Disney every year...

[blanq]

I've said it before and have gotten into trouble for it, but we make a crapload of money. We inherieted money as well.

Amen, and thank you for saying it!! I am shocked you have gotten heck for saying so before. I mean, really, what do people except you to say when they ask this question? I say, if you ask a kind of nosy question, be prepared for any response.

 

[disneysteve]

No matter the issue, it seems to come down to this:

1. The person makes a lot of money, or inherited a lot of money, and can do what they want with it.
2. The person can't afford it, charges it, and is in debt up to their eyeballs.
3. The person values it (vacations, big homes, cars, whatever), so works their budget, and maybe cuts back in other areas, to make it happen.

Well put.

As I said, we are definitely #3 (although some would say there is an element of #1 in there as well). I know one guy who goes to Disney VERY often. I always wondered how he did it. Well, one time I happened to be at his house and couldn't help but notice the CC bill sitting open on the table. It showed a balance of over $12,000. That wasn't the bill for the month but the balance carried over. Then I knew how he could go so frequently.

You just can't judge anything by appearances. People may have money you don't know about. Or they may have a ton of debt you don't know about. You just need to live the life you can afford and not worry how you stack up to everyone around you.

 

[sukhakuli]

I see these types of posts on message boards all the time. The answer is really simple: people have different income levels. Some make $20,000 a year, some make over $100,000 a year.

We're a family of 4. My dh is a mid-ranking officer and a Pediatrician (good bonuses) in the military. I stay home with the kids. We made some smart real estate investments, so we're basically set. We go to Disney about once a year, but try to travel other places as well.

 

[Brooknwdw]

We are a #3 from earlier post, too. We have a modest income, so it takes budgeting.

We take one nice vacation a year, and the last three years its been Disney. We have young kids so this is what we all are enjoying right now.
We make it a priority, and save for it. I work a part time job so to speak specifically for this. We also put any tax refunds and extra money made into our vacation savings, too.
We haven't even went on this years trip yet and I am saving for the next one! It is a constant thing, (saving) we do not charge anything on CC's.

 

[crisi]

Amen, and thank you for saying it!! I am shocked you have gotten heck for saying so before. I mean, really, what do people except you to say when they ask this question? I say, if you ask a kind of nosy question, be prepared for any response.

Well, a certain number of people think I'm bragging. A certain number believe I shouldn't be on the budget board with a large income. A certain amount find admitting it to be indiscreet.

For the record, I'm not bragging, I'm on the budget board because I don't like spending more money than I need to and I've discovered great ways here to keep from spending money (thank you), and good general financial advice - and I was once quite broke and think I have some decent advice on how to live broke (and perhaps even how to get over it), and I'd never be this indiscreet in a non-anonoymous forum.

 

[mamalle]

we live in south florida which really helps keep the cost down.. we also take smaller trips instead of one big trip once a year. last year we went twice but it was just me and the kids meeting friends. this year it looks like a short trip in december for our annual gathering and thats it. My kids enjoy disney dont get me wrong but we also enjoy other places to vacation and for the money we are spending- it goes alot farther. we let the kids decide on our summer trip and they said the keys so-we spent a week there instead of sweating and dealing with the crowds at disney. Next year we will have other plans so we may just go up for the weekend to take the kids to the pirate and princess thing in Feb and thats it.. If I cannot get a fla rate we dont even bother since I wont pay full price.

 

[sk!mom]

We live pretty frugally and well below our means. Travel is one of our spending priorities. We happily do without fancy cars, fancy clothes, lots of dining out, premium cable, big screen tv and a lot of other things that other folks prefer to spend their money on.

The quote pretty much explains how we do it.

We do not go to Disney every where but we take at least one really nice trip a year along with one or two other smaller trips. DH just told me the other day that for the last 6 years we have averaged 8% of our net income spent on vacations. We have been completely debt free (except for small mortgage) for those years which makes it easier.

 

[TDC Nala]

I don't make an enormous crapload of money, just a minor one, but I'm single. I don't spend it on anybody else.

And there isn't anything wrong with trying to learn how to more efficiently spend or save your crapload of money.

