To wonder how people afford holidays!

[Dreaming34]

I mustn’t be budgeting very well on food etc and me and my DH have a joint income of 75k, we really struggle at the end of every month and we cannot afford to go on holiday! Everything is so expensive really we are really struggling

On the outcome

Are you on benefits? Council house?

I don't see how anyone could be living on that salary in SE London with 3 kids and having a holiday. I wouldn't be able to live on it and I'm a single woman.

You need to be forensic with your finances. Find out your income, work out your tax and NI deductions. Calculate your pension contributions and then with your take home salary, itemise EVERY bit of money you spend for a few months
You'll probably be able to save by culling subscriptions.
Food shopping more wisely to prevent waste.
Stopping incidental food spends like coffee, snacks, lunches and takeaways.
Reducing leisure activities that cost money for ones that don't, walk, cycle etc.
Switching utility, insurance, mortgage providers etc.

Once you know where you spend then create a realistic budget and stick to it. Hopefully you'll be able to save something for a holiday.

I think it's more that the average house price is now many times the average salary, love. I'm a high earner and spend over 60% of my take-home pay on rent, bills, and council tax, but yes, I'll stop eating avocado toast.

🙄

YANBU. And to answer your question, we don't. Well, UK camping for a week/odd weekend. But we haven't had an overseas holiday in 15 years at least. Our combined income is less than yours though.

75k salary in the northwest is a lot of money. You need to list your outgoings as you’re clearly going very wrong somewhere if you can’t afford a holiday on 75k per year. I’m in the south east on less than 50k and am going to USA this August to Disney

Our budget is about half of yours and after essential bills have nearly 10 p/a spare for clothes, birthdays, holidays etc. I spend time getting things from the cheapest places, using different shops for different things and bulk buying deals. I never buy expensive things at full price and sell items in good condition to help pay towards the next. I still get favourites from Waitrose and M&S and don't feel deprived even though we have a lower income than many. I use public transport wherever possible. We don't eat dinners or drink alcohol in restaurants but will get a lunch or dessert and coffee, it's much cheaper but still enjoyable.

I think the biggest spend is childcare, once they're older you have a lot more money to play with.

We’re working from home full time and are saving on commuting costs. Spend around £80 a week on food for two adults - a lot I know! But we’ve gone down to one car etc. have £1500 budget this year for a week in the sun. Would usually take 3/4 holidays a year but absolutely trimming back.

We have a lower income than you (quite a fair bit lower) we live in Scotland and we manage abroad most years and a uk weekend away each year. We go outwith the school holidays to keep the cost down and put so much by each month to cover it. You must have some out goings to not manage a holiday on that income!

I stick to freeview, have a sim only mobile contract
shop around for cheapest insurance, broadband etc
i drive a 9 year old car that I don’t owe money on
No loans or debt other than £1k a month mortgage
buy most clothes in charity shops, sales and outlets,
shop at a mixture of aldi Lidl Tesco and sainsburys
cook from scratch and never have takeaways
these economies allow me 2-3 non U.K. self catering holidays a year, lots of short U.K. breaks, expensive jewellery (my weakness) and meals and coffee out frequently
household income under 45k before deductions

A trip to Spain, nothing fancy - £4K minimum for a family of 3. £110 in diesel to fill the family car and £100 at least in weekly food shop.

These costs are wholly inflated by at least 40% because of various factors. Some are essential, some are not.

Best way to mitigate? Have multiple income streams, be able to switch off costs as required.

I would recommend either looking at someone like Money Saving Expert or reading the money sections on here or the Dave Ramsey ish UK Facebook group or even joining the No Spend Challenge Uk Facebook group. Find a supportive and informative group and get used to other people being frugal and it rubs off on you.

DH don’t have dc and earn quite well, but our money can’t stretch everywhere so we set priorities house renovations, pensions and holidays and everything else we live as frugally as we can.

