A holiday is supposed to be the moment you finally switch off.
No emails. No alarm clock. No staring into the fridge at 6pm wondering whether cheese on toast counts as a balanced meal.
But for millions of people, the suitcase is not the only thing travelling with them. The money anxiety comes too.
New research suggests many UK holidaymakers spend days mentally adding up meals, checking their bank balance and worrying about the bills waiting at home.
The beach changes. The anxiety does not.
The holiday starts before the worry stops
The survey was commissioned by banking app thinkmoney and questioned more than 2,000 people across the UK in June 2026.
The detailed switching-off analysis used responses from more than 1,000 people who said they experience money worries on holiday and gave a definite timeframe for relaxing.
Only 27% said they managed to switch off immediately. By the end of the first day, the figure had reached 38%.
It took up to 3 days for a majority to relax. Even then, the figure was only 53%.
More than 2 in 5 said they spent most of the holiday trying to switch off or never fully disconnected from their financial worries.
| Survey finding | Reported result |
|---|---|
| Relaxed immediately | 27% |
| Relaxed by the end of day 1 | 38% |
| Relaxed within 3 days | 53% |
| Spent most of the trip trying to relax, or never did | 42% |
| Total UK survey sample | More than 2,000 people |
Why money anxiety follows us
The cost of a holiday does not end when the flights and hotel are booked.
Airport food, transfers, card charges, activities, meals, tips and the occasional “we are only here once” purchase can quietly turn a planned budget into a financial crime scene.
There is also the cost waiting at home. Rent or mortgage payments, energy bills, childcare, insurance and debt repayments continue whether you are sitting in Birmingham or Barcelona.
That creates 2 competing thoughts. You want to enjoy the trip because you paid for it. You also fear enjoying it too much because every extra purchase reduces the money available when you return.
A holiday cannot feel like a break when every meal feels like a threat to next month’s budget.
The West Midlands struggled most after day 1
The regional figures are particularly relevant to me because the West Midlands recorded the highest proportion of worried travellers who had not relaxed by the end of the first day.
Among respondents already carrying holiday money concerns, 66% in the West Midlands were still unable to switch off after day 1. The East Midlands and London followed at 65%.
Nearly half of financially worried travellers in Scotland said they spent most of the holiday trying to switch off or never managed it. The figure was 47% in Yorkshire and the Humber.
| Region | Selected survey result |
|---|---|
| West Midlands | 66% still worried after day 1 |
| East Midlands | 65% still worried after day 1 |
| London | 65% still worried after day 1 |
| Wales | 56% still worried after day 1 |
| Scotland | 48% worried for most or all of the holiday |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 47% worried for most or all of the holiday |
These regional samples will be much smaller than the national survey, so I would not treat the ranking as a precise league table of financial anxiety. It is better read as an illustration that money worries are widespread across the country.
A holiday budget needs 3 parts
Most people think a holiday budget means deciding how much they can spend while they are away.
That is only the middle part.
| Part of the budget | What to include |
|---|---|
| Before the holiday | Travel, accommodation, insurance, luggage, parking, transfers and spending money |
| During the holiday | Food, activities, transport, card fees, tips and a realistic daily allowance |
| After the holiday | Bills due before payday, normal food and travel costs, and money for unexpected expenses |
The third part is often ignored. You can technically afford the trip and still return home financially exposed.
A useful daily allowance should be calculated after protecting the money needed for bills and ordinary life when you return. It should also include a buffer, because holidays have an impressive ability to turn “just one drink” into a surprisingly detailed bank statement.
Small checks can reduce the mental load
Before travelling, check which bills will leave your account while you are away. Keep that money separate from the holiday spending pot.
Check whether your card charges foreign transaction or cash withdrawal fees. A card that adds around 3% to purchases can make every meal, taxi and activity slightly more expensive.
Decide what deserves your money before the trip. If the main reason for travelling is family time, scenery or food, spend deliberately on that instead of leaking money across things you do not care about.
Tracking spending does not mean staring at the banking app every 10 minutes. One short daily check can be enough to see whether the budget is still working.
What this survey can and cannot tell us
This was a survey commissioned by thinkmoney, a company with a commercial interest in budgeting and banking products. It was reported by The Independent and the Press Association.
The findings are useful, but they are not an official measure of clinical anxiety and they do not prove that 42% of every UK traveller worries throughout every holiday.
The 42% figure refers to surveyed holidaymakers who already reported money concerns and supplied a timeframe for switching off.
That limitation does not make the problem imaginary. It simply stops a striking headline becoming a misleading statistic.
How I personally prioritise holidays
I have generally travelled around 4 times a year for the past 12 years. That is not because I spend without thinking. It is because I deliberately reduce what I spend on material things and reserve the bigger amounts for 2 areas: investments and memories.
I would rather pay for a comfortable holiday than an expensive car or another possession I probably will not care about in a few years. I have never returned from a trip regretting the money spent because the experiences and memories still matter long after the payment has disappeared from my bank statement.
Where possible, I use an American Express credit card for holiday spending because the points are useful. But the important part is that I only charge what I can afford to repay in full at the end of the month. The points are a benefit, not permission to borrow money I do not have.
For me, a holiday fund is not leftover money. It is a deliberate part of my financial plan.
| My spending priority | Approach |
|---|---|
| Investments | Build future security and income |
| Holidays and memories | Spend deliberately and without regret |
| Comfort | Pay more where it materially improves the experience |
| Status purchases | Lower priority than investments or travel |
| Credit-card rewards | Useful only when the balance is cleared completely |
Related reading
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Sources and further reading
- The Independent Bulletin: Almost half of UK holidaymakers stress about money while on holiday
- The Independent: UK holidaymakers struggling to shake off financial concerns
- MoneyHelper: Budget planner
- MoneyHelper: Beginner’s guide to managing your money
Written by Aren Deu | The Anxious Investor
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