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.

If you don't like flight delays and heatwaves, you do realise you can take the Eurostar to Europe in the autumn / winter? It's a slightly absurd reason to write off travel

Move to Scotland
Go on holiday whenever you want , take the kids out of school , no fines .
We go multiple holidays a year , always outwith school holidays.Our DC are in the top set of every class , zero impact on their education .
We will only stop doing this in exam years .
We go to to 4* plus only resorts / hotels
Either Half board or all inclusive.
Amazing bargains to be had out of term times.

I travel a lot and I'd consider myself a pro at travelling economically. As others have said booking super last minute or super early is best.

I've booked weekend trips for £150 per person flights and hotels (nice hotel in Marbella).

If I go somewhere exotic the flights are expensive but it's cheap when you get there (South Africa, Colombia, Thailand etc) usually costs £1500 per person for 2 - 3 weeks. For those I book everything myself and either book flights far in advance or with points.

Just went to Menorca sharing 3 adults and a baby with TUI last minute package and it was £320 per adult, 4 nights for flights, hotel, half board and transfers. TUI often do kids for free. But actually our flight back was cancelled so now they owe us around £150 each in compensation. In other words we got 5 nights for around £170...

When I'm on holiday we do a mix of self catering and eating locally.

Spain and Greece are good options as eating out can be super cheap. In Spain most restaurants do 'menu del dia' at lunch time which is essentially 3 courses and a drink for a set price (€15 max on average but often less). Then we get tapas at the supermarket for dinner.

I don't have 3 kids though so I'll caveat with that.

Try looking here. This is all inclusive less than 3k. Self catering or room only is an awful lot less than that
https://www.easyjet.com/en/holidays/mixedresultlist?ibf=true&to=10-08-2024&from=03-08-2024&dst=ALL&sAccId=&geog=ALL&flex=3&org=LGW,LTN,SEN,STN,BHX,MAN&aa=1&rooms=2_3:10|5|7&page=1&take=10&orderBy=price&orderDirection=asc

That sounds absolutely miserable.
So no holidays just to punt your kids off to private school?

@zzar45

But if you scale up your spending it’s basically the same as what OP was looking at. * Your holiday was £900 because it was only 1 adult and 1 child, and only for 4 days. If you have 2 adults and 2 kids for a week then it’s £4k.*

Well yes. But the OP was asking how others could afford holidays which is what people have responded to.

I'm shocked at the price of everything this year. Just a night in Holiday Inn, is it just me, or have the prices shot up? The trains as well - prices have gone up, no? Flights to some extent, bit they always vary massively, so difficult to tell.

Sounds like your husband needs to find something he can do from home the rest of the time.

Used to book last minute at a travel agent in person as in we'd fly the next day. Self catering to Minorca once 50% off.

I'm a teacher, so we're screwed in my house. I outv earn dh by a lot.
Getting 6 weeks off: great.
Having to pay premium prices to stay in a 2* hotel that pumps music until 2;has other people's kids running round until fuck knows when; has walls so thin you can hear people talking shit for hours; has gangs of kids playing knock and run: not great.
All those late nights and lost weekends throughout the year to pay for this. Not sleeping for the last 4 nights because of the inconsiderate twats at the hotel isn't quite the holiday i planned.
I hate this. I'm gutted. One week a year. Friends who go in June get nice places. We scrabble around to see what's cheap in July and end up in a shithole with arseholes. All I want is a week. In the sun, where I can relax with the family, very up early and go out and about but I haven't slept properly in days. Music is still pumping now.

I've never wanted to go home early, but I would happily cut this short.
On the plus side, I now know I'm very definitely not up for a holiday in the canaries.

AirBnB in a village near Montpellier £600 for 11 nights. There were plenty cheaper, but we like to have our own rooms. We all get on well and will have a great time, but need our own space to do our own thing for periods of the day (and sleep).
Flights £500 - includes one hold suitcase and I paid for seat reservations.
Car hire £280 - just a little one.

