Saving for Holidays -Strategies, Plans etc.

Hi, I believe all of us on PC want financial independence using various investment strategies such as Investing in Property, Direct Shares, Lics, Etfs etc but we also want to spend quality time with loved one's so Does anyone use certain strategies to save money for any type of holidays (it can be overseas 3-5 weeks holidays in Australia 1-2 weeks)

I have a young family and like others me and my wife work hard, pay mortgages and also invest in LICs (with never sell mantra) and we are also saving money for our next property-I am interested to know how other PC members accumulate funds for holidays:-

Do you keep set amount aside every month or
Just record the amount everymonth but let it sit in offset
or
Do not save specifically for holidays but take out from offset/sell shares when required?
Or
?????

 

I find it hard to believe nowadays that families MUST take a holiday overseas every year.
Did your parents do that when you were growing up ?

My parents certainly couldnt afford that and i remember airfares in the 70's 80's were more expensive than now.

Having said though , holidaying now in Australia is just as expensive as going say to Bali for a family

I remember as a kid I went to The Entrance , or Coffs Harbour for holidays.as stayed in caravan parks overnight

 

In answer to your question though about saving for a holiday , i only go if i can afford it !!!

This year i will get my 4 weeks annual leave in August and i doubt i will be going overseas as my Shares in Fortesque and Telstra nosedived !!!!

So rather than get myself into further debt i would raher sacrifice this year and go next year .

Now a lot of young people nowadays cant do that, they would put it on a CC or something and not bother to sacrifice a holiday in order to save.

 

A young family can’t have a better holiday than a week or two at the beach. Rent a cabin in a caravan park (instant friends) for a week or two - and it wont break the bank.

So long as you are saving to the max, take the money out of your offset account.

Overseas travel is all very well, but it is not always a restful holiday. We have only started travelling overseas now we are retired. It is sad to see tired youngsters being rushed through airports by stressed parents.
Marg

 

Domain had an article on the topic recently.
You'll never own a home if you keep going on all those holidays... Right?

 

Just consider the low level possibility ,that combined with compounding and re-investing and the mindset never sell ,no matter what you will get to a level around this time of year when the fully franked div's start turning up in the PO box ..

 

We have a few strategies to save for family holidays. We collect frequent flyer points by putting every bill on our credit card including all IP expenses. This saves us at least one return fare to Bali or an equivalent.
We also don’t use any tax withholding, instead opting for a lump sum for our tax. It’s forced savings so to speak. We put some towards a holiday and park the rest in the offset for our emergency fund. We have been trying to do an overtime shift once a month to give our savings a boost this year.
Like you, we work hard, we put a lot of effort into building our portfolio for the future. About to buy IP #5 in the next few months.
We have a young family and don’t get to spend a lot of time together other than holidays as one of us is always at work. Yes, we could do a cheap local holiday but we often find that food and accommodation ends up being more expensive than a holiday in Bali. We’re not campers! The airfares are the only real additional expense and this is something we are willing to absorb for the quality family time and fun we have together.

 

Damn @MyDarlinghurst
These have got to be the best 2 posts you’ve ever written on this forum.
Hope you are feeling ok.

 

Wow, that's amazing. A deposit on a median priced house cost the same as just five flights to London

 

My DH’s dad lives in Singapore as does a lot of his close family. The only member of his family in Aus is his mum and she is in Brisbane where my family are. If we see family at all it means domestic or international travel and yes it is expensive.

Family from both places consider it our duty to visit them as there is only 3 of us it is ‘easier’ apparently. The cajoling to come both places has become more regular since having DS.

We just save up as best we can and go when we have saved the funds. In Queensland we stay with relatives which is taxing at best although we appreciate we are putting people out.

There is no easy solution to this.

 

Never sell? I sold my Telstra shares that were going down faster than a ......
Made a loss of 6k it was either sell or make further loss, mind you they may go back up tommorrow who knows!

 

This is my justification for travelling business class (not that I need one!).

When my parents started travelling overseas when dad retired, they paid $3K each for economy flights to a London - in 1978.
Marg

 

That's a pity mate,and one of the problems defining the characteristics of longterm asx listed like "TLS"..
When you look at the consistency with the div's-franking credits on the just the past 10 years ,I still think the outlook is still strong..Just hope you bought and sold at the right time to get the div's and franking's and the tax loss ..

 

Growing up as children in the 70s we always went on holidays, but it was never overseas , it was always in the caravan , as many did in that era.
Two week holidays every summer up north and on most long weekends .
The parents loved to travel ,and once we grew up they done a few big round Australia trips in the campervan and many overseas trips .
Once we were in our twenties we both travelled extensively, and I think its a really good idea for young adults to travel overseas.
You tend to really appreciate how good it is growing up in Austalia compared to many countries where daily life is a struggle.
Life is about enjoying yourself , you only get one chance , and leave it to late in life , it may never happen.
The bigest mistake I have seen many people make is getting hooked on trying to make more and more money.
Its like a piece of string , it just never ends, they never really take a good break , before they realize it they are in their 50s, the kids have long since left , and for many ill health starts to set in as they get older, or they marriage breaks down because they have completely grown apart in their conquest to make money.
Money does help in the conquest to happiness, but money itself doesn't neccesary make you happy , its what you do with it that can bring the most happiness .
And I know from a young kid it was going on the family holidays that brought a lot of enjoyment.
For many families today its actually cheaper to jump on a plane and go on a package holiday somewhere for a week or two .

 

My wife's family are from overseas and we visit them every 1 or 2 years. We budget for the next one right after the last one.

Your real question is about budgeting. The key here is that budgeting is all about goals and much less about expense tracking. Goals include saving for annual bills, saving for investments and saving for luxury items. Budget every dollar you have, assign each a purpose, and track progress to reaching goals. This can all be done in excel.

 

We put it all in the offset and take it out as needed for holidays. Every 2 years or so it's an overseas trip then beach and snow trips domestically in between. Our family travel well in the car so a road trip is enjoyed by all. I've just booked a week on the Gold Coast (quiet beach area), 3 bed apartment, ocean view $1500. It's close to Aldi and the kids can get slurpees to their hearts content at the servo next door. We won't spend much - it'll just be the beach and simple home cooked meals, maybe a dinner out together once or twice. I think it's not lot to spend to have some quality time together and make some memories.

 

I aim to save a percentage of income every pay. Then if I go over it had better be for a good reason e.g car accident or medical expense. I don't apportion every dollar but I do try and be careful with spending e.g. keep petrol consumption low; buy a few good things; buy second hand when I can. Buy the odd treat too

I think family memories are really important. Even if it's just going away for a few days somewhere close by. When you and your children get older you won't regret time spent with the children.

If you do go overseas, and that's not something I expect, then make sure you have travel health insurance. You'll be glad you paid for it with medivacs costing 100k plus.

 

We take $1k out of offset every month and place in our Travel card (Velocity) and play the money market buying currencies (when they are cheap) that we wish to use OS.
When the airfare email arrives telling us we can fly really really cheap, thats where we go.
e.g.: late last year got an email advising we could fly to NZ and return free!
$478 return for the 2 of us (not each).
had some leftover USD in the Travel card and yep, NZ $ were cheap to buy with our USD so away we went.

Now focussing on GBP but sadly AUD not buying too well there but it'll change again one day. Meanwhile if any other currency becomes a screaming buy then thats were we will focus on airfares and put a trip together again.

 

Equity mate

 

We don't "save for holidays" per se.... we live within our means & have good financial discipline which allows us to spend on holidays when we really want it.

Sounds tight but it's actually not.... just booked a cruise & looking at another trip within 6 months. This is only doable because our finances are in check...