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.

How old are your kids OP?

Not sure why a swear word is required in the title.

To answer the question:

Short breaks instead of a week
Ferry or eurostar are reasonably priced
Off peak times

Nothing🙄

By 'ok-ish' wage do you mean minimum wage, OP? If so, it's not an ok wage and means that your employer is just paying you the bare minimum they can get away with. Sorry, it's just a bugbear of mine on here when posters say they're on an ok/good wage and it's minimum wage.

It sounds as though your DH needs to increase his earnings and possibly you too if you're only paid minimum wage

I think OP is a teacher.

I haven't seen people refer to MW (or National Living Wage) as ok/good; by definition, it's minimal and certainly people aren't expected to be able to save to go on holiday abroad if they are on MW.

Correct answer

@tribalmango I saw a post on MN very recently where a poster said her DH was on a good wage and it was 25k

So true that everyone’s definition of that could be different depending on their background / area / peers

Exactly. And where you live! My wage in London would be shite but it's pretty good for where I live.

@overbeingoverweight It's actually October we go (god knows why I said September) but yes, the holiday is 10 nights and only covers part of the half term, they will both miss 4 days of school. DH and I will also miss 9 days of work each too.
Is this a problem?

It's either the 6 figure's mums net set or people who are gaming the system who can still afford holidays.

I mean, it might be a problem if you both end up being fined for both children, but ultimately, no it's not a problem.

It might be a problem for work if you're also taking that time unauthorised, but I suspect you've booked it (or will book it) as annual leave, so not really the same thing is it.

hah @CutthroatDruTheViolent I was responding to someone asking if I plan to take the children out of school for our family holiday, no school fines for 4 missed days so all good there, but honestly - even if there were a fine, we have saved £1,400 compared to going the week after so £320 fine would still make the holiday a much cheaper affair than going over the half term.

LOL....
I do not have a 6 figure salary. I am not gaming anyone's system.
Do you honestly think that only people who earn 6 figures or cheat somehow are going on holiday?

Don't have kids but have expensive taste in holidays and not massive earners.
We have a Monzo pot where every transaction is rounded up into there and everything left in joint acct after outgoings is scraped over into there at the end of the month too.

Private school fees and interest rate increases have definitely reduced our ability to spend money on holidays. We have 2DC and would love to be able to take the kinds of holidays we took when they were little (Oman, Caribbean, nice hotels in Italy and Greece). Now we usually do two Airbnb holidays a year, two weeks somewhere warm in the summer and a week in England (Lakes, Cornwall, Peak District) at Easter or October half term. Flights are paid for with miles. So the cost is just the Airbnb rental.

You could try Tunisia, eg here for £79 a night: www.airbnb.com/slink/sJtFArkk

You can fly with EasyJet to Enfidha. But it is true that flights will be expensive for 5 of you unless you're lucky, book very early or use miles.

Or drive and go to rural France? This is £72 a night: www.airbnb.com/slink/c3esjXCo

Cress butties for lunch every day maybe, and/or staying away from alcohol and hospitality the rest of the year.

@berksandbeyond 25k is not a good wage though! It's minimum wage! It's employers paying the absolute bare minimum to staff that they can get away with

For an abroad pretty standard tui/jet2 holiday, it’s unusual to be less that 5k. The extra child pushes us into either 2 rooms or a XL suite for which there are never free child spaces. But yes, we can and have done eurocamp and European centreparks. But I’m not sure that’s what the op was referring to.

And yet we have a whole thread of people explaining how they afford holidays by being flexible, prioritising and saving.

I agree, package holidays and AI are expensive, especially (as people have said) when you need an extra room.
I don't think Centerparks is much cheaper, is it (never been).

No, I'm thinking of holidays you organise yourself - get flights, find accommodation, hire a car. A family of 5 can definitely do that for for less than 5 grand. The AirBnBs we have stayed in could sleep 5 easily - we (three) prefer to have our own rooms. No camping!

I'm not sure what tone you're writing in.
I don't lead a particularly flashy life and do curb my teenager's wants by telling him we're going on holiday soon so yes, I do have to plan for our holiday, but I'm not going without.

I just tried easy jet holidays for a week mid August for 2 adults+3 kids, plenty of options under £3k.

We’re a household of a full time working teacher and skilled tradesman, with two children under 5 and a mortgage to pay in a lovely South East village. We are not high earners at all.

We go without a LOT to be able to afford a week away in the summer. Before chidlren we had more money, and this would have been a nice European AI in Greece, Croatia etc. Now it’s a Eurocamp in France but still; we work so much normally that we look forward to a solid week of quality time. Going in the first day after school breaks up for summer also forces me to switch off from work.

I appreciate that not everyone is ‘ok’ financially like we are, and we’re lucky to be able to choose between holidays and other things like non-ancient cars, new phones, meals out etc. However, it would be inaccurate to assume that everyone having holidays can ‘easily’ afford them.

I think by far th e majority pay for their annual holiday in instalments.