The Cost Per Day Of Travel And Holidays

PMU said:
I excluded them. Generally speaking, you’ve already paid for transport and accommodation in euro before you leave, so you can calculate the cost per day of that.
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Ah, the sunk cost fallacy!

Generally speaking, the time to compare the cost of holidaying in A or B is before you book the holiday; the comparison isn't much use after you've already commited to one or other of them.

But if you do make the comparison because, out of interest, you want to know how the value you're getting compares with alternatives that you might have chosen, it make no sense to disregard some of the costs just because you've already paid them. They're still costs; they're still relevant to any comparison between the two alternatives.
 
Cervelo said:
I get that Leo but what I'm saying is the €600 saving is a notional saving, the holiday still costs €3k
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Which is true as well, but they're looking at the net cost which is perfectly valid in terms of budget / spend tracking. If they choose not to go on the trips they're not up €3k but the €2.4k net cost.
 
We spend time in a house we own abroad. The cost per day is the travel costs. Increased time there makes it better value by this equation so if we spent 300 day Pa there we’d be getting great value. All other costs are sunk.

Reminds me of an economics lecturer who maintained that the cost per mile of driving reduced the more you drove… aside from repairs and maintenance of course. So having someone drive your car will day made your commute home cheaper per mile
 
Leo said:
If they choose not to go on the trips they're not up €3k but the €2.4k net cost.
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Oh this is so funny, I was thinking last night the same thing but the opposite way,
That if they didn't go on the trip they'd be saving themselves the €3k and not €2.4k

When I'm doing costs for holidays, I don't factor in the savings in my day to day spending because if you're doing that should you not as well be factoring in the extra costs of maintaining your home while your away like all your utility bills that still have to be paid

So for me the cost of a holiday is what it actually cost me to get there and what I spent while there, nothing else is factored in or out
 
When we spend long periods abroad I do kinda consider that we are saving as groceries are a lot cheaper. Also where we are there is no access to ready meals and take always so we spend less on that. But we drive more and eat out perhaps more than in Dublin so I reckon it balances out. I’ve never checked the maths.
 
Cervelo said:
If the €3k is the total for everything is that not the actual cost and any saving is a notional saving against what you would have spent if at home
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When I calculate our holiday costs, I never include food shopping as I consider that I would also shop and eat in Ireland. Sometimes food is cheaper but despite that as we might use more convenient products, cook less and shop more often, I find that it's somewhat similar. Even here, my shopping can be quite different from one week to the other.
I would include restaurants though as it's not one of our usual expenses in Ireland. I don't consider any potential savings though I did see a difference in our electricity bill.
I would calculate petrol as we would drive far more when abroad .
 
It’s hard to compare food. I bought oysters yesterday. I wouldn’t buy them in Dublin. But I might pick up a marks ready meal now and then.
Eating out can vary a lot, a pizza locally is cheap, seafood is not.

I reckon it balances out.
 
Cervelo said:
So for me the cost of a holiday is what it actually cost me to get there and what I spent while there, nothing else is factored in or out
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Yes, but as it's AskAboutMoney, it does make sense to think of it in more balanced terms of the impact on the bottom line, particularly for those who work off a budget. In this case, the impact on net wealth is 2.4k, not 3.
 
Cervelo said:
So for me the cost of a holiday is what it actually cost me to get there and what I spent while there
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That is the standalone cost of the holiday. For me the relative cost of the holiday is more relevant and that necessitates subtracting what I would have spent if I hadn't taken a holiday.
 
michaelm said:
For me the relative cost of the holiday is more relevant and that necessitates subtracting what I would have spent if I hadn't taken a holiday.
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But then do you also add in all the stuff that you still have to pay for at home while your on holiday
To me if you don't do that then your not getting the true net net cost of the holiday

elcato has said their saving €600 over the 12 weeks but I presume their not factoring in the utilities at home like BB, TV and energy that they are still paying for, which I'm guessing would eat into a fair chunk of the €600 saving

Anyway I'm happy enough to use the "standalone cost" when deciding if a holiday is worth it or not
 
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Cervelo said:
But then do you also add in all the stuff that you still have to pay for at home while your on holiday
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No. You have to pay that whether you're on holiday or not (though Gas or Electric may be less). I just factor in what I would have spent on food, transport & social.
 
Cervelo said:
elcato has said their saving €600 over the 12 weeks but I presume their not factoring in the utilities at home like BB, TV and energy that they are still paying for, which I'm guessing would eat into a fair chunk of the €600 saving
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Nor should they. Anything you have to pay whether or not you take the holiday — rent, mortgage interest, insurance — is not relevant to identifying the true cost of the holiday. The true cost of the holiday is:
  • expenses that you incur, that you wouldn't incur if you didn't take the holiday (travel, accommodation, eating out, museum entry fees, those tatty souvenirs that you can't resist buying, etc) less
  • expenses that you avoid, that you would incur if you didn't take the holiday (heating your home, commuting to work, etc)
 
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