Would you get a loan for an amazing holiday?

[Florally]

Just that really.

A friend of mine is getting a loan to do her ‘bucket list trip’ and go on safari and to South Africa and it sounds incredible.

My DH would never let us do that, save instead of borrow as a mantra.

But, I think if it were just my decision, I would. If you can afford the repayments without impacting anything instead of saving for years… I don’t see the harm.

Would you? (And as a bonus, where would it be? 🤩)

We use a credit card to pay for our holiday every year. 0% interest. We aim to pay it off by the time the holiday actually comes around. I think a lot of people do this, don’t they?

It would depend - if the experience was time bound for some reason then perhaps.

Nope I wouldn't enjoy it if it's put me in debt I would rather wait a couple of years until I could actually afford it

Yeah because that's how a healthy marriage works 🙄

Yes. Imagine waiting to save the money and then dying before you got to take the trip. Life is for living, creating memories. You've only got one. Make the most of it.

5 years ago I’d have said no way but then we lost my lovely dad very quickly to pancreatic cancer and just realised life really is so short. We took out a loan and have had 2 amazing bucket list holidays with our teenage DC’s. Absolutely no regrets.

Make the most of it by getting into unnecessary debt and making yourself less able to cope with events? Weird definition.

Yes I would if I was in a good position to pay it back.

I wouldn’t, I’d feel too much pressure on the actual holiday if I knew we were sacrificing more than we could afford!

The most unsavvy financial decision ever.

you should count yourself lucky that your husband knows about finances. At least this way you ll have a safer old age. You should feel very sorry for yoyr friends she s doing that.

a friend of mine is doing this summer my top bucket list trip ever c. 50keuros for a family of 5 incl. flights and food. A safari but not in SA and she s paying cash using her bonus. Thats the one I m jealous of 🤣🤣

This is a tough one because I would be worried that something would hinder my repayments - job loss etc, but on the other hand if you save up , with the daily costs of like in the uk - you’ll never take that holiday!

It depends on your situation, the risk of course that something untoward happens in the future and you can't afford to pay back the loan. But how likely that is varies from person to person.

It's also obviously more expensive to pay interest on a loan than it is to earn interest by saving, although you could put a holiday on a 0% credit card and earn interest while you save the money to pay it back.

But if you can afford to repay a loan without impacting anything else, you should have savings, otherwise something would be impacted while you repaid the loan, there would be less money somewhere to pay for other things or save.

But you say your DH would never 'let' you do this. Do you have equal say over what happens to money in your marriage? Do you know what comes in, what gets spent and how much savings you both have? If you said that you wanted this big holiday in, say, 3 years time, would he be on board with arranging your budget to save up for it and is that an achievable aim within your finances? If so, then how about suggesting that to him?

I did but in fairness my mam loaned me the money so no interest and small payments each month until it’s paid back.

I don’t understand this. If you can afford a loan payment, why wouldn’t you put that money into a savings account and call it “holiday fund”? This is what we do but I’d also never get a car on finance or have credit card debt. I hate the pressure that debt creates!

That would be the only reason to, IMO. And even then only if the debt wouldn’t make the impending medical issue harder to cope with.

Yes, in the right circumstances. I booked a last minute trip over the Easter holidays before starting chemotherapy as I knew it would be the last chance to get away with the kids for a while. We had savings to dip in to (still felt indulgent) but had we not, I’d have put it on a credit card and worried about it later.

Whilst I absolutely agree that life is for living (and trust me we do. I soend all my money on experiences for us as a family and for the teens), i fundamentally believe that getting into debts for a holiday is veeeeery bad planning and quite stupid actually.
if you do, please let us know when you can retire and live financially secure however tgat means for you.

If you can’t afford the holiday, no!

If you have to save for years to afford it, then it will also take years to pay off the loan, so in that case , no.

Maybe if it were short term, for example a year, then maybe I would consider it.

Nope for me. I would only borrow for necessities. Holidays are luxuries and you can save towards them.

I am fiscally risk averse so probably not. Plus I always get post-holiday blues so I'd hate to be paying off a holiday I have already done rather than saving for the next one.

In the case of illness making it a 'now' decision then I would do it.

I am a saver though. 3 years ago I took on temporary seasonal work in order to pay for an amazing holiday (additional 12 hours a week, mainly evenings and weekends) and it was so successful ** I have done it ever since. I'm more comfortable with that.

** mind you, it has occurred to me more than once that if we gave up weekly pub/eating out trips we could have saved similar without having to work extra but hey ho

This

Not a chance. Unemployment is going up, businesses are not recruiting as many people. Very few jobs are 100 percent certain. Any of us could lose our jobs at any time. Save up and go.

I would never ever, ever, ever do this.

It’s just not a good idea. If there is a bucket list holiday you want then save for it. If you make it a priority you will save for it but be protected in case of emergency. Little choices will add up (take away tonight or £20 in holiday fund for example)