Elizabeth Davies on how she pays more than her rent to go on holiday to relieve the stress of paying rent

By Elizabeth Davies

For twentysomethings there is one holiday that trumps the rest both in expense and anticipation.

It’s not your birthday, as you’re just on the cusp of finding these depressing.

It’s not Christmas because this has become more about the latest family feud and excessive alcohol consumption than the joy of giving.

It sure as hell is not Valentine’s Day as it’s common knowledge that this was designed to make couples feel smug and singles want to eat their feelings and talk to their cats about how no one will ever love them.

New Year’s Eve is the one night to rule them all. The one universally recognised night of the year where you are encouraged, nay, expected to give the previous year the middle finger and convince yourself that the next year will be different.

You will earn more, drink less, go to the gym and achieve all of your goals. Of course you say all these things to yourself whilst spending your last dollars on a bottle of wine and a king size block of chocolate, because it’s still 2013, and goals are for tomorrow.

I’ve never been particularly interested in the big festivals such as Rhythm and Vines. The tickets alone are around $300 not to mention camping, transport, food, alcohol and everything else you will undoubtedly find to spend your money on.

For the last couple of years I’ve grabbed a few close friends and rented a beach house for a few days, it’s casual, relaxing and about half the price.

Unfortunately I’ve left it slightly later than usual this year and as a result places to stay are harder to find and more expensive.

However, I haven’t for a second considered not going away. I’ll be the first to acknowledge how ridiculous it is that I’m prepared to pay more money than my rent in order to go on holiday to relieve the stress of paying my rent.

Not to mention the fact that I will take shifts off work in order to relieve the stress of not earning enough money at my minimum wage job.

These decisions may not be logical but our willingness to throw money at one special night is testament to one important fact. You cannot put a price on sitting on a beautiful beach, surrounded by people you love, greeting the sunrise of a new year, and believing wholeheartedly that this year will be better.

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*Elizabeth Davies is a 23 year old post graduate journalism student at Auckland University of Technology. She lives with her partner in Epsom and spends her free time refurbishing vintage furniture and attempting to bake while fighting a daily battle against her bank balance. She writes a weekly article for interest.co.nz on money matters and financial struggles from a young person's perspective.