 

[GaMsStella2]

I agree with disneysteve his quote tells it all. Its just my DH and I now but on our last 3 trips to WDW we took are grandchildren. The memories we brought home is what keeps us saving for the next trip.

 

[PolyAddict]

just curious as to how everyone (well not everyone) but alot of dis members go to Disney every year? Is it just two awesome paying careers in the family or are you willing to sacrifice the little things to make that big trip every year?
We are a family of 5 going for the first time in May. The children will be 12, 10 & 7. We wanted to go when they were much younger but then dh became ill with kidney disease and had to have a transpant...so needless to say a few years off of work really did a number on us. But now we have been doing everything that we can to save that extra money and have a wonderful trip. But I'm thinking even with everything going well now after the trip we know we have two ready for braces & with travel hockey & figure skating etc i'm not sure how long before we'll make it again....and that's what has me wondering about how all of those families do it that go year after year and stay on site, lol.

We are also a family of 5. DH and I both work fulltime jobs. We do not have credit card debt, but we have enormous tuition costs. We do give up some things to go every year. For example, I do not buy alot of things for my home. I mean we live in the area we want to live in and our home is a very good size, but it is old and needs remoldeling and decorating (which I haven't done since we bought it 2 years ago) We also don't do alot of other spending like movies and other activities or buying clothes for ourselves. My kids get what they want though. WDW is our family time and cannot be replaced and we will save up to the last minute to make our disney dreams come true.

PS. Hope your DH is doing good. When we first got married my DH was diagnosed with leukemia and that set us back for years. He is now 15 years in remission. Keep celebrating.

 

[RAZ24]

We go every other year to disney. The off year we go to places like Hawaii, Mexico, California, Vegas etc. Next year our off trip is to Italy.

I think we have a crap load of money, my DH has to reel me in sometimes. LOL. We live very comfortably. Three children and a SAHM.

Christine

 

[englishteacha]

We don't go to WDW every year, but we try to take one vacation every year, usually to a place where there are roller coasters.

We try to live off my income and use my DH's income for vacations, savings, emergency fund, etc. We go on more trips than people we know who make 10x what we do. We live in a small house with a small mortgage, drive paid-for cars, and try our best to live within our means. It's hard sometimes, when I see a friend with a big new house and a new car, but I also don't have a $1200/month mortgage or $300/month car payment. I shop sales, and try (I don't always succeed!) to buy only the things we really will need or use. We just try to be careful with where our money goes.

I also make it a challenge to plan our vacation as frugally as possible. I watch for deals at hotels and campgrounds (we have an ancient pop up camper we sometimes take on local vacations), book the cheapest flights, rent the least expensive car. We don't stay onsite at WDW or at most other amusement areas, choosing instead to stay somewhere nearby at half the cost. We had a great trip to WDW this year, and it was a very inexpensive trip.

The way I look at it, even a frugal vacation is better than sitting at home!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

We usually go every other year, but every once in awhile we'll go a few years in a row, like this year.

I'm on commission, so I never know when my paycheck will come, so what I do is save the extra paychecks that DH gets throughout the year. Usually there are about two of them. He gets paid every other week and a few months out of the year, it'll fall where he three paychecks in a month.

I take those and put them in savings. Then I figure out the difference and divide that into how many months away the trip will be and I save that amount each month and put it in savings too.

If it's worth having, it's worth saving for.

 

[rt2dz]

just curious as to how everyone (well not everyone) but alot of dis members go to Disney every year? Is it just two awesome paying careers in the family or are you willing to sacrifice the little things to make that big trip every year?
We are a family of 5 going for the first time in May. The children will be 12, 10 & 7. We wanted to go when they were much younger but then dh became ill with kidney disease and had to have a transpant...so needless to say a few years off of work really did a number on us. But now we have been doing everything that we can to save that extra money and have a wonderful trip. But I'm thinking even with everything going well now after the trip we know we have two ready for braces & with travel hockey & figure skating etc i'm not sure how long before we'll make it again....and that's what has me wondering about how all of those families do it that go year after year and stay on site, lol.

I'm posting before reading.

