If you can't afford it then don't fly. But I have a sneaking sympathy. Back learning to fly at Dublin Airport in the eighties. I was frequently asked to hold, Dunsoghly Castle or Dunboyne. After forty minutes idly orbiting. I half considered declaring a financial emergency. 'I've plenty of fuel but the bank account is critically depleted.' But then again I had an overdraft and a maxed out credit card long before it was popular.
He was foolish.