I do the share and save at work aswell... its for 3 years but i have 3 going so I have one maturing every July..:D

scully27 wrote:

I do the share and save at work aswell... its for 3 years but i have 3 going so I have one maturing every July..:D

Same here, got one of my share plans, due to mature in June, and come aug I have my free shares which will mature at around £600-£750

We save a certain amount each month for our holiday as if it was a bill or something. Like we save for gas, electric, car insurance, water rates etc!
I also chuck odd change into a jar which usually adds up to a few hundred quid!
One tip I'll give is to remember that whilst on holiday you wont be spending at home what you would normally be spending so budget that towards your holiday too!

'One tip I'll give is to remember that whilst on holiday you wont be spending at home what you would normally be spending so budget that towards your holiday too!'

I always think this too - plus I have to get a train to work which is £35 per week so that's £70 towards my spending for my 2 weeks in the sun.

When we come home we always say we wont change up our left over euros (or whatever it may be) but always end up doing it in the end.

I always use the money that I would have used for food shopping to pay to get my 2 dogs from the kennels. I don't change any foreign money that we have left but use that towards the next lot of holiday spends.

I don't "save" separately for holidays but I do budget for them, if that makes sense.

It's probably a bit OTT but I have a budget spreadsheet for both myself and wife and we update them at least twice a year to reflect our expected income and expenditure by month on a rolling 18 month basis. (I don't update it retrospectively for actual spend - it just gives us a plan for the year)

One of the most important lines in the expenditure section is the holidays line. I include the approx cost of the holiday (including parking, cattery etc) in the months that we'll have the money going out (deposit on booking, balance 2 months before, cattery and spending money on return, etc), I reduce our food and petrol costs in the budget for the months in which we will be away.
This means that I know we can afford the holidays before I book them and if money looks tight I budget for cheaper holidays rather than 'overspend' and end up borrowing.

i save £2 coins and usually end up with at least £400 a year to go towards spending money the rest i just cut out a few things for a few months beforehand and put the extra in a seperate acc which i only use for hol spends