How to Save for a Family Holiday: A UK Guide

A family holiday is usually one of the biggest planned costs of the year, and one of the easiest to underestimate. The headline price covers the flights or the cottage, but the total also includes getting to the airport, eating out, activities, spending money, and the things you only remember at the last minute. This guide sets out a straightforward way to save for a family holiday: work out the real cost, set a goal, save towards it regularly, and keep an eye on spending while you are away.

Work out what the holiday really costs

Before choosing how much to save, it helps to build the full cost, not just the booking. A simple checklist:

| Cost | Things to include | |---|---| | Getting there | Flights, ferry, train or fuel; transfers; airport parking | | Staying there | Accommodation, deposits, cleaning or resort fees | | Before you go | Passports, travel insurance, luggage, suncream, clothes that fit growing children | | While you are there | Food and eating out, activities and entry tickets, local transport | | Spending money | Souvenirs, treats, children's pocket money for the trip | | A buffer | Something unexpected almost always comes up |

If the trip is abroad, gov.uk's foreign travel advice lists entry requirements for each country, which can include costs like visas or passport validity rules worth checking early.

Prices for flights and package holidays often rise during school holidays, so families tied to term dates may find the same trip costs noticeably more in August than in June. It can be worth comparing a few dates within the holidays, since prices can vary from week to week.

Turn the total into a goal

Once you have a total, give it a name and a date: "Summer holiday, £X by the end of May". A goal with a deadline is easier to plan around than a general intention to "save for a holiday".

Working backwards from the date gives you a regular amount:

Take the total cost.
Subtract anything already saved.
Divide by the number of months (or paydays) before you need the money.

As an illustration only: £1,200 saved over 10 months is £120 a month, or roughly £28 a week. If that amount does not fit, the options are to save for longer, choose a cheaper trip, or move some costs later, such as spending money that can be saved closer to the date.

Deposits and final balances often fall due well before you travel, so it is worth mapping those dates onto the plan too.

Make saving automatic and separate

MoneyHelper's guide to saving money for a holiday suggests treating saving like paying a bill, committing to a regular sum each week or month, and keeping the money in a separate pot so the target stays in view. Many families find it easiest to move that amount on payday, before other spending starts, rather than saving whatever is left at the end of the month.

A few habits that help families stay on track:

Add windfalls such as a tax refund or birthday money you choose to put towards the trip.
Check in monthly, so a missed month is noticed and caught up rather than forgotten.
Keep the goal visible, so everyone in the family knows what the saving is for.

Bring the children into it

A holiday is a goal children can understand and get excited about, which makes it a useful money lesson. Depending on their age, children might save some of their own pocket money for spending on the trip, choose between two activities with a fixed budget, or help track how close the family is to the target.

Our guide to how much pocket money by age has more on age-appropriate ways to involve them.

Keep track while you are away

Holiday spending is easy to lose track of: different currencies, lots of small purchases, and a relaxed mood. Setting a daily or weekly spending amount for the trip, and noting what is spent as you go, makes it easier to enjoy the second week as much as the first.

If you are paying in another currency, recording spending in that currency and seeing it converted back to pounds helps make sense of what things actually cost.

Where a shared family budget helps

Saving for a holiday is a shared effort, and it tends to work better when everyone can see the same goal. Famyance is the financial home for modern families, a family budgeting app with shared budgets and joint goals everyone can see. A family can set up a joint holiday goal, watch it grow, and record spending in other currencies, converted with daily exchange rates.

An honest note on how it works: Famyance works through manual entry and uploaded statements rather than connecting to your bank. You can see what each plan includes on the pricing page, or create your free account to try it.

FAQ

How far in advance should we start saving for a family holiday? It depends on the total and how much can be set aside each month. Working backwards from the travel date, and from any earlier deposit or balance due dates, shows how long you need.

Is it better to save first or book early? Booking early can secure dates and sometimes prices, but deposits and balances then have fixed due dates. Many families map those dates onto their savings plan so the money is ready when each payment is due.

How can we keep holiday spending under control? A spending amount per day or per week, agreed before you go and tracked as you spend, gives everyone a clear limit without needing to add everything up at the end.

Should the children save towards the holiday too? It is up to each family. Some children like saving part of their pocket money for trip spending money, which can make the goal feel like theirs as well.

How to Save for a Family Holiday