Do you think we spend too much on holidays?

[politru]

Young & childfree. Renters out of choice, deposit invested.

Combined take home after high pension contributions is £7k a month. Large salary increases in the next couple of years.

This year we’ve done:

1. City Break - £500
2. City Break - £600
3. Beach Holiday - £1,200
4. Adventure Holiday - £3,500
5. Beach Holiday - £900
6. Visit friends house - £300

This is just the cost of the travel and hotels. Always in economy, no posh hotels, self cater where possible, and eat in cheap-mid range places.

Is there a reason why you prefer to stay in lower priced accommodation?

I'm not young or child free but book as many holidays as I can comfortably afford. No I don't think you're spending too much as it appears within your means, enjoy it!

Yes, stay in cheap places because that’s all I had growing up, and would rather travel more frequently than spend it all on one trip! I’m very frugal… or so I like to think.

A mortgage may be cheaper than renting, obviously depending where you live.

Ok then. In answer to your question, no I do not think that you are spending too much. Enjoy!

Surely it's how long is a piece of string? It depends what your priorities are. I love travelling and probably spend too much on holidays and not enough on my pension, for example. But my parents both died far too young and holidays, the doing, and the planning etc, is something that gives me joy. And I feel very lucky that I am in a position to do this now.

No, i dont think thats too much. For context, we've spent more than that on holidays this year and have a mortgage and 2 kids.

But I'd advise you to get on the housing ladder ASAP tbh.

That's a lot to squeeze into the first 2 weeks of January

How can we answer that? If your bills are paid and you can afford it then how can we tell you you’re going on too many holidays?

Are you comfortable with what you spend on trips? That is all you need to ask yourself. Is your travelling stopping you from doing other things that you think are important such as future planning etc. If you're ok with it, go for it. Life is just so short.

I agree with just ordinary accommodation myself, even though I could afford luxury. I think it's a bit of a waste when all I do is sleep and shower in the room. So what if I don't get a chocolate on my pillow lol. Location is often far more important, and many luxury hotels etc. are not in the centre of towns anyway. They trap you there to spend 20 quid on an orange juice, and then taxis are required to get anywhere interesting ha ha!

So I travel about 6 or 8 times a year. I'm retired now though, but even when I had little, travel was very important to me but maybe not as often!

Most people who earn far less than you, spend that on one holiday but depends on your rent and other out goings doesn't it?

I think anyone who choses to rent in this country is bonkers, there is almost no security of tenure.

Section 21 and you've 2 months to leave, doable when younger and working but once retired? no thanks.

Why are you asking?

You can spend what you like

😂that’s exactly what I thought!

OP assuming that’s your plan for 2024 then it’s about 10% of your joint take home pay. it’s towards the high end of % but not out of the ballpark.

If bills, savings and pension are covered, and you still have spending money on top then enjoy it.

However if you are not managing to save or are building up dept then cut back.

If anything I'm surprised you're not spending more! 😂

How do you get a city break for two out of £500? We'd spend that on the hotel alone...tbh we don't really do budget travel. It doesn't have to be the Four Seasons but I'm not going to pay less to stay in a crappy 3*.

Depends on the city

No I'd spends that in a week and we had 8 breaks last year 😂. Crack on, let me is for living.

This is such a pointless thread. Nobody can possibly tell you. If 90% of your monthly income is committed to fixed outgoings then yes, you're spending too much on holidays. If you have £5k of disposable income each month then obviously you're not. How would any of us know?

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I’m curious to why you’re asking strangers on the internet if you spend too much? It’s your money, spend it as you see fit

I think spending one months take home pay on holidays a year is fine but I wouldn't spend much more.

We travel in a similar way to you OP. We stay in fairly cheap places (Airbnb's normally) so that we can go on more holidays. We often now have 6 or so a year. I don't think you spend too much, much better to spend it on experiences than stuff IMO.

Sounds fine to me. We spend lots on holidays but it’s our priority. I do recommend getting a house though for security

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Sounds like a good mix of breaks - and good value too.

Only you can decide what is too much or too little to spend - given your earnings, unless you have a huge amount of debt or extremely high housing expenses it would seem you can easily afford this . In your position, many people would be looking to purchase a property instead of taking this amount of holidays - but given your high earnings and budget holidays, you are probably also managing to save. And as said above- it's totally your decision .

Presumably they are renting an apartment or a basic room somewhere . Probably booking flights as and when they are cheap . City breaks may also be in UK .