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 always had a caravan on a seasonal pitch on the south coast. Fees are around £2k per year but that’s as many holidays as we want. When the kids were little we’d go most weekends and all school holidays. Now the kids are young adults I come on my own 😬. From April until Oct I relocate practically leaving them all to fend for themselves at home! They’ve got amazing memories of the years at the van and now they come with friends when it’s hot and annoy me 😂

We used to have a cabin high up in the Sierras.
That’s where we’d go every single vacay, in the summer anyhow. It was snowed-in in the winter and all the roads closed.
It was gorgeous, cool, breezy and a world away from our home life and although we didn’t do much but take walks and go on picnics, I wish every day of my life that we still had our little cabin.
Living in California, you can drive for 9 hours and still be in California. Flights are packed and expensive and the UK and Europe, unfortunately, are out of the question.
So we drive to the coast and spend a few lovely days there — the problem is, when it’s really hot where we live, it’s overcast and foggy at the coast.
You won’t catch me complaining, though. Ever.
It’s going to be 42+C where I live today. The ocean sounds perfect.

@reluctantbrit I love Germany, just had a fantastic holiday in Bavaria and over the border in the Tyrol, so beautiful. Had great camping holiday with the kids were small in the Black Forest and I’d love to go back to Berlin.

Save £500/month. This year:

A week in the Canaries, half board, February half term. Approx £2500.

A week at a family member’s house in Europe. Just paid for flights and food. £1000 (half term, would have been way cheaper if we’d taken the DC out of school).

10 days in France - Eurocamp, ferry, trips etc. Approx £2500.

We have also done stuff like finding a last minute Air B and B bargain, or staying two nights in a different city to see a show.

In other words, ways to up everyday life without having to scrimp and save for a big holiday.

This may be because I travel internationally for work and so staying in a hotel is not very exciting. We eat out a lot, lots of coffees out, cheap but fun restaurants, cinema, all of this is just our everyday lives and I don't want to cut back on it.

Both my children have international friends as well and have travelled to see them now they are older (from age 16), so I don't feel they have missed out too much.

There are some great Facebook groups or Instagram accounts for budget holiday inspiration. Work with what you’ve got and relax your definition of holiday perhaps. Eurocamp, Air BNB, Easy Jet, Eurostar sales - can open up possibilities.

TBRY24

a lot of people run up debt. But equally people can have had inheritances or insurance payouts. Or simply earn more than you realise.

One child by choice, so we can go wherever we like.

Three dc and hot summer holidays can be ££

It’s harder for bigger families

By choosing not to have children.

Depends entirely on your holiday priorities! I'm more than happy to book a cheap flight or alternately holiday in the UK, cheap airbnb and do self catering, supermarket food or eat out now and again, no big expensive day trips just enjoy the place I am staying, do some board games, a day or so in the pub, see the local sights and do free stuff. All in all it can be very affordable depending on where you go... could do a holiday for three people for up to a week for less than £1k.

Kindly, if you just got back from 14 days away then most of it was outside the main state school holidays and thus will have been cheaper.
I wish people wouldnt comment with prices of holidays they have taken even partly outside the state school holidays because the prices just don't compare.
If you have school age kids and are restricted to school holidays the prices are eye watering. YANBU unreasonable OP i have come to the conclusion a lot people simply prioritise it over a lot of other things and almost notice the cost less because both adults are automatically transferring £250 each into a holiday pot before its hardly hit their bank account. As such people have just adjusted their lifestyle to be without that money.

Three children are expensive. You've chosen to save on childcare (which is absolutely fair enough) but unfortunately that means living primarily off one income, which is bound to be tough.

We go abroad every other year since the kids became adult fares/tariffs, for 2 weeks. We usually do the uk every other year - camping etc when they were younger. However my teens won’t camp now (or us if I am honest. I’m too old for that crap now) so we’ve started saving. We don’t do the pub/eating out/etc so for us it’s a family priority that we dedicate our money to.

You don’t have to do an hotel and AI, though. You can find cheaper air B n Bs, or gites in France for much less, drive/ferry over and self cater when there. Last minute deals can be great so long as you’re not fussy about the flight times. It takes time and research, but cheaper holidays are possible.

We are going away abroad this year, £2600 for 4 of us for a week AI. Last year we probably spent a similar amount on a Butlins break and a childfree mini break, this year we can only do an overseas holiday.

We could also prioritize holidays if we really wanted to. At the moment we pay £80 a month to enable me to do my fitness hobbies, if we scrapped that then that's £80 to go towards a holiday.

@Figuringitout I live in Cornwall and it’s so flipping depressing in the relentless rain - if I don’t leave the county on holiday and seek some sun I really suffer with my mental health. Try and do something

Even if it isn’t abroad! Our country is beautiful!

😊

If you book with Tui or Easyjet holidays in advance you can pay them monthly.

I make holidays a priority. Have a spreadsheet dedicated to saving for them and have them all planned out on a two year rolling plan. Usually have 2-3 per year.

Are you surprised that it’s more expensive to travel with 3 kids?

This. Planning and looking for good deals, and not going to the rant popular places. And self catering. Go somewhere cheap and you can eat out a good few times as well.

2 x higher rate taxpayers. We both work full time so we prioritise time & holidays with our children over most other things. We only have two children compared to your three. We don’t have expensive hobbies or high maintenance lifestyles. We haven’t stretched ourselves with a bigger house or cars than we need. Our house is quite new so maintenance costs are currently low. But essentially the answer is we earn well and are frugal in other areas.

This year we’ve done one cruise from Southampton that I booked a year in advance, a DIY trip to Disneyland Paris (we drove) and we’re about to go to a Eurocamp in the Netherlands (again, we’ll drive - we paid for one leg of the Eurotunnel through our Tesco clubcard points; the accommodation has come to about £1500, although there are much cheaper options available).

I imagine flights abroad and long haul and luxury all inclusive holidays would be another story but we’ve found ways of holidaying that don’t cost the earth.

We had this previously but we have rejigged our budget- eg cheaper cars, less meals out and religiously save £800 a month, which is a non negotiable expense to ensure we have a holiday (both have stressful high powered jobs)

By not having 3 kids, soz! Can’t imagine it’s much fun to holiday with 3 kids even if it’s affordable.

We simply cannot afford an abroad hol, the children eat a shed load of food, which we have been shelling out £££ for month to month. We are taking them camping in a week's time. It won't be grim in that we have little cheap camp beds each and self inflating mats to put on top. For the last week of the holidays we are going to stay with MIL (still UK). The ferry cost an eye watering amount but offset by staying in her house. Would be some people's worst nightmare but I am really glad we are going to see her. I think that will suffice for holidays this year.
Edit: please don't arrest me apostrophe police 🙃I'm ill as i write this so my grammar will be shit.

Have you looked at house swapping if you live in a holiday area?