Me and the 2 kids (25 and 15).

Obviously there are other costs:
Insurance, transport to the airport, leaving the car there, food/drink and whatever we do when we're there (hiring bikes, outdoor stuff and visiting towns).

A holiday is a priority for me. I am a lone parent, work full time and while I'm very happy, things can grind on. We've had some amazing times the 3 of us - holidays the boys will always remember.

This is why we often go to quite remote AirBnBs and hire a car.

I think most people on this thread are bound by school holidays due to having children.

Abroad doesn't = flight delays and heatwaves.

We sometimes skip a year down to the cost. This year we’re just doing a city break for a few nights so I feel I’ve taken my youngest son away and also had a break ourselves! If you find a city break destination with a pool you can at least relax a bit as well and lots cheaper than 14 nights! When my eldest came as well I would often book the flights then find somewhere reasonable to stay. It actually worked out cheaper often to book a villa with a pool and then we would shop for most meals and have a few evening meals out at restaurants and a few in with a BBQ. We sometimes shared a large villa with friends.

We can comfortably live off my DHs salary. I also work, so this is ‘fun/doing up the house money/ my pension money. I’m also a very savvy holiday shopper. We do Eurocamp type holidays, I look around for the best deals on the parks and flights. I have also recently put a deposit down for a long haul holiday for next year which was an absolute bargain. We also do camping weekends which are relatively inexpensive.
travel is a big deal for me and DH, I would say it’s the one thing we spend money on. We love exploring new places and think it’s great for the kids too.
We have kept our mortgage low and a we run one second hand car, aren’t big drinkers etc.

Best holidays we had as kids where in haven in Wales even in rain lol

Think outside the box

When the children were little we mostly did U.K. self-catering. When I was little, we mostly visited family.

lots of people don’t have an annual holiday abroad: we do some years, but not others.

for us we have 2 full time salaries and only one child; which helps a lot.

i will say that holidays are expensive: especially in the UK!

My last year of being a class teacher - zero hours contract next year. Booked a villa with a pool in the Dordogne first week in September - a third of the price it is during the summer holiday. Our 4 children and their partners will all be joining for at least part of the week.

Definitely
Loved haven camping holidays as a kid

We go on shared holidays with friends. With a large group to spread the cost, a week in a large holiday house in the UK becomes surprisingly affordable. We also take turns cooking for everyone which is fun and keeps the food costs down.
Another option for an affordable family holiday in the UK is to rent a canal boat for a few days or a week.

When our dc were young we simply couldn't afford to go away, and didn't earn enough to be able to save up for a holiday, and we certainly didn't want to get into debt for a holiday, so we just didn't have go abroad.
The most we could afford (occasionally) was the £9.50 Sun Newspaper caravan breaks for 4-5 days that you used to be able to collect tokens for.

Now the dc are grown, and we've progressed with our careers and earn more, so we can finally afford holidays abroad.
We went to a Greek Island recently for 13 days for £995 inc bed and breakfast, luggage and transfers, but that was for 2 adults only, so there are bargains to be had.

I prioritise having a holiday. I book well in advance 12 to 18 months and pay it up. lts a bill that comes out each month. Don't have sky or prime or drink or smoke..have very few luxuries really.
I worked nights my husband days, years back to afford it when kids were very young.
Family are older now no childcare issues so have better job and usually only us 2 go, 'kids' ask to stay home now!

I have one child so a lot cheaper

I couldn't afford 3 kids flights

I book tenerife a year in advance and pay a little monthly off apartment

Then book flights when out. Usually 9mths before and pay over 3mth on credit card % free

To me holidays are important. I work hard all year round to enjoy 10/14 days in the sunshine

U.K. holidays are often costlier ans no guarantee of weather

I love sun as does mini blondes who spends most do the day in the pool or playing with a friend