How the fuck can people afford to go on holiday?

[Figuringitout]

I’m wondering if I am just super naive about how much everything costs. I earn an okish amount, have a small mortgage and don’t feel like we live extravagantly. I have 3 kids who I’d like to take on holiday. My husband earns seasonally (and is trying to increase that) but at the moment his main contribution to our budget is in looking after kids so we don’t have to pay for childcare.
Back to holidays, I cannot find anything somewhere hot for less that £4k and even France we’re talking about £2.5k.
So, do people have holiday funds that they pay into each month? Please tell me how everyone seems to be affording to go abroad once a year.

We’ve just had 10 nights in turkey in may, it was £3750 all inclusive for 4 of us.

it was booked in feb 2023 so 15 months in advance. We both work full time and prioritise holidays over other things.
weve already booked the next one for September 2025.

We go camping!! Very affordable and some lovely locations in the UK.

But I agree. Can't justify the costs of summer holidays, to me it's just parenting in a more expensive location.

It's expensive - we got ours last minute and got about 2k knocked off but we have to leave in a few days and the flight times are horrendous - 6am flight out and 3am flight back.

I save into an account across the year just for holidays otherwise a sudden cost like this would be difficult to find.
You are right everywhere is expensive.

Save into an account marked ‘Holiday’ every month.

We go camping in the UK. Not hot but usually around £10 per adult, £5 per child per night. One campsite was children free.

Last minute deals

Early deals - you can go half price to turkey if you go self catering as eating out is cheap.

Book flights as soon as they become available.

Look at camping or clamping, there a lot around in Spain and Portugal - it doesn’t have to be all inclusive.

We afford to go on eurocamp holidays
You can spread the cost interest free over a year.
We're going to france in a week, ferry from Portsmouth (we are in Portsmouth so very handy) and then driving a couple of hours to the campsite
£1800

We have a holiday account and save into that every month.

Spread the cost. I usually do Airbnbs in Europe. So transport has to be paid whenever I book - usually around Nov-Jan. Then accommodation is split in two - so winter and then June, for example. Spending money is put on fee-free credit card which is then paid in full in late summer/early autumn. I earn quite well as a senior teacher but I'm a single-parent who gets nothing from the other parent. I mark exam papers at this time of year to cover all spending money. Forward planning is crucial, pr paying in instalments. Unless you are well off. I earn around £65k. If I had a partner who earned similar, or even less, and outgoings were similar to what I have now, holidays would be incredibly easy financially. A lot of people are in that position.

On one “okish” wage, with three kids, in the summer holidays you will have to make some compromises. It’s cheaper if you DIY, self cater, don’t go somewhere hot (so UK or Northern Europe) and book in advance. We save every month into a holiday fund.

I think it's just what people prioritise. You prioritise not having to pay for childcare and therefore having less income therefore less money for holidays. Other people prioritise holidays and maybe work full time in order to have this.

I work less hours to be there for my children as that's important to me but it does mean we have less disposable income and I cannot justify paying several thousand for a holiday from savings.

For starters far from everyone goes abroad on holiday every year, even if it might feel like it!

There are of course people who can simply afford to without giving it much thought, even though times are hard some people are financially comfortable.

For others it's invariably shopping around and planning early, and/or prioritising saving for a holiday over other things.

Well there's five of you for a start so it's always going to be more expensive.

We are going to Ibiza tomorrow 7.25k for four of us 14 nights. I will book next summer when we get back and pay off over the next year.

Ultimately others will earn more and others will earn less, some use credit or adjust your expectations of what a holiday is.

We also save each month however I could never afford a package.
We book our own flights and accmd

Plenty here for less than £3000

www.jet2holidays.com/search/results?airport=63_77_99_3_5&date=03-08-2024&duration=7&occupancy=r2c7_10_5&destination=39_22_9_84_1465_1773_38_37_31_916_32_8_16_7_1359_43_15_17_18_1_26_10_4_30_28&sortorder=1&page=1

We put it on a 0% credit card and pay a chunk off every month (yes, in theory you could do the reverse and save for it rather than use a cc). We treat it like any other household expense, we see holidays a priority and allocate a fair whack of our monthly income towards it.

Went camping every year when Dd was young. Upgraded to a caravan when she was about 11yo. Managed 2 holidays abroad when she was at school, both last minute cheap deals, not in school holidays.

I never had a holiday abroad as a kid, never felt I missed out.

I only have one child, not three, so we can go on holiday abroad twice a year (single parent so one income).

No children and I'm a solicitor. That's how I afford it.

Don't get in debt for it. When I was a junior lawyer I couldn't afford it without credit so I didn't.

Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia tend to be cheaper for package deals.

We all just went to florida for £3k for a week

Unhelpful in your situation, but we also wouldn’t be able to hope to afford an abroad holiday with more than one child in summer holidays on our two average incomes.

That’s why we’re likely sticking with one. Very possibly two if income drastically changes.

In answer to your questions I think people are either earning much more, getting into debt for holidays or having fewer kids. One of those.

People at the end have priorities. I love travelling. I can easily afford to travel with one child. I decided against having a second and one of the many reasons was so that we could continue traveling. I know , you can’t change this in your scenario but each family is different at the end of the day. I also book holidays nearly one year in advance as soon as the flights are released as that’s when they’re cheaper many times

We only have one child so it's much cheaper, we book flights months in advance and then find cheap airbnb's with a kitchen so we can make some of our own meals.