How Much It Really Costs To Vacay Like Amanda Woods In The Holiday

Amanda Woods from The Holiday dealt with her breakup the way any reasonable woman with money would: She got out of town and traveled across an ocean for the holidays to stay in a cozy English cottage.

Even though Amanda (Cameron Diaz) struggled to shed a single tear, she showed no restraint when it came to spending money to get over her heartbreak. Ditching her Los Angeles mansion, Amanda swapped homes with Iris (Kate Winslet) to escape for two weeks in Surrey, England with a bottle of wine, her designer coats, and a gorgeous neighbor named Graham (Jude Law).

Along the way, she spent money on private cars to and from the airport, snacks from the grocery store, and drinks at the local pub. Those expenses don’t quite add up for someone in Amanda’s field as a movie trailer editor. According to ZipRecruiter, the high end of a film marketing salary in Los Angeles is about $80,000 a year. It’s possible that Amanda was making something closer to an advertising executive salary, which runs closer to $118,000, but that’s still not a lot for how much Amanda spends in a day.

For an estimate of the budget Amanda is working with in The Holiday, here’s everything she paid for traveling to Surrey at the beginning of the film.

The Long-Term Expenses: Amanda Is Still Paying For Her House In LA

Amanda and Iris decided to swap homes, which is slightly different than booking a hotel or Airbnb. Instead of paying for each night of your trip, a home swap is usually a free exchange. However, some websites like Home Exchange require a membership fee to use their service. A yearly subscription is about $220, which is less than $1 a day.

Amanda would also still be paying for her mortgage on her $11 million home back in Los Angeles, which, according to Zillow, is close to $70,587 a month or $2,353 a day. She also left behind her Lexus for Iris to use while in California, which she would be paying insurance on. That would be around $311 a month if Amanda is a good driver, so $10 a day.

Something else you may notice on a rewatch of The Holiday is that Amanda had a groundskeeper and housekeeper, who both make about $19 and $23 an hour. For each of them to work a full day, that would cost Amanda about $336.

Total: $2,700

Amanda’s Morning Is Spent On A First-Class Flight To London

~12:25 p.m.: Amanda took the red-eye flight from Los Angeles to London, landing around midday. She flew first class and bought her ticket late in the game, which is around $21,313 for a nonstop, roundtrip ticket with American and British Airways. For her flight, Amanda packed several books ($70) to read on the plane, like Atonement, Harry Potter, and The Kite Runner, along with a bottle of Pepcid ($14) and a Harper’s Bazaar magazine ($5).

Her travel ’fit included a lightweight cashmere sweater ($295) like this one from Nordstrom along with a silk sleep mask ($46). When she got off the plane, she changed into a white turtleneck sweater ($419), slim black pants ($160), black pumps ($613), sunglasses ($495), black gloves ($77), and a black and white shearling jacket ($126).

1-2:30 p.m.: To get to Iris’ cottage in Surrey, Amanda took a private car from London for the hour-long drive into the countryside. A luxe black car via Uber from the airport to the cottage that inspired Iris’ home in the movie is about $172, which doesn’t seem that bad. However, Amanda was forced to walk most of the way due to the small road and snow, so she didn’t really get her money’s worth.

During her trek to the cottage, Amanda lugs her black suitcase ($245), camel-colored weekender bag ($270), and white purse ($1,495).

Total: $25,815

Amanda Settles Into Iris’ Cottage In Surrey, England In The Afternoon

2:30-4 p.m.: After unpacking, Amanda traveled into town with Iris’ Mini Cooper to go grocery shopping. If she decided to get gas for the car and fill up the tank, that would be about $52. At the store, Amanda didn’t use a shopping list and just grabbed whatever she was vibing with. That includes cheese ($6), wine ($55), chocolates ($6), olives ($8), and peanuts ($10) — aka everything you need for a girl dinner.

4-6 p.m.: Once Amanda got home, she changed into something more comfortable. For lounging in Iris’ bed to watch a movie, she wore a pastel scarf ($48), lilac beanie ($80), lilac tank ($35), gray sweatpants ($118), and cable knit cardigan ($64). After lighting the fire, Amanda spent the rest of her afternoon in the cottage trying to find something fun to do, including scream-singing to “Mr. Brightside” with a glass of wine.

Total: $482

Amanda Has A Late Night With Graham At The Pub

6:15 p.m.: Unfortunately, Amanda didn’t think she could spend her entire holiday at Iris’ place, so she booked another last-minute plane ticket home (not technically for the same night, but it’s worth factoring this in since it’s a major cost on her trip). A next-day first-class ticket would have cost around $17,000.

6:30-10 p.m.: She ended up not using that ticket, because Graham showed up and gave Amanda the perfect holiday distraction. They spent their first night together in the cottage, but if this was any other evening, they would have likely gone to the pub in town. The White Horse in Shere is where they filmed the pub scene in The Holiday, and a glass of white wine and plate of fish and chips is about $30.

For her date night with Graham, Amanda wore a green shawl collar sweater ($179), a layered gold necklace ($74), and her Berry Kiss lipstick. This Mary Kay Berry Famous shade ($20) is a great dupe.

10:30 p.m.: After some drinks, Amanda would go back to Iris’ cottage and get ready for bed. We don’t really see her nighttime routine in The Holiday, but she likely got back into her cozy sweatpants and cardigan for bed and did a proper skin care routine. Diaz shared that she doesn’t have an extensive routine. She even told the Rule Breakers podcast that she only washes her face twice a month.

If she’s wearing makeup, though, she’d likely want to wash that off at the end of the day. Diaz told Goop she likes to use the Goopglow Microderm Instant Glow Exfoliator ($125), a face oil ($85), and Versed’s Press Restart Gentle Retinol Serum ($15). Amanda’s routine would likely be similar.

Total: $17,528

TL;DR: Amanda’s Spontaneity Is Hurting Her Bank Account

Even without her spur-of-the-moment trip to the UK for the holidays, Amanda is living well above her means as a movie trailer editor. Her mansion with all her employees is such a costly expense that you have to wonder where Amanda’s wealth is actually coming from.

Gossip Girl’s Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen have family funds to pay for their extravagant lifestyle, so it’s likely Amanda also has a rich family. But then again, why wouldn’t she be spending the holidays with them instead of buying first-class plane tickets like they’re a Starbucks latte?

It seems like Amanda is a girl who leaned too heavily into the “treat yourself” way of life, or she’s just a victim of living in a Nancy Meyers movie — aka being bougie and luxe. Either way, you’ll need to save up for next Christmas if you truly want to live like Amanda Woods for the day.

Total: $46,525