How do people pay for a holiday? Decent income and can’t afford it?

[Ht1]

Our take home is 5,000 a month after tax. Mortgage 1,600, childcare 1,400, car payments 450 for two cars (each needed for work), bills 600, which leaves around 1,000 for petrol or days out and birthdays or one off expenses. Sometimes we can save 300 but not always and often that gets wiped out, like last month when we had tyres changed.

Just looked at holidays outside school holidays and it’s 1k minimum for accommodation for a week, much more if adding in parking at an airport and going abroad. How do people pay for this? It seems sad a family of three with 5k a month can’t book a uk holiday with ease.

OP these years are brutal. It gets easier once the children are in school. Hang in there.

I’m always surprised at questions like this. The clear answer is op they earn more than you or have less outgoings.

Save for four months - £1200.

Not sure where the 700
a month is going if it’s for days out and birthdays…..

You're just at a very expensive time of life, £1400 for childcare is huge.

But you also have to make choices. A smaller house, cheaper cars etc. £5k+ per annum for cars is insane to me.

We earn more and don't (yet) have kids. Also we love holidays and will happily chuck £££ at them!

The 1400 in childcare is the answer. Once they are at school, make sure you save that money and you have plenty that you can put towards holidays.

@ThatCoralShark well yes but it seems unless you’re earning 100k plus a year these things are difficult. Bit ridiculous?

@Whydoeseveryonewanttoargue well we went out yesterday and food,parking, petrol and entry to farm totalled 58. That’s just one day out and nowhere glamorous!

Our income isn’t as much as yours but we have a fairly high mortgage but older kids so no childcare costs. We didn’t always manage holidays when kids were younger. The childcare costs are high for you at the moment but they won’t be forever - it will get easier. We save every month towards Christmas/holiday. We each have a DD set up to go into a separate account. We don’t have expensive holidays just in the UK and generally go Easter when it’s not as high priced

You have a big mortgage, large car payments & are paying for childcare. Not everyone makes those decisions 🤷‍♀️ you could live in a smaller:cheaper house or have cheaper cars if you wanted to free up money for holidays

Seems the huge hot you're dealing with is childcare costs..Is there any way to reduce this? Request to work from home etc, family support? If not then once child is in school it gets easier, maybe save a bit away each month for a couple years and do a big lovely holiday. The only problem you have once they start school is that you're subject to the rip off prices that airlines and travel agents charge just because it's a school holiday. I have 3 kids (6 and under) and it's like minimum 4k to do a holiday now, just ridiculous.

Credit cards!

When we were little and our parents were at a similar stage, but with smaller incomes and higher mortgage, our family holidays were always self-catering in the Lake District for a little holiday and ferry-drive plus self-catering in France for summer. Always assumed we’d be able to afford the same, but holidays have rocketed along with everything else and wages have stagnated; a self-cater house for a week in the lakes is no longer the bare bones cheapo option! UK hols are so spendy now. It’s shit but then ::gestures at world binfire:: When the next generation is fighting in the climate wars and living in bins, there won’t be holidays at all, so at least we’re better off now?

Is food included in the £600 bills? Or in the £700 spend? We are lucky we earn a bit more than you. But our mortgage is £2400 per month and childcare £2200 (that’s with the funded hours). I find food/nappies/cleaning stuff is around £120 a week plus other bills. We are going to Butlins for four nights, cost us £110 for all of us.

I get that but even if you did that once a week it would be around £240 a month. I think maybe you need to carefully work out where £1000 is going every month - appreciated things like tyres are expensive in the example you gave.

Have you done a comprehensive spreadsheet and show outgoings? It may be eye opening…..

Because your outgoings are high.

£1100 mortgage and £300 childcare now with the 30 hours. Slightly more take home
pay.

it will get easier once you get rid of that childcare bill!

You’re spending £17k a year on childcare- there is your holiday.

i suspect more people do earn >100k a year than you’re expecting with the comment

but looking back over the childcare years, we did have credit card and overdraft debt. I’m sure when we remortgaged for building work a bit went into the day to day pot too. Hang in there- it’ll be over before you know it

I couldn't spend that kind of money when DS was in nursery and I was on a similar salary either.

But many cheaper options if you know where to look. The Sun Holidays is running at the moment where you can get accommodation for under £100. Butlins is around the same for Mon-Fri on a 'tots week' in Feb/March. It's cold, and not the standard I love, but still plenty of cheap and cheerful holiday activities. You can then look forward to 'nicer' holidays when you get out of the brutal nursery years!

You can book a holiday and pay monthly. Have one every other year? Don’t book AI?

If you look, you can get some deals. I follow “Seaside Travel Sacriston” on FB and they get some great deals, even during school holidays. (It’s a NE travel agency but you could still follow). Also if you saw a Jet2 holiday, they can beat the price.

Uk holidays? We earn well but with nursery fees we can only do holiday cottages, which, have all been so lovely and I feel mine are too young for an abroad holiday where me and my husband actually have a holiday too.
Some people will put it on a cc and pay it off I assume.

We're away at Easter and then again in August, August we split with family members so bigger property and a smaller amount to pay if that's an option.

I don't pay childcare, mortgage is half yours and don't spend £1000 on petrol and days out.

I know people often say this on MN and it might be true in some cases, but often other people can just afford it due to different income and outgoings.

Even though we earn more now we never upsized our flat! Happy living as family of 4 in a small 2 bed flat the foreseeable

got rid of the car before we don’t need one as live in the city

we have no commuting costs as we both cycle to work

managed to arrange it that we only need 3 days childcare - husband does a compressed week over 4 days and I only work 4 days at the moment so that saves loads

we prioritise holidays and put them ahead of everything else -we go on a lot of free days out and take our lunch and coffee with us to save money

It's the childcare. We had 6 holidays last year that totalled similar to your childcare bill.

Two things that stand out are you childcare bill and car payments. In comparison our bill is £250 and we don’t have car finance. in your situation that would free up £1000 giving loads for a holiday. I suspect childcare you can’t reduce but cars could be looked at.