We eat well, but very little meat for DH and I’m vegan. Look for cheap but nice recipes, I make a chickpea curry and Dahl or a veg curry and Dahl, chickpea burgers, pasta with a spicy tomato sauce. Bean and vegetable chilli, etc and have fancier dishes on the weekend.

I drive an old car as little as possible and we try and think of cheap days out, both in terms of tickets, fuel and food. I keep an eye out for open days or free tickets

@ImplementingTheDennisSystem If you don't live in the SE but your house prices are similar, what exactly is your point?

FWIW I didn't 'choose' to live in the SE or have any interest in it. I arrived here as where I used to live didn't have the type of jobs I was qualified to do. So I got on my metaphorical bike and moved to get a job. It was that or be unemployed, or taking a low wage job, not a profession.

The reason it's mentioned here is because it is actually the most expensive part of the country, with maybe some parts of N Yorks and Cheshire keeping up.

It's simply a fact that excluding some pockets of the north and NW ( Harrogate, Yorks, suburbs of Manchester etc) the SE in the commuter belt is very pricy.

Our mortgage was £700 a month 15 years ago.

Here, the cheapest 1-bed flat is over £200K. Season tickets are £5Kpa and station parking close to the same.

That's why posters refer to the SE. It's called the Cost of Living :)

Maybe you're like me and just piss money away because you don't need to budget.

You should be able to afford holiday if your income and outgoings are as you say. Just stop buying crap you don't need like £20 ice creams!

Our joint income is £34k, we have a week in a caravan in Northumberland booked, can’t really see a time where we could afford an all inclusive, especially as we have two teenagers.

We can deny it. Youre wrong

they get older and the money you used to spend on childcare can go on holidays

Holidays in low season are much cheaper

Hired a lovely self catering cottage in March for just £200 for 4 nights could sleep 6. Or get a last minute reduced deal.

If you go abroad, flights are cheapest the earlier that you book in advance & if you avoid peak times like Xmas, Easter, school holidays

Sounds like you need to watch a few episodes of Eat Well for Less OP.

Full of people just like you who spend 2-3 times the national average on food, wonder why they have no money for anything else and under the illusion that they 'have' to spend loads to get the food they like that is good quality, but when 'their' brands, that are the only ones they could possibly like are swapped, it turns out they prefer the cheaper brand and when they are given what was their preferred brand, they declare it to be cheap rubbish.

I go on holiday on almost quarter of that wage, but then they've been my priority spending when it cones to non essentials.

You need to watch the food bill. Order weekly shop online as it saves a f ortune. Go through your direct deb its. Cancel Sky and have Now TV instea d. Cancel health clubs and do ex classes at home on you tube. Cancel all magazine subscri ptions. Only have Netflix if you have children. Try to only run one car. Sorry no NRTFT but hope this helps.

I'm south east and on less than half the OP and am going 4 and 5 star to Spain and Portugal.
But then I don't pay £3 for 5 strawberries etc.

@LovesLaboursLoss
FWIW I didn't 'choose' to live in the SE or have any interest in it. I arrived here as where I used to live didn't have the type of jobs I was qualified to do. So I got on my metaphorical bike and moved to get a job. It was that or be unemployed, or taking a low wage job, not a profession.

Hmm, it certainly reads like you chose to live in the SE, and that's absolutely fine!
However, DH and I lived in an expensive city for years and chose to up sticks and move to somewhere more affordable. That choice exists for many in the SE who dominate threads like these complaining about the cost of living there!

Yes but the quality is different at Aldi and Lidl

Yes it's better. I got fed up of throwing fresh things away before their best before date from Tesco and Sainsbury's.

I agree that the quality at Aldi and Lidl is generally better, or at least no worse than the larger supermarkets.

The main reasons why Aldi and Lidl are cheaper are simpler ranges, fewer staff and smaller/less nice stores without facilities like cafes, toilets etc. Nothing to do with poorer quality food.

No you might not be able to choose from 20 different types of tinned tomatoes, or buy miso, but most people can cope with that in exchange for cheaper prices.