We are a family of 5. Not two awesome paychecks, I'm a SAHM and DHs career is just now really starting, but we do go every year. It's something that is important to us--vacations--so we budget for it, year round. Just like Christmas.

A major way we do that is to live within our means. Buy only what we can truly afford, not just what we qualify for. We could have gotten much bigger car loans, but really what we have is what we could comfortably afford. We won't be working to pay for the cars and if anything were to happen we won't be looking at repossion. Same with the house, and that includes mortgage, insurance, utlities, taxes, homeowner fees, etc. This Christmas, it looks like we'll only have a little over $1000 put away for Christmas, so all things Christmas related (including baking, cards, whatever--not just presents), must come in under that number. If it isn't being paid for in cash, it isn't happening. Right now we're trying to figure out how to cut our grocery bill down. But no matter what, there are some things I just will never do, like reuse plastic bags or give up paper towel.

Then we watch how much we spend on a WDW vacation. We use discount codes, go in the value season, watch how much money we spend on eating (breakfast in the room ie), don't go overboard on souveners, we drive v. flying, we buy APs (cheaper at day 11 in a calendar year than MYW tix) & take advantage of those discounts (shopping, eating, etc), and we bring our own stroller (& don't purchase one just for the trip). Our Disney trip is 10 days each year.

BTW--We take a non-Disney vacation for a week every year too!

 

[blanq]

Well, a certain number of people think I'm bragging. A certain number believe I shouldn't be on the budget board with a large income. A certain amount find admitting it to be indiscreet.

For the record, I'm not bragging, I'm on the budget board because I don't like spending more money than I need to and I've discovered great ways here to keep from spending money (thank you), and good general financial advice - and I was once quite broke and think I have some decent advice on how to live broke (and perhaps even how to get over it), and I'd never be this indiscreet in a non-anonoymous forum.

Well, I for one am glad you post on the budget board. I think you always have lots to contribute, give good advice, and you're COOL!

 

[grlpwrd]

Well, a certain number of people think I'm bragging. A certain number believe I shouldn't be on the budget board with a large income. A certain amount find admitting it to be indiscreet.

For the record, I'm not bragging, I'm on the budget board because I don't like spending more money than I need to and I've discovered great ways here to keep from spending money (thank you), and good general financial advice - and I was once quite broke and think I have some decent advice on how to live broke (and perhaps even how to get over it), and I'd never be this indiscreet in a non-anonoymous forum.

Well, I enjoy reading everyone's posts on this board, including your's. I have increased the value of our portfolio by at least 30% even if I do have a certified financial planner. I know I always suggest getting a financial planner - it's just that I always do my own research to go along with his advice.

We are a family of 7 and we take trips throughout the year. I am from Hawaii so I used to go every year, but I have since scaled back because I am saving for a downpayment on a home there and I have to pay for my college expenses. We also take car trips. Our next Disney vacation will probably be in 2008 when I graduate with my associate's.

I grew up very poor - yes, even in Hawaii. My dh makes a healthy income (plus he gets a per diem) and I sell part time on ebay. I am selling for others so that's why I am making more money now. I have since learned to make my money work for me and this board is a huge part of it. Thanks, y'all!

 

[chigirl]

We saved for about 4 years for our first trip last year and this year's trip is coming because I was promoted to a bigger position at work WITHOUT a pay increase, but now I am eligible for a bonus. So, I did get the bonus for 2005 this year and we put that toward this year's trip.

Otherwise, we stay within our means. I am not a kamikaze when it comes to it...like we don't go without and I wouldn't shop at thrift stores, etc (not that there is anything wrong with it, but that is not for me). My DH has a side job that relates to his hobby so we save that $$$ and we could live on just my income...we could have a bigger house if we wanted and nicer stuff, but we had a bad time in the late 90's w/money and I don't want to be in that bind again.

I think a lot of people put it on credit cards and worry later!!

 

[chigirl]

The question posed by the OP comes up frequently, in various forms, on the DIS Boards and I always get a kick out of it. This is not a slam to the OP. You can look at any lifestyle indicator and ask the same question. For example, how can my neighbor afford a Hummer, or a $700,000 home? No matter the issue, it seems to come down to this:

1. The person makes a lot of money