Do you have holidays if in debt?

ZaSa1418

The only way we have been able to go away recently is due to staying at a family members place abroad and also getting staff travel flights to anywhere in Europe. I budget for this and if it doesn't happen e.g. no flights or someone else is using the places abroad then we don't go. This year we probably won't go due to family members job change but i will use that little bit of money for days out for the children.

RyanHello

OP, if you follow DR baby steps in full, the relief of having lots of savings behind you is much more refreshing than any holiday.

EimearF

I continued to have holidays whilst in debt. I should not have. My debts were in part caused by extravagant holidays and i was always stressed on them because i knew they were adding to my debt. 
Dave Ramsey is right, i just didnt listen and added a few years of stress to my life. 

zippygeorgeandben

I agree with another poster very early on in this thread about it being about who you are with and not where you go.
My sister and I had this conversation last week over a glass of red.  As children, our parents could not afford foreign holidays but we did have caravan holidays on a site.  All we have is good memories.  No mobile phone signal(s), we remember the launch of Channel 5, doing jigsaws, pic n mix from Woolies.  It seems to us that whereas people went away in the Summer for a two week break, we were going to the caravan in every holiday.  We certainly didn't feel like we were missing out and we have life long memories to look back on.

Sharon87

Know this is a bit of an old thread, but I think it all depends on circumstance and what else you spend your money on. My debt is coming down. It's 6k less than it was 2 years ago and I go on multiple holidays a year - from weekends away to week long trips. I've done cheap holidays in Wales in hostels/airbnbs to cheap flights to Europe. I don't have kids and usually travel by myself so the cost can be kept low.

I have saved up for big and small holidays whilst also paying off debt, I never use credit to pay for the holidays since I've started paying off debt. I could be in less debt now if I didn't take holidays but I'm glad I've taken the holidays I have, I relish the experiences and it gives me something to look forward to. I have reduced spending in other areas so I can go on holiday - less money on eating out/take aways and less drinking out for instance.

[Deleted User]

My answer would be NO.
A holiday is a luxury, it is not a necessity.
It is had when you have a clear surplus of money e.g it is pure disposable income; if it's not disposable and you're adding to debt then no 'experience/holiday'  is worth anxiety and sleepless nights no matter how you try and justify it.

mufc689908

Of course. There are so many lovely places in the world to visit and this isn’t a dress rehearsal!!

ryanm8655

I haven’t had a holiday since committing to my debt free journey last year. Even before that, the last holiday I had was in March last year (an expensive one to SA for a wedding, which I made into a 2 week holiday).

I haven’t made a conscious decision not to take holidays, I’ve just considered that I can’t afford it and decided not to go. I was meant to go to Vegas with friends in February (we spoke about it long before I started clearing debt) but I just couldn’t justify it. Likewise, was meant to be going to Oktoberfest with friends later this year but had held off on booking as I wasn’t sure where my finances would be by then. I considered booking a few times as I could use my avios for the flights and they’d already sorted accommodation cheaply but could never bring myself to do it. As it happens it’s been cancelled anyway.

I have done the odd weekend in London (I work in London and most of my friends are there - I was living there but moved back home to clear the debts), which I guess counts. Though it was budgeted for and was mainly to maintain my social life and sanity while living at home. Could have cleared my debt much faster without those trips but I also may have imploded.

I keep having conversations with friends about long weekends/holidays post lockdown but when it comes to it, I’ll likely stick with the odd weekend trip to London for sanity.

I’m in a position where at the end of next month all of my debt will be 0%. While some offers start ending again in July, I’ll already be a couple of months ahead of those by then based on the DDs I’ve set up. I may consider a cheap holiday at the end of summer when this lockdown ends but it’s a bit like window shopping. Talking and thinking about it is enough at the moment. In all likelihood I won’t and I certainly won’t be putting it on a credit card.

If a really important friend had a stag do or wedding, I’d go but would budget for it and save (provided it’s wasn’t somewhere unaffordable). That’s unlikely in the next year though. Do have a stag do and wedding this year but both are in London, so can fit into that London weekends budget.

Found reading people’s advice in here really useful though. If you can afford to clear your debts and it’s a long term plan with entertainment budgeted in, then a holiday is ok if it comes from that entertainment budget, would be my rule of thumb.

It’s amazing what a difference zero commute costs and minimal entertainment costs has had on my debts though, it’s been a real eye opener and made me less keen on the idea of a holiday while the debt clearance is going so well.

findingthisdifficult

Life is too short not to have any holidays/breaks, it doesn't have to be a crazy expensive break to be enjoyable. 

A couple of the holidays we have had, have added to our debt but I don't regret them, however I agree if the holiday didn't add to your debt it is certainly more enjoyable.  I'm looking forward to holidays from next year when hopefully my debt will be gone.

RyanHello

Yes, you sure can have a holiday. As long as you keep paying some of the debt off each month (a lot more than the minimum) there's no reason to treat yourself once in a while to a little break. I think abroad holidays are out the question, but that's more to do with the current climate in the world