To pay for holiday on a credit card if I can’t afford it ?

[Pinkpantslady]

Husband and I have not been on holiday since we we met four years ago .

We saved to get married , buy a house . We now have a little baby and my maternity leave finishes In June . I am a teacher . As a teacher I am only able to go on holiday during school holidays which costs a fortune.

If we go on holiday before I return to work ( In term time ) - I can’t belive that we can go on - a decent , all inclusive for about 650pp .

The issue is that we only have £500 in our holiday fund . But £650 x2 = 1,300 to go on a holiday. So do I pay the rest (£800) on the credit card ?

I don’t ever use my credit card and have always believed - if you can’t pay cash you can’t afford it .

But there is a part of me that feels life is too short . Life has been hard for all lately . We haven’t been away In 4 years - no honey moon . This is our chance to get away whilst prices are lower .
If we don’t go away before I return to work , the same holiday would cost us about £2,500 and we could never afford that.

We would pay off the £800 as £100 a month for 8 months .

What do you think?

AIBU to pay for the £800 on a cc?

Side note - I have looked into butlins , centreParks , Hoseasons and I can’t belive how expensive staycations are . Even a little break or a few days trips are so expensive. I’d
Rather just use that towards one amazing holiday!

So I expcted the replies to be - no dont do it! - and i would normally be in that camp especially as youll be paying interest on that £800......however having read your situation id say yes go for it 😎

Also normally against thos - read the title and thought “just save up”. But we now have a school aged child and in your situation I would go for it.

£500 S/C Uk holidays really aren’t the same as a lively all inclusive. I always feel like S/C element makes it a busman’s holiday.

Have a fab time!! X

I would! I pay for everything on credit card anyway for the extra security
Usually pay balance in full at end of month
If I want to spread it further I use things like PayPal credit which is interest free for 4 months - forces me to pay quickly

Same as a lot of people, normally I’d say no but your circumstances and ability to clear it in a reasonably short period I would say do it.

Unless you’re already harbouring lots of other debt right now of course!

I’d say go for it, especially if you know you have the discipline to pay it back. I’m not the world authority on being sensible with CCs but it sounds like you have a realistic plan. Make sure your cc is interest free.

Do it. Enjoy x

Yep, that’s sensible borrowing

It’s an investment in your mental and physical health

Nothing sensible about it and not good if all you come back to is shit financials imo

If it's a card with an interest free period, and you pay it off during the 0% period, absolutely do it.

I would not do it but I am probably over careful with money.

In this case it is a cash flow issue which enables you to save money overall.

CCs can be used for money management (as in this case) as well as for people overspending and living beyond their means.

Look at your budget for when you return to work (factor in childcare!!), work out how much you can afford to pay off each month, and set up a standing order from your joint current account to your CC.

For your holiday, don’t forget to budget for travel insurance for all of you and a passport for your baby. And passports are taking up to 10 weeks atm…

I’m a teacher and had never had a holiday in term time until 2018, when my school allowed me a weeks leave to go on holiday when it was out Silver wedding (I was part time Senco, not class based and made up the days in the week before and the week after the holiday). It was an eye opener! We saved about £1500, hardly any children there, it was bliss!

@Dutchesss

Do you have any other savings you could borrow from then replace? If £500 are your total savings then I would look for a cheaper holiday.

From a financial point of view, this makes no sense. Better to have savings earning (a tiny bit of) interest and borrow money at 0%. Just do it OP. I've just returned to teaching after maternity leave and even though I'm part time our disposable income has increased massively. £100 a month is surely doable unless you have an insane mortgage. To the pp earning £12-£14 ph around school runs for some extra spends that's great, but teachers earn more like £35ph and work more hours, so the OPs income is probably significantly higher and as such £800 is a smaller percentage of her monthly income to borrow.

I wouldn’t do it. Mainly because that’s how I got into debt buy now pay later except I paid the minimum as I was skint. I’m out of debt which took me years to pay off and apart from the mortgage I won’t have it anymore. Everything is saved for and we go on holiday twice a year.

However I can see your situation is different. So can you afford the repayments definitely? With everything going up, bills, food, petrol making an extra dent in day to day money. Will it still be ok. Have you got spending money? I know all inclusive but sometimes you need some cash too. Holidays clothes etc or will that be extra that has to go on the card? Holidays are amazing and much needed in my eyes ( ’mine are cheap and cheerful mostly) but just make sure it’s covered and that debt doesn’t grow

Personally a holiday is the one thing I wouldn’t put on a card as it would ruin jt knowing that I had to spend the following months paying jt back - always save up

One question - you mention a holiday pot, but does that imply other savings?

If you do have other savings, then go for it.

One recommendation for the future: think outside of the "week in Spain AI" holiday bubble!

We go on holiday to the Baltics/Poland in high season. It may not be boiling hot and there may not be AI hotels, but the whole region is so cheap it might as well be. You can book glorious rentals on the beach near Gdansk, and get a tan (in our case sunburn) for a fraction of the price in southern Europe and UK holidays.

Also on mat leave

Haven't been on holiday abroad in 2years

We booked a holiday for May and put £1500 on a credit card, yes you should do it

You’re being unreasonable to go on a 650pp holiday that you can’t afford. Why not find a cheaper holiday?

You have a plan for paying it off. I think do it

Do it. This is how we always book our holidays as we never know our leave more than 6 weeks in advance. 0% card, pay it back over a few months. It has the benefit of improving our credit rating and money isn't just sitting stagnating in a savings account with less than inflation interest

The holiday will cost more then the AI cost though, so you will be putting more than £800 on your card.

Go for it and enjoy every minute .

I absolutely would not.

A holiday you cant afford and the stress later about trying to paying it off when you 'really need' another holiday.

Save this year for that holiday, and go next year. Get ahead before and don't get into a cycle of stress over the debt.

Absolutely RIDICULOUS idea...

No brainer....even before the pandemic l would have done this. You can always earn more money but you can't always get chance to travel.

Do you have an emergency fund for things like unexpected car repairs, burglary, etc?
If not, I wouldn't go, sorry.