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

We live up north too, we have a lower income and we can manage a holiday, granted money is tight though! We just book it in advance and pay off when we can through the year.
We also shop at Aldi family of 4, 80-90 pounds, we cut down on spending where we can... eg, buy ice cream and cones to make at home, or buy a multipack while your out and about of Cornetto. Cut down on the expensive outings or activities (all depends what's important to you and your family really)

It must be your budgeting. You will be spending without realising,its very easy. Eg picking up a coffee, £20 on rubbish in the supermarkets a couple of times a week. We earn much less than you because I work very part time now and our childrens clubs are about 250 a month plus we have similar mortgage and childcare. We have paid for a week in Turkey, 3 camping trips and will probably do another short break later this year. We don't have credit cards or loans.
You need to sit down and look at your day to day spending.

We earn similar and have plenty of spare cash every month but we live in a cheap area and we don't currently have childcare fees. We spend about £100 on our weekly shop.

Costs are creeping up though, we have had a busier month than usual and our petrol costs have been huge.

Yip - people make different choices with their cash as very few can have it all without any compromise

we went on holiday there for the first time in 3 years. We paid it up over 15 months and it was about £900 each. Even at that we were struggling, having to buy clothes to go, get spending money etc. We both have good jobs and bring in about £2000 each per month but by the time you add up the outgoing bills already coming of there is very little left o even buy food shopping 🤦🏼‍♀️ Everything costs so much!

Need or want? They don't need £20 of icecream every time you go to the park. I think that's your answer. Look at what you're spending and why.

You can get a big carton of supermarket own smoothie for half that price.

It's not that £2 is indulgent, it's that it's unnecessary - so if you're wanting to save up for a holiday, then it's an obvious place to start.

Although we have looked at going a weekend away in the UK and it’s actually cheaper to go abroad than go away here, makes no sense

I really like to eat good quality food.

What I want to know if how anyone would be able to afford anything when petrol prices rise, energy bills rise, and also interest rates rise, resulting it a few hundred pound more every month...

To most people 50p per small serving of a supermarket drink is quite a lot. If you have 3 kids and they have a few each a week, plus a few strawberries at £3 a punnet you’ve already spent £15/20 on one pretty light snack that will last about 3/4 days. Add in other treats, actual meals, cleaning products and your food bill will be very high.

You pay your money, you take your choice.

You want everything it seems!

You can either prioritise holidays, earn more money, or carry on as you are.

I agree. Some things are not worth compromising on. I feel that innocent smoothies are a worthwhile investment for my child who doesn’t eat fruit. I don’t think the supermarket juice is the same quality.

I do like the fact that someone above said if you shave £30 a week from your shop you can save £1500 for a holiday though!!

@Acidburn I hate paying for petrol, I have started walking.

Well, make your choice then.

Spend stupid amounts of money on branded food, or go on holiday.

I feel that innocent smoothies are a worthwhile investment for my child who doesn’t eat fruit. I don’t think the supermarket juice is the same quality. 2
One born every minute!

You have been totally had by the marketing rubbish. What do you think your child is getting from a branded smoothie that can be scientifically proven to be nutritionally surperior?

HRFT but honestly these titles annoy me.
I think it's fine to come here and ask for help with budgeting, but if you earn 75K you're probably not dim and therefore recognise that this is WELL above the average and that even with the cost of living as it is, you MUST be able to save some money somewhere.

Well no you're not budgeting very well - you seem to have absolutely no idea what you're spending on, which is the whole point of "budgeting".

Can you go through your bank account for the last couple of months and add up what you're actually spending on what?

I bet you're spending more at the supermarket than you think.

We can afford them by only having one dc,dh has decent paid job,low mortgage.We live in Yorkshire

My husband gets a significant annual bonus so we use that to fund holidays and any major house decorating or maintenance every year. We could still afford a holiday without the bonus but probably only 1 instead of 2 + weekends away and it would mean using credit cards etc.

Are you in one of the dearest parts and/or have lots of DC? Cos we're not far from you, our income is lower and we can afford holidays. I budget about £110 a week groceries.

I feel that innocent smoothies are a worthwhile investment for my child who doesn’t eat fruit. I don’t think the supermarket juice is the same quality.

A Tesco Strawberry smoothie contains:

INGREDIENTS: Strawberry Purée (28%), Apple Juice, Banana Purée (25%), Apple Purée, Blackcurrant Purée, Lemon Juice.

and costs £1.40 for 750ml.

An Innocent strawberry smoothie contains:

21 Crushed Strawberries (31%), 1 1/2 Pressed Apples, 2 Mashed Bananas (22%), 31 Pressed White Grapes, 1/4 of a Squeezed Orange, 17 Crushed Blackcurrants

and costs £3.50 for 750ml.

What does the Innocent smoothie contain that's any different to the Tesco one, really?

I'd be tempted to make my own smoothies instead.

Just seen you have £600 childcare monthly OP which is a lot, but I do think on that income unless your mortgage is massive there is likely to be some slack. You should be able to get a week in Wales at least!

A phrase I've heard that I think works here is that you have champagne tastes but lemonade money.

If you are spending everything that you have on likes, then that's all there is to it; you're living up to your pay on the normal things, so don't have anything left over for extras.

There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but I do hope that you are at least making sure that you have an emergency account with at least three months net wages in. Spending all that you earn without a buffer is a recipe to turn a drama into a crisis down the line.

meat from Tesco tastes like heaven compared to Lidl, you can’t deny that? I want to enjoy it.