Dreaming of a holiday? It's now in reach.

When I was little my mum used to layby all our big purchases and any little luxuries she wanted for herself. She didn’t have a credit card and we didn’t have a lot of money, so the big things were meticulously planned and budgeted for, paid off every fortnight over weeks, or sometimes months.

Layby was how we afforded expensive new school shoes, kitchen appliances and every now and then a nice dress for mum, who rarely had new things.

I thought it was genius. You could reserve the thing you wanted, pay it off at your own pace and collect it debt free at the end.

"We didn’t have a lot of money, so the big things were meticulously planned." Image: iStock.

I am a terrible, terrible saver. I’m just hopeless at it, and so the enforced discipline of layby suits me so well. This has always been a problem for me when it comes to holiday planning. As I scrimp and save and try not to spend my pay check on another round of drinks at the bar, I find myself wishing I could layby my holidays.

A few years ago I wanted to visit my Dad in London for Christmas. I had a plan to surprise him and was desperately trying to pull the whole thing together. But as I piled my savings up each payday I watched the price of tickets rise and rise and rise. In the end, by the time I had enough money to buy a ticket, I was shelling out hundreds more than I would have if I’d been able to reserve the ticket earlier.

London calling. Image: iStock.

It was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. I just kept wishing there was a way I could lock it in without having to cough up all the money at once or racking up a huge credit card debt. Why wasn’t there a layby system for holidays? So I was pretty excited when I found out about layawaytravel.com.au. This is what they do.

You pick your holiday and they organise the whole thing and you pay it off in instalments before you go. Genius.

And so perfectly obvious I’m kind of jealous I didn’t think of it first.

When you think about it, holidays are a massive expense. And for a lot of people they are prohibitively expensive. As you watch the cost rise while you’re trying to get the cash together you see your dreams get further and further away.

Holiday expenses can really add up. Image: iStock.

Being able to lock it in and know for sure exactly how much you are paying and break it down into instalments makes such a huge difference. And not only that, but Layaway Travel lets you choose how much of your holiday you prepay for. Maybe it’s just the flights and accommodation, or maybe you build in some tours or car hire or some spending money… Whatever you want, you can include and then you can choose how long you are layby-ing for, and how frequently you pay (daily, weekly, fortnightly etc.).

It is a super simple concept and did I mention I am totally annoyed I didn’t think of it first?

Some friends of mine are getting married in South Africa early next year, and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get my act together to get over there. Now, I am thinking I might just be super organised and book it all next week.

Amazing.

Need some travel inspiration? Coming right up...

Where in the world would you go for your dream holiday?