AIBU to wonder how anyone with kids can afford to go on holiday?

[stilltiredinthemorning]

My husband and I both work. We're not huge earners, but both professionals earning above the average wage. We have 2 kids (3 and 6). I know this has probably been raised many times before, but honestly, how to 'normal' people possibly afford to go on holiday??? Just for giggles I just had a look at Centre Parks for either half term or Easter - it's £1800 for 4 days!!!! Even bloody Butlins in Skeggy is over £600 for 3 nights. Cheap package holidays seem to be at least £1000 (but at least feels like your getting a bit extra for your money). Even if we had £1800 sitting about, which we most certainly don't, I really don't think I could bring myself to spend it on 4 nights in a very average log cabin in Suffolk (especially since pretty much everything else costs extra). I'm honestly thinking that we just won't be able to go on holiday again until the kids are finished at school. I mean we could save up the money over a year or so, but the pressure of spending that much would undo all the pleasure of the holiday I think???

My parents were as poor as church mice, but we went camping almost every weekend. It was brilliant.

We always camped with ours too, but we’d do Eurocamp.

gertrudeperkins

We're due to go to Holland in May half term and I was wondering the same thing about restrictions. It does seem to be 10 days. It's been cancelled twice already 2020 & 2021 🤷🏻‍♀️

I never understand people asking how other people afford things. It’s quite simple, they earn more money than you, or they have different priorities for the money they earn.

We are middle earners, holidays for us are a priority so we save hard for them. We don’t eat out, don’t have takeaways and neither of us smoke, drink or so expensive hobbies.

We’ve just spent £1600 on 4 days in Disneyland Paris in June and £2k on a villa in France for August with travel. We will also spend £600 ish on a week in Cornwall in October half term. We save around £500 a month towards holidays.

Holidays are so expensive in the school holidays. When mine were small we always went during term time. This year they are missing the last couple of days of term, which makes things a little cheaper.

@wolfstarling

You can pick stuff up really cheap second hand.

A second hand holiday?

Wrong thread?

I'm a single parent and only have one child so we only need a twin room. Butlins is like £200 for us.

It’s cheaper to go abroad with children than it is to go in the UK, if you go all inclusive and take a child free place. I would never go to centre parcs now, though went many Yeats ago, these days it’s extortionate!

Why not find an Airbnb somewhere there are relatively cheap flights?

I mean we could save up the money over a year or so

This is what most people do. Save up in advance, then book whatever you can afford.

I go onto the Haven website and search all the school holidays and go with the cheapest.
4 nights in Yorkshire in the April school hols was £326 at time of booking. We go bog standard caravan and hold back the rest of the holiday budget for fun days out and food while there. (October hols are also cheap).

We once did a Forest holiday, lovely cabins with hot tubs but less activities than centre parks. We went with DB, DSil and DN so we only had to pay half each which made it more 'affordable'. Is that an option?

We don't take our holiday during the summer. We go feb, Easter or October. Weathers more changeable but it's way more affordable. We have done cottages in the uk, glamping in the uk and trips in Europe. I always hunt around and book everything myself instead of a package holiday.

We have done house swaps in the past. You can see some interesting parts of the country by doing that.

Camping, as already mentioned. We love a very simple, farm campsite near Faversham, which is a pittance - £20 a night or something to pitch a tent. It’s a very simple, tents only pitch and a fire pit in a field, but our kids had a ball. Faversham Lido is an amazing outdoor pool nearby. There’s the usual ice cream, fish and chips out of newspaper by the seaside and fruit picking and mini train at Brogdale National Fruit Collection, Whitstable for oysters and water sports if you can stretch to stand up paddling. We borrowed much of the camping stuff and drove there. We had a week for £400 in summer (not including food we brought) by booking ahead.

What some people I know do (apart from earning more money and not having to do any of the following):

• plan so far in advance that they get cheap rates, put it on a card and pay it off over time
• save up for the whole year (or longer)
• put it on a credit card and go into debt
• go away with grandparents, who pay for the majority of the cost - one friend confided that as long as they go on hols with her ILs, all they pay for is getting to wherever they're going (flights/ferry/petrol) her ILs pay the cost of accommodation and food
• go abroad where it's often far cheaper

We book in advance & pay monthly

Hi @stilltiredinthemorning Haven't RTFT (sorry!) but we've booked for Easter holidays, 4 nights going on Easter Monday to a Parkdean Park with indoor pool etc in Norfolk. It's a brand new 3 bed caravan and cost £249. £75 paid at time of booking, balance to be paid a month later. The caravan looks really nice and we can't wait!! As PP have said, Haven can be good too.Good luck with your search.

[quote GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing]@Isthatthebestyoucando I’m interested you say you’re going to Netherlands in half term. We’re due to go in the first week of our Easter hols (not Easter hols in Europe or it seems most of U.K. - my children’s schools are not private just seems to be having weird hols this year - so it’s affordable). I’m worrying the Dutch will still be making U.K. travellers isolate for 10 days, even vaxxed, as they are at the moment. Are you more optimistic?[/quote]
I didn’t know about that, I spoke to someone last week about the pools being open, that’s sad, maybe a reschedule will be in order. I’m glad you said that.

Close friend is a travel agent and she said most people (including her) do monthly payments, booking maybe a year in advance.

Caravan parks - haven, parkdean etc. cheap and cheerful, but so long as there's a pool, a beach, a play area and an arcade my kids are happy. If you can play around with doing Friday to Friday, or Monday to Monday, or weekends, you can get some great deals.

Butlins you can get some really good deals, call them up. They'll find discounts you never knew about.
Countryside if you like the outdoors or City breaks Youth Hostel Association YHA. Once you book one you oay £20 but get that pretty much of your first booking. London, glamping pods and just beautiful buildings. Check the one by whitby abbey. They are heritage places, so absolutely stunning. Inside basics, but very comfortable and all you need. Often they have free passes if they are on the same area aswell.

Ever understood the MC obsession with Centre Parcs - it truly looks like it’ll be full of MC wankers …

Covid has produced massive increases so just be patient for now. I opened a savings account and the put £100 a month in it and always booked a late deal. I got a week in the summer holidays in a hotel, premium dining at Bognor Butlin’s 2 adults 2 children for £1000 summer 2019. I booked the Sunday and went the Monday. Haven also have a late deals page where I’ve picked up a 2 bedroom caravan for £99 weekend in the summer. They have always been booked day before.

If you have above average salaries rhen you must have above average outgoings, if you’ve no money left and can’t afford a holiday. People just prioritise different things.

Average salary for two people is 64k. So you must be on more than that if you’re above average.

So even if only a couple of grand over each you’d be bringing in 70 k min so it must be your other outgoings that are the issue you choose to spend it on other things…?

Pierre et Vacances is waaayyy better and way cheaper … and still has pools and stuff for kids plus you’re in Normandy or similar so can do some days trips to see museums or beaches or whatever

We just looked and an Easter break in Europe with flights for a family of 6 is below £2k... Centre Parcs seems like a rip off in comparison

I married a teacher so have had the holiday price issue for years before we even had kids and will do until he retires.

We have two weeks in Ibiza this summer AI and it is cheaper than the two weeks we had on the south coast on a holiday park last summer. The weather was shit so we spent a fortune on stuff to do to entertain the kids.