Getting a loan to do fun stuff!?

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  • RonoB
    RonoB Posts: 42 Forumite
    Whilst I am not one for ever agreeing that you should put a holiday on a credit card i absolutely agree if you can afford it take your kids on holiday especially disneyworld. Kids don’t care about new kitchens or bathrooms or what car you have but they remember special holidays. Why borrow so much. Why not take out an interest free credit card book the holiday and then pay it back per month before you go or before the interest free period ends.
    My husband works long hours and is self employed therefore the only real quality family time we have is in holiday as relaxed and stress free. We also have our best friend who was exactly like you. Frugal paid off his mortgage at 37 and at 41 struck down with a degenerative illness. Be bad never taken his daughter on holiday ever. So worried and frugal about paying off the mortgage but now it’s too late. Sadly yes he has no mortgage but he will probably end up in a care home and the government will take his half of the house anyway.
    So my advice is don’t take on debt you cannot manage but do take your kids in holiday and if that means take out a small loan go for it. Life is short abs no one knows what’s round the corner xx
  • Ben8282
    Ben8282 Posts: 4,821
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    RonoB wrote: »
    if you can afford it take your kids on holiday especially disneyworld. Kids don’t care about new kitchens or bathrooms or what car you have but they remember special holidays.
    They are aged 4 and 2. They will not remember the special holiday.
  • 8ofspades
    8ofspades Posts: 141 Forumite
    Lots of great advice but my question would be - why choose somewhere as expensive as disneyworld? If you're not currently having any experiences, then you don't need such a costly holiday to create memories - there are tons of fun things to do that would be much more affordable for you. You could even do them whilst saving for a huge blowout holiday like disneyworld, if you put your mind to it. No debts necessary.
  • bspm1
    bspm1 Posts: 332 Forumite
    Ben8282 wrote: »
    They are aged 4 and 2. They will not remember the special holiday.

    Mine do, maybe it's the many photos and videos that we took.Lucky for me because I am the one who has forgotten!
  • borkid
    borkid Posts: 2,475
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    adindas wrote: »
    That is a very good advice to save money :):). That is the spirit of the MSE is not it ??



    Lol. She is now 30+ yo and remember the rainbow pony you have made, she probably just did not want to say that you are the stingiest father on earth. But she remember that you are the coolest dad on earth.
    Mum actually. She makes all her own clothes now and does crafty things and is a proper little money saver. She puts me to shame with her bargains.
  • enthusiasticsaver
    enthusiasticsaver Posts: 15,445
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    edited 14 June 2019 at 10:28PM
    I think balance here is the key between preparing for the future, living in the present and hopefully not paying for the mistakes of the past (ie over commitment to debt).

    While no one can predict the future and many are correct in that none of us know what is around the corner by way of health issues, redundancy or even bereavement ignoring plans for the future has its own downfalls too. Living retirement on a breadline pension is not fun and not being able to help your children through university or buying their first car or house through too much living for today is not nice either.

    You have obviously invested in property for your future (one wonders if that was so wise given that is not diversified and subject to property valuations which can go up and down constantly). However you do have that as an asset you could sell albeit depending on the property market and you have the rental income providing you have good steady tenants. If you are considering taking out such a large loan for "fun stuff" presumably you do have some monthly disposable income otherwise how would you repay it? My advice would be like others save for holidays and fun stuff and if a large expensive holiday comes along that you would like to take your family on then borrowing short term providing it is cheap interest wise and affordable on a monthly basis there is nothing wrong with doing that to subsidise your savings. Absolutely no point in Disney world though at 2 and 4. They will not remember it and may not be able to go on many of the rides.


    We always used a percentage of our monthly income by way of saving for things like holidays, home improvements and car replacements. Usually a third of our monthly savings target went on short term savings for xmas, annual holiday, car maintenance and small home improvement projects. One third was medium term savings for bigger holidays, car replacements and more expensive home improvements like new kitchen or conservatory. One third was long term savings for pensions and fixed term bonds to help our children out with university, cars, houses and weddings. Until the mortgage was paid off we also used this to overpay the mortgage to get rid of it before our daughters went to university. Maybe setting a percentage of your monthly income towards holidays, experiences etc would help you see that you can live for today but prepare for the future at the same time?
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  • adindas
    adindas Posts: 6,805
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    borkid wrote: »
    Mum actually. She makes all her own clothes now and does crafty things and is a proper little money saver. She puts me to shame with her bargains.


    The coolest but stingiest mum on earth then :):):):):)
  • borkid
    borkid Posts: 2,475
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    adindas wrote: »
    The coolest but stingiest mum on earth then :):):):):)
    I doubt 'they' would say stingiest. £1000 for a clarinet when she was 14 and recently £1500 for a loom and £1200 for a spinning wheel. Son similarly had expensive items. When they were young we didn't have the spare money so had to make do once they were older ie teens and later we had money to spare, I had retrained and was back working and OH had been promoted we could spend on them . We just prioritised our spending differently to most people as holidays, new clothes, lastest gadgets weren't important to us and we hate waste of any sort so mended and reuseed where possible. We even send empty animal food pouches to be recycled to raise money for a local charity!
  • Smellyonion
    Smellyonion Posts: 258
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    Honestly, spending a lot of money does not mean having fun. You can have a great time and give them plenty of fond memories through museums, parks, adventure centres, themeparks, farms etc.


    LEGOLAND or chessington is fantastic and a fraction of the price of Disneyworld.
  • AnotherJoe
    AnotherJoe Posts: 19,622
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    You say that borrowing £25k would only cost £1.9k "to be able to do fun things for 5 years" but actually it would be £26.9k because you'd have to pay back the £25k.
    So if you can pay back the £25k, you can start saving that now and instead of waiting until you have the full £25k you can save £5k in a year, earn interest on it and then "be able to do fun things next year" with say £5,500 (including the interest).
    Of course, if you can't pay back the £25k then you need to adjust your lifestyle - is your rental running at a profit? How much ? Can you save money each month? How much?
    FWIW years back I went to Disney with my kids aged 5&7 and some relatives aged 2&4. The 2&4 can't remember it all now so I suggest waiting for 3 or 4 years anyway before going on big expensive holidays, they'll be quite happy playing on the beach in say Devon , and save the money you didn't spend for that big holiday until they are a bit older and can appreciate it more.
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