How much would you want in your savings before spending several thousands on a trip?

[Croissantsfordinner]

We have just bought our first home and will be spending the next year or so revamping our savings are the recent big expense.
DS is due to start school next year so our childcare bill will be significantly lower and we were hoping to save to go for a big family trip at some point in 12-18 months (US or Asia), likelihood is that we'd be spending between £5-6K between the 3 of us between flights and accommodation etc.

How much money would you want to have in the bank before feeling "enabled" to spend such amount on a trip? I wouldn't have thought twice about it many years ago but being almost 40, with a mortgage (and a big one as we are in London) and a DC I now wonder if we shouldn't go.

But then... you only live once and all of that and traveling is a big passion of ours.

If you have a big mortgage then 5/6k on a holiday isn’t going to be the difference between paying it off or not paying it off (or at least that’s the excuse I used to justify a much more costly holiday).

Many people routinely spend that on holidays.

So, I'd like to reach at least 5 months of savings to cover the basic living expenses before booking the holiday (this would include: mortgage, bills, food, some childcare and car/fuel).

Depends on other aspects of your situation.

We have a London mortgage, ongoing renovations and a baby. Ideally wouldn’t spend money on leisure without 6 months mortgage/essential bills payments in the bank but 3 months as an absolute minimum.

We don’t have anyone who could help if we got into difficulty so need to make sure we’re always okay if one of us got made redundant or the boiler blew up.

If you have some other sort of safety net then maybe less, if one of you works in an industry with big ups and downs maybe more.

Yeah that's true. It's just that we spend the past decade trying to save hard and going on a few European trips only to save for a down payment, then we also had a baby and have been spending a fortune on childcare etc. And now that we have bough the house we need to focus on re-building our savings pot so thinking of spending 6K on a trip feels very luxurious

Thanks. Agree, as I said in my other post above, I'd aim for at least 5 months of living expenses in the bank. Although we both work on industries that are not very secure at the moment so perhaps should aim for more.

Depends on your earnings surely? My monthly spend policy is:

1. Bills
2. Max out everyones ISAs
3. Rest is spending money - typically maxed out 2-3 times per year when flights need booking; rest of the time there is surplus cash to go into cash savings to pay for eg boiler, builders etc

Same as @Somanylemons , an absolute minimum of 3 months living expenses left in savings but ideally 6+ months.

I would probably want to have half of the cost of the holiday saved before booking so it wasn't all going to go on a credit card, and aim to have the whole £6k paid off before going so you aren't paying out every month for something that's already happened, and leave any credit free in case there are unexpected expenses either while you are away or at home .

@ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea no credit cards, I would use savings to pay for the holiday, I don't put anything on credit these days

I'd want 6 months emergency savings and also starting to build a decent pot of long term savings before an expensive holiday. Doesn't have to be loads in the long term but have started a plan and able to stick to it without dipping into the savings for the holiday.

Three years ago we were living our best life, nice holidays and two young children, had just brought a more expensive house with a bigger mortgage. Then my husband tripped over and ended up with a TBI. Over a year without the main wage earner bringing in income and the subsequent stress was horrific, but luckily I had been squirreling money away and we got through it without going into debt somehow. As soon as we got back onto a more even keel of employment again, I again started saving as much as possible and we managed to balance going away a few times with this. Just before Christmas, my husband lost his job again and is now searching for another one. I have worked out I can pay from savings and my wage the basic bills for about 10 months so I'm not in full blown panic mode.
My point being, you never know what life is going to throw at you, i do think you should live for the moment and all that and not go without experiences like holidays but I also know that you should always have a decent emergency fund...I'd say at least 6 months. Then do it, knowing that you have that safety net just in case somebody loses a hob or becomes ill or god forbid dies. It's a boring part of life but the future and savings are so important!

@TigerateToffee I am so sorry you have been through this, I hope everything gets fixed asap for you guys💐

I always want to keep 4 months expenses minimum in savings, 6 months ideal. Life can happen, I want time to make a plan in case of job loss or similar.

When it comes to it, get a credit card and pay the holiday on it as it gives you financial protection you don't get with bank transfers or debit cards. Then pay the card off immediately with cash. Especially for these kinds of sums.

As an aside, you cns probably do that holiday for less than you think - especially if you're not tied to school dates etc. Have a look at sites like Holiday Pirate (they find deals and advertise them, they don't do the bookings for you) and you'll save a fortune.

@Croissantsfordinner -

Firstly I love your username!

So we have around £25k savings, a sizeable mortgage and need lots of work doing on the house (which will probably eat up about £10-15k of savings).

But we are firmly of the opinion that if you want to do something, as long as you don't go into debt or live beyond your means, then do it!

We're actually off to Asia ourselves next week (argh!) and to be honest, we could have spent the money on a new boiler, complete overhaul of the back garden and various other things that need sorting. But my mum died fairly young (early 60s) and there were lots of places she wanted to travel to but never managed to get to. So now I live life by the motto that you only live once so go for it!!!

Six months minimum, for me it would have been more. But check out your after school childcare, the savings will not be quite as much as you think if you need breakfast and after school club.

@ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea DH and I pay for everything on credit card, it’s just using it knowing you can pay in full every month by direct debit. There is the protection plus all the perks, cash back or points. Have had trips to Legoland, sealife centre x3 West Midlands safari park x2 , hotels, car hire and various smaller attractions, ferry fares all on points over almost 30 years it’s saved a fortune.

@Starlight1984 It's about striking that balance, isn't it. You want to plan for a rainy day and feel safe but equally knowing life isn't forever and I don't want to reach a point where I look back and regret never doing the things I wanted to do (without getting into debt of course).

Not the sensible answer op but I would just go!

Not just re money reasons but once your child is in school, you're bound to school hols...

Do it! South east Asia is fab. Your money can go a long way!

@ViciousCurrentBun even with the pre and after school clubs, it will be half what we are currently paying for full time nursery to we will save about £650 a month or so!

I agree with this.

The optimum is having six months of expenses for emergencies.

I would have thought the moral of this story was to have income protection insurance rather than savings, but that's not mentioned

I would say at least 3 months of spending saved, maybe 6 months.
But I definitely think you should spend your money in line with your values and it sounds like travelling is important to you both, you've compromised revently and going on this trip before your child starts school could be cheaper if you go pre school hols too. Go for it!

I'm very much in the fuck it and go camp. I've had too many friends who've been struck down by random illnesses, shit life events such as parents getting unexpectedly ill or husbands/themselves getting cancer or dying.
Are you able to get a lodger or two in if necessary? I would do that rather than wait too long for a trip. Also your child will lose their school place so if you started them off in school and then went on the trip you wouldn't have a place to come back to are they might have got really attached to people. Whereas if they've never started it doesn't matter!

@Moonlightstars not sure about the school comment? I am only talking about a 10 days hol or so!

Personally we waited unti our kids were a bit older until we did big road trips
They can stay up a bit later and engage in it all a bit more etc