite tight with money so I’m not sure we would ever do it - but v interested in drooling at other peoples experiences!

Add a 1 in front of the 6 for Maldives with private infinity pool