It can be easier to pool money when you're on holiday to pay for meals out, activities and more - but if your family member nabbed cash for themselves and never paid it back, what would you do?
A woman explained that she and her child were going away with a family member who had behaved in a shady way when it came to money - and she didn't know what to do about splitting the bills this time around.
"In the past, we have had a kitty for incidental spends which was okay but two things happened which irritated me slightly," she explained on Mumsnet regarding the previous holiday.
"Daily I was told that I had not budgeted enough for each day; but at the end of the holiday what was left in the kitty was 'borrowed' by the close relative for a spend up at the jewellers. I wasn't reimbursed and it was probably only about £100 so not a huge amount."
The mum explained the close family member "is both reckless with money and extremely sensitive", so she didn't know what to do, but she didn't want a similar situation to happen again - especially as she is "frugal" with money as a single parent.
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"I like to plan ahead slightly so that I don't waste money on unexpected spends," she said, explaining: "Holidays for me are about the pool, sight-seeing, the beach and of course eating out/food [rather than material things].
"I am thinking that this time I don't want to pool all my spends into a kitty though and I am not sure why," she shared. "Last time I felt bad when I wanted to buy my child something or when I was having a drink etc."
She continued: "As we are self-catering we will buy bits for breakfast and snacks, drinks for the apartment etc etc. Day trips usually come out of the kitty too.
"How do you all budget and split spends? Basically I want a budget for the kitty and then my own spends and don't want to buy souvenirs, jewellery or trinkets out of the kitty. Nor gifts to take home for other family members."
In the comments, people were left wondering why she'd chosen to go on holiday with the same family member again. One wrote: "I can't believe you're going back on holiday with someone who moaned at you last time and didn't bother to pay you back. Talk about being a sucker for punishment." The mum then explained her child was really close with this family member, so she didn't want to disappoint them.
Someone else shared: "I would do exactly that - propose a kitty for food/ trips/ basics and clearly explain that gifts etc will come from your private spend."
Another suggested: "Couldn’t you just have a kitty for food? And pay for day trips and ice creams etc separately. Alternatively, we used to alternate food shops with our friends on holiday but kept a tally to ensure that each family paid roughly the same. It was all evened out by the end of the week. I’ve never spent my holiday budget on gifts to take home for other family members."
One Mumsnetter said no to the kitty though, writing: "I say no kitty. A simple 'let's just each pay our own' should suffice and split the self-catering food costs for the week."
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