I spread ours over two holidays - one in April/May before the school holidays and then one in September when the children have gone back to school!

book may and october, if any surplus is available book an extra [so far this year malta{extra} Zakynthos, booked for Oct Kefalonia] looking at a possible at the drop of the hat next weekend

I much prefer splitting it. I'm used to 2 hols abroad a year and wouldn't want to spend a fortune on one, which would mean missing out on my second trip.

We try to maximise the time abroad with whatever we can afford each year without scrimping to the point where we wouldn't have fun. So, generally have 2 or 3 holidays a year (depending on when the school holidays fall as OH is teacher and my work restrictive).
We usually go for a decent, clean SC with good reviews and I spend many, many hours searching for a good deal to a place that we both fancy going but it's got to be at a good price.

definately split them up, we have 3 or 4 holidays a year.
went benidorm in april(never again) tenerife in august,going somewhere in beginning of october not sure where yet(maybe crete)then in february dont know where yet.
wouldnt like one holiday a year as its to long to wait till the next one.

wizard

just noticed you are going to zakynthos in oct, i considered it myself for october(have been in august)but thought the weather may not be the best, thats why i'm thinking of going to crete.
have you been before in october and how was the weather and was it very quiet.

Spread mine over the year, went to Jersey in March and away again next month

In a normal year we would spread it over a few holidays, however the last couple of years we have had 'big' holidays celebrating different events so it has been blown more on one particular holiday.

trasjohno

we have been aground Greece always in may or sept/oct , we are prepared for 2 days of rain if we go to the Ionian islands and 1 days rain [per week] if we go to the Dodecanese, temps usually mid/high 20's and although prepared we don't often get wet,but the weather can be just a fickle as the uk, the resorts start to close down in october the smaller ones first the larger ones from the 2nd week of the month

wiz

trasjohno, went to Crete a few years ago in October - had the wettest,coldest holiday in Greece EVER!!.... ...but been to Rhodes twice in October - both times weather has been fabulous and also had an early October holiday in Corfu which was excellent.

To answer the original question...since the kids flew the nest and I took early retirement we don't actually have a budget - we just try to get as many holidays in as we can allowing for my wife's job!! Once we decide when and where, I spend hours searching for the best available deal around the dates.
Having said that, next Spring we have had to change our plans because I can't find a reasonably priced Caribbean break for late March - prices certainly seem to have sky rocketted for 2013!!

I've tended to do a bit of both - it depends a lot on whether I'm going to Cuba that year or not and for how long. Most years I'll go to Cuba for 2 weeks in the summer and all those dance classes don't come cheap So I got into the routine of in a Cuba year just having a cheapo DIY SC week somewhere in Europe or the Canaries in October plus possibly a weekend break in the UK in the Spring. But I haven't been to Cuba for 2 summers now (for health reasons - I have a chronic condition that made the holiday insurance issue complicated for anywhere outside Europe and the Med) and have hence tended to stick with holidaying in Europe and the UK and doing things that didn't need too much advance planning and didn't have to be booked too far in advance. I've found that really enjoyed deciding 'Yes, I feel good - where can I go next week?' So I'm looking forward to the greater opporunity that retirement in a few years will give me to do just that.

But now that I've had 2 years in the clear without any extended sick leave and can once more get a worldwide annual insurance policy at a reasonable price, I'm off to Cuba again. It will have to wait until this coming March for work reasons but that's my favourite time of year to go there anyway if I get the chance. However, I now only work part-time and the total holiday budget is tighter but I'm still hoping that it will stretch to a SC week somewhere warm and sunny(doesn't have to be hot) in October as well as Cuba probably every 18 months rather than every 12.

So I can see the future routine being something like

2013 Cuba in the Spring and cheapo DIY SC week in Europe in the Autumn

2014 Cheapo week in Europe in the Spring and Cuba in the Autumn

2015 Cheap week in Europe in both the Spring and Autumn

2016 Cuba in the Spring and cheapo week Europe in the Autumn

But I'll have retired in early 2015 by the latest and once I'm no longer bound by the academic year who knows what will really happen from Summer 2015 onwards? A friend and I are only semi-joking when we laugh about finally doing the backpacking year that we never did when we were younger. A round-the-world air ticket and who knows where we'll decide to take our stopovers?

In the end I think that the simple answer to Helen's original question is that I spend the lot! And try to squeeze as much as I can and get as far as I can within that budget!

SM

one holiday a year, saving all year around

We tend to go away a couple of times a year - one to catch up with my parents when they go to Malta in February and then we often go away with friends later in the year Aug/Sept'ish depending on where we fancy.

We don't have a budget as such because a lot depends on where it is we decide to go - but once we've decided, it's then my job to make it as cheap as possible so I do all the sourcing of flights, accommodation etc.

For the Malta break, we keep try to keep the costs on that to a minimum as it's not our main holiday but the one thing we cannot shop around for are the flights because we're limited to just one route and one airline (Emiriates fly Dubai to Malta via Larnaca). Cost for the return flights for 2 people are just under 400 EUR... Then we're tied to the same hotel as my parents and they tend to go to the same place each time.

On top of that we have to balance in kennel fees for our 2 big dogs which can be anything up to 300 EUR depending how long we go away for. Hence the reason for keeping our costs as low as possible. Usually we go away for anything between 6 and 10 days.