How much is reasonable to spend on holidays vs income ?

[holidayprince]

How do you calculate how much you can spend on holidays vs your monthly income for example ?

I'm having a debate with H about it and no matter how much we spend, for him, it's always a waste when it's spent on a holiday. He thinks is frivolous.

If you spend say half a monthly pay cheque on a holiday, is that too much ?

Do you save up a long time to go on holiday ?

Just wondering because to me it isn't money wasted to make memories with your family.

I know holidays are expensive but we have savings as well as investments and aren't spending more than half of what we make a month on a holiday, so I don't see a problem with having a nice time with your family once a year.

My DH has always been this way about holidays.

The system is screwed if someone can spend 6k a year on holidays whilst on UC. You can get a really lovely holiday in a static van on the south coast, eating out every night, few day trips to local attractions, petrol costs and a few new outfits too for half of that. You can camp for even less.
I feel sorry for folk genuinely struggling to feed their dc on UC because someone claiming to spend what they do on luxuries whilst on UC feeds the narrative of scroungers etc.

I'm happy to spend £2500 for a week half board at least, in a 3/4*

I feel comfortable spending half of our take home monthly income on a holiday to Europe, for somewhere further afield it would be more than our monthly after-tax income so I don't really feel comfortable with that. The former, we can do without compromising our saving goals etc . We try to travel off school holidays and mostly buy nice holidays on offer (last minute deals) so we have done all inclusive for 4 of us for a week for under £2.5k

Holidays are really important to us, looking at it as whole cost vs monthly income makes no sense to me but we don’t eat the same every month so I annualise everything… over a year we spend 10-12% of our take home pay on holidays

If I can say too that it's not wages that are the issue in so many cases- even on minimum wage jobs working full time it's around £1850 a month unless you have a huge pension deduction. It's the costs that are the issue and many people have a fair bit of debt they are servicing

Lack of social housing means many private renting and in many parts of the country it's extortionate - well over £1000 for 1 and 2 bed flats- well over £1500 for 2 and 3 bed houses plus. Many paying off student loans, utilities that used to be £250 a quarter now often that a month , high council tax etc. Even those with mortgages in last 10 years often paying £1400 a month plus for very modest places and no recourse to help on UC if things go wrong. Also many end up needing cars in some areas due to a lack of reliable public transport- especially outside major city's and if shift working, and those options have got worse in many non city locations. Ludicrously high childcare options too - even when you get more hours covered, it often has restrictions.

We've also ended up with a load of people particularly with kids and teens often only wanting part time work because they are no worse off ( or very little worse off) than working full time due to UC top ups if they aren't high earning and rent.

The Tory's allowed this to happen and the new gvt need to get a handle on it , whether that's far more social housing of all types, more part buys of actual houses ( not just new builds) and once the supply is better rent caps relative to areas in the private sector- I also think we need to be looking at childcare again too and subsidising it as per Scandinavia and Netherlands etc

The thing with higher wages is that there are far too many company's still in business by the skin of their teeth and paying £3 or £4 an hour extra on staff could well put many out of business- which helps no one and then makes costs go up all round - don't forget too until recent rise junior doctors were only on around £17 an hour- date many professional jobs that require student debt- A better economy in general would mean fewer companies in difficulty.

My own view is we need to look at the Scandinavian models, higher wages , higher tax, more covered off from tax, more affordable housing options , and get a grip on a benefits and child maintenance system that some very genuine people do really badly out of and others do nicely thank you.

I think people get a bit confused between income (including salary that keep being referred to) and expenses. It doesn't matter about proportion of salary that gets saved nor used on holiday or anything else. It does matter whether people have their living expenses covered and some savings.

Absolutely! It's crap all round.

As much as you like. Holidays are a top priority for me, for sure. I want to lie on my death bed thinking about all my wonderful travels around the world, in preference to reminiscing about my new car/big house/ "exciting" vacuum cleaner/whatever.
There are no rules on this.

Or you could stop scamming the system for your 6k holiday every year and work and save like the rest of us have to. Benefits are all well and good if your on the breadline and can't afford basic necessities but 6k holidays? That is not a necessity. You are well and truly taking the piss

You are still completely missing the point. Benfits are supposed to keep you in a good and comfortable life until you are able to improve your situation, not living the life of luxury on 6k holidays!

It also further takes the piss when she says she is able to save but chooses not to so her benefits stay so where as most of us have to make sacrifices on other luxuries to afford our holidays, she is blowing it because in her on words 'there's no point me putting any more in savings'

Isn't it interesting that everyone is happy to lay into @Beezknees for simply claiming what she is entitled to but no one cares about a couple earning £60,000 (combined income of £120,00!) each claiming child benefit as mentioned by a pp.
Do you care if they are spending their child benefit on holidays since they can clearly afford clothes and food for their DC?!

She's not 'blowing it'! To quote the insufferable yummy mummies of Instagram, she is 'making memories' with her DC. And why the hell shouldn't she?!

She has already stated that her UC is more than the amount she spends on holidays so if she didn't claim what she is entitled to then she would be worse off.

Are you genuinely saying that you would simply refuse your eligible claim to UC if you were in the same situation? I put that question to everyone laying into @Beezknees . If your answer is yes then you are either a liar or stupid (because why wouldn't you?!).

i ‘made memories’ with my dc in a caravan in Cornwall, not a luxury 6k holiday.

Noone is saying don’t claim benefits if you need them, but I thought they were for essentials and necessities, not luxury holidays.

If your answer is yes then you are either a liar or stupid (because why wouldn't you?!).

Perhaps because some of us actually have pride for ourselves and want to set a better example to our children that you get what you work for not go scrounging for hand outs? When I go on holiday I do feel a sense of pride in myself that I have worked to get myself to where I am and that all the hard work I have done in my career and sacrifices I made were all for something. Why should all of us who do work hard and make sacrifices to have nice things for ourselves also have to fund them for someone else because they haven't?

Seeing how much of my wage gets taken to be given to people like this makes me sick. If it went to someone that was genuinely struggling I'd understand but having it thrown in my face that my hard earned money is going to fund someones luxury holiday is disgusting.

So what am I meant to do - not claim? I highly doubt anybody would choose not to claim if they were eligible.

As I have stated previously, I work full time. I work just as hard as anyone else, I just get paid less. You're essentially saying that low earners don't work hard.

Can we not derail OPs thread with all the benefit bashing shite please?

OP it sounds like you have very different priorities. I spend about 20% of my income on holidays each year, so about £10k.

How do you split/organise your finances? I wouldn’t have someone telling me I had to save money I wanted to spend on holidays, or that it would be better to buy a car with it.

As I've stated as well, if I saved more I would end up having to spend it so then would end up claiming UC again. I get more UC than I spend on holidays, so I would have to use the savings on other bills. It would be a bit of a cycle.

No scamming at all! It's not illegal to spend money.

Apologies to MNHQ. Apparently facts are offensive now.

RIP free speech

This is hilarious.

There's no rule saying I HAVE to save money. Just your opinion.

Why on earth would it be logical for me to save up, close my UC claim, then have to spend the savings and open a new UC claim?

Bizarre thought train.

You're thought pattern is hilarious.

Saving is part of life. People save to afford holidays. What you're saying is why should I save my money when I can get a hand out from the government instead to pay for my holiday? Could you imagine how f*ed this country would be if everyone had this 'thought train'?

And yet on another thread, a single mum can’t afford her rent. That’s what’s benefits are for, not 6k holidays.

Unfortunately, I suspect there are too many people who think like this.