Taking a loan for our dream holiday?

HampshireH

Holidays are a luxury. The Original posts looks like you turn to credit everytime you want something of value.

Your mindset needs to change from not being a good saver but able to pay it back, to being a good saver and not needing to pay it back.

In our house we buy what we can afford.

We will have a lovely caribbean holiday this year but we have saved and sold holiday to pay for it. We have had 1 mini break in 2 years (no real holiday) and this is our reward to ourselves. It will still be on a budget.

enthusiasticsaver

Terrible idea.

Debt consolidation never works as people who overspend as you obviously are don't change mindset and reach for credit cards or loans when they want something they cannot afford. Learn to live within your means, no overdraft and no credit cards or you will cont8nually be in a debt spiral.

Dettol

No disagree with those that disagree..reason being you need to remember the here and now,what about mental health..family well being.

We need to remember we need to live for today...save and cover your bills of course,but for those who say go in 3 years time when youve saved for it...this is the real world and not 50 yrs ago,

mustiuc

If you would be in OP's shoes to get "don't do it" advices from those who are going in holidays almost every year, how would you feel it?
From what OP said, they need a holiday, they've been working hard this year and this holiday will be good for them (personal/financial/social).
From 2.2k a month and 1k+ bills you need to save 500 a month to go next year in Japan. Can OP do it? Can he/they wait another year? If not, the single other option is to borrow and pay back.

Les79

Pixie5740 wrote: »

No, we don't know what's around the corner. Illness, redundancy, urgent roof repairs, recession, sky high interest rates, all of which are much easier to cope with if you aren't up to your neck in debt and have savings. Take a look at the Debt Free Wannabe board, there are lots of posters who had good incomes and thought they could easily manage high levels of debt then BAM something happens and the debt is no longer manageable.

What about hyperinflation? Savings ain't going to be much use to you in that scenario, especially when you end up paying £10,000 for a loaf of bread.. Very unlikely to happen in the UK mind you, but as you say "we don't know what's around the corner".


Plus if you die tomorrow then, whilst you won't technically care about not going to Japan (because you're dead), you do miss the opportunity.


Life is short. Loans are designed to give you access to money almost instantly and pay it off at a set rate per month.


The only question is whether OP can comfortably afford to pay off the amounts each month. If they can, then they should give some real consideration towards booking this holiday.


I think people have made some other valid points too here (which you need to listen to; especially about sorting out your income and expenses. Maybe also get insurance), but ultimately it is OP's life to do as they please.


OP, if you want to go to Japan then go to Japan. Keep your expectations in check, but other than that have a nice time

[Deleted User]

Dvekavo wrote: »

Thank you all for talking some sense into me! :rotfl:

What are your thoughts now after a lot of differing opinions have been offered ?
Will you go ahead with your original idea or have you changed your plan of action ?
It would be nice to have a follow up post

enthusiasticsaver

Magic rule on borrowing for those who are saying life is short, seize the day, don't worry about the future and all those things which generally people regret 5 years later when they are paying eyewatering sums monthly in debt repayments. Dont borrow for things you have enjoyed in the past and are still paying back years later. A car or home improvement or career development is ok to borrow for. Those are assets and if you take out a 5 year loan you are still enjoying the benefits of the original purchase. A holiday is over in 2 weeks but you could still be paying it back in 5 years so what about holidays next year and the year after? Same goes for Christmas on a credit card where you are still repaying it years later. Very unwise and a slippery slope from there to where you are quickly drowning in debt.

You have almost £4K in debt now and would be almost doubling it to effectively have some memories of a holiday, a couch and a PlayStation. If you are struggling to live now then adding £3k of debt and higher repayments would make it worse. Learn to manage your money better so you know where the £1000+ of disposable income you have each month is going.

Pixie5740

Les79 wrote: »

What about hyperinflation? Savings ain't going to be much use to you in that scenario, especially when you end up paying £10,000 for a loaf of bread.. Very unlikely to happen in the UK mind you, but as you say "we don't know what's around the corner".


Plus if you die tomorrow then, whilst you won't technically care about not going to Japan (because you're dead), you do miss the opportunity.


Life is short. Loans are designed to give you access to money almost instantly and pay it off at a set rate per month.


The only question is whether OP can comfortably afford to pay off the amounts each month. If they can, then they should give some real consideration towards booking this holiday.


I think people have made some other valid points too here (which you need to listen to; especially about sorting out your income and expenses. Maybe also get insurance), but ultimately it is OP's life to do as they please.


OP, if you want to go to Japan then go to Japan. Keep your expectations in check, but other than that have a nice time

You should always have a little money tucked away in case of emergency. It's those who don't who will have to resort to credit and how easy do you think that is to get during a period of financial crisis like hyperinflation?

By the way, how's that Debt Managemt Plan working out for you?

TrustyOven

Dvekavo wrote: »

Without getting into it too much, 2018 has just been such a bad year for us both and our dream holiday would just make us feel so much better... So, do you think getting a loan is a good or bad idea? Would probably be a 7k loan over 5 years to pay everything off and book our dream trip... Good idea or bad? What would you do?

2018 has been a very bad year for you. So much stress, worry, pain, and insecurity.


So let's say you go for a very expensive holiday to Japan and take out loans for it.


What happens in 2019?


You have to pay for the loan you took out for that 2 week Japan holiday.


And you get stressed.
And you worry.
And you feel down.
And you feel like another holiday to dull out the pain.


So you think about another holiday for the end of 2019. Before you even paid off the Japan holiday.



And you add more stress and more worry to your life, thinking that you can simply ESCAPE the stress and pain of 2018 with just one holiday.


Can you imagine what it would be like to have the same sort of stress and worry of 2018, repeated for 5 years to pay off your 5 year loan?


Would you really want to put yourself through that?

dawyldthing

It’s a really really bad idea. I’ve been on several holidays (including spending a few thousand travelling around Oz and NZ) and always saved for them, put in extra hours at work to pay for them.

Why not pay off your debts with the extra amount you would have put towards the holiday then start saving with what your saving from not repaying the debts? If your careful you might be able to go late next year or early 2020, but it’s better cutting back and then knowing the labour of wages is paying it rather than paying more because of borrowing for it too.

Plus look at hotukdeals and the like for flight deals and stuff. If your careful you’d do it on a budget too. Make your money work for you not work harder and longer paying someone else’s bills through borrowing