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.

I never travel abroad in the summer, I go out of season. I have one small baby and we are currently in South Wales, cat sitting. It is the cheapest holiday I can get. We'll travel abroad during October half term with an airbnb rental, flights, car rental and cooking meals at home (it will be less than £700). Next holidays will then be again in April after Easter when the prices drop. I always travelled like this and if I go anywhere in the summer, it will be accommodation free because I'll be pet sitting.

Unpopular opinion, but I personally couldn't think of anything worse than spending thousands to go abroad.

Family of 5, we save through the year to a separate account and spend just a couple of hundred and stay in the UK. We could spend 2 months away for the cost of a week abroad.

We’ve booked to go to Spain all inclusive for ten days and stuck it on a credit card. Going to transfer to zero percent card and pay it off. Will transfer again if don’t pay it off in time. Had a shit few years including cancer treatment, life too short. Kids pre teen, won’t want to know me soon. Sick of being sensible!

For summer holidays we book on Jet2 and do the monthly payment plan. Our skiing holiday we save for throughout the year but there is a pay monthly option for that with Crystal ski as well. Yes it is super expensive- we both have to do extra hours/overtime to afford our holidays. Before I started working fulltime 3 years ago we couldn't afford to do much more than a UK holiday cottage and a week camping.

It depends, some people just earn more than your family, others will be happy to go on super cheap package deals to Turkey in a studio flat with shared pool. Some will get partial or full help from family with the costs. We always book a private villa with a pool and garden, and usually sort out the flights and hire car ourselves. However we alternate and only go on a summer hol every other year but do have a skiing hol every winter, not both. We don’t earn particularly well (public sector senior jobs) but my father is very wealthy so pays for our skiing holidays, and we pay for our summer hols. The years we don’t go away we will go away for a few weekends outside of the school hols just to wales / Dorset / Devon etc. we also live in a holiday destination so summers here are lovely anyway (in the areas away from the tourists)!

We're going to Butlins for 4 days, which is only because I managed to put a bit aside (I did offer abroad but they're still fairly young and wanted Butlins as it's their favourite). My income varies so much - last year we couldn't afford anything, the year before we did Centre Parcs as it was a good earnings year. If we can't afford holidays we do day trips.

We are lucky enough to be able to stay with in laws so only have to pay for petrol and food. We couldn't afford holidays abroad.

Probably a lot of people are getting family support.

I pay for both my adult DC to holiday with me, and also to holiday with their friends.

We tend towards European 4 night city breaks rather than a fortnight by the pool. It’s just something that is really important to me and always has been.

We are a family of 6. We have started to go abroad again for the first time since covid. Pre-pandemic we went abroad twice a year. Right now together we earn £60k.
We went to Morocco half board in May- £2.5k. Going away in May/October is always cheaper than summer.
We go away to a eurocamp in Spain next month. Flights + accommodation is £1700. Will be closer to £2k with transfers. If we have a good experience I will start to save from January towards another eurocamp next year.
This year we have afforded it as i have taken on an additional project at work, and its paid at overtime rates.
You can do it to, just prepare to be flexible where you can.

I use the budget airlines such as Wizz Air and easyJet. Book flights either the day they are released or 1st day of sale. I book with 2 hours otherwise they get too expensive. You have to be organised, willing to book quickly and usually means booking months in advance. Also I tend to take the kids out for a day or 2 otherwise it's too expensive but the school has never had a problem enough to raise it as it's only a day or 2. We went away twice last summer and paid less than £120 per return flight per person. There are 4 of us so tends to work as £500 budget for flights. Then accomodation is whatever you want it to be. Very cheap options include air BnB or hostels suitable for families and self catering.

We aren’t having a holiday this year, just a few days off together at home. This is so we can book 2 weeks to Mexico next June after our son finishes his GCSE’s. There are only 3 of us and we are looking at around £4-5k for that holiday, plus spending money. We would normally holiday in the UK and spend around £1K for a week with accommodation and spending money. (We camp). But we like abroad holidays too, it’s just the cost means we can’t do it every year. We don’t smoke and very rarely drink. We both drive cars that are 10yrs+ old, but that don’t need finance to have them. Our son doesn’t get everything he asks for and has two little part time jobs to earn his own money to buy clothes and other bits he wants. (He works 2 hours at a gymnastics club each week, and does sticking up - which is probably a West Country thing! In a Friday night)

Camping! Booked the ferry using Clubcard points and camping around France can be quite cheap if you’re savvy. We’ve been slowly collecting gear over the last few years (Facebook marketplace is brilliant for this - variety of kit used once and sold again for peanuts) in order to get to this trip but previously have only been to parts of wales and Dorset - all stunning and enjoyed every minute (even the rain!) campsites can vary and some have a pool/park etc but it’s what you make of it!

Honestly these endless “how do people afford to..” posts!
I afford to by having a high enough income. It’s not rocket science.

Incorrect. its per session.

we are going on a once in a lifetime trip to Canada , it’s taken us 2 years to save but intend to soak it all up.

Iv never been abroad as an adult. Done caravan parks with the kids but that’s been it untill now. Came into a bit of money last year which was split between me n my kids. We all decided to put it together for a 2 week holiday in USA it’s a once in a life time trip and I get to meet my cousins for the first time while we are there. I know it be a long time before I ever get to go abroad again.

We holidayed in the uk. Camping. I preferred to spend time with my children than work ft. My preference but was ok with the choices I made. I also took on extra jobs like delivering yellow pages, mystery shop etc to have spending money.

Tent was 100. And bits were less than 500 altogether. Rough but meant we had holidays from April to October. We used temporary holiday sites from Camping and caravan club. So under 15 a night. But basics.

I live close to the coast so I always took my kids on the ferry and looked around for a cheap Airbnb or went to a country with different holidays to us. £1k would usually get us 2/3 weeks away depending on where we went.

I’m a single mother of two , we go 3 times a year because travel is super important to me , we went to Geneva Switzerland for Xmas last year the flights were £30 each!! We just got back from Paris (I drove 11 hours I live in Yorkshire) and we are going to Italy next month, I don’t know how I do it but I find really cheap flights , then get the air bnb / hotel on Klarna pay in 3! Also , we only go for 4/5 days so it’s usually not loads for hotels xx

Incorrect. It is per holiday, updated on government website.

I can only speak for us. We're on pensions but holidays are and always have been, important to us. More so as we're getting on now and its disappointing that there are places we know we won't visit. We book ours at least 12 months in advance and pay by direct debit monthly on the exact day my pension goes in. As soon as one is paid off (usually a couple of months before we go, we book another for 14/15 months in advance. We did the same thing when our kids were younger but then it made no difference what country it was as long as it was warm and had a pool cos the kids didn't want to go out sightseeing. I've got so used to 300-400 coming out a month thatvI really don't notice it now

My two kids are adults now but we couldn't afford holidays abroad until they were teenagers. And even then rarely. Everyone will have their own priorities but for me they are overrated when kids are young. It's a lot of hard work in the heat and in my experience, with boys, they won't remember much anyway. Maybe I'm biased because we are all pale - sunburn anyone? I should say I had a parent living by the seaside in the UK so that helped.

Book a year in advance to get the best deals and pay monthly. Ours this year has been £3500, £350 a month for 10 months for 10 days in a really nice hotel in Crete in the summer hols. Also we are a 2 income household both holding decent paying professional roles so that of course helps!

no way could we afford a flight /holiday so we go to sun parks /centre parks/ euro camp in France or Belgium. We get the tunnel over and stay in one of the better accommodation lodges. So much cheaper than the U.K. usually costs under 2000 for all of us and that includes our tunnel crossing. To be honest though we only go once a year and do book in advance to get the best offers

You have one wage coming in and that's why, so can't husband work weekends or evenings when you are home? This is what most people do in order to be able to afford treats and holidays. Maybe even delivery driving this could be done when you are home or not at work. Maybe some nightshifts ot twilight shifts would work. So yup reason is not at lot of families are able to have one parent SAH full time and have to work like I suggested. Or some people pay holiday on credit card and pay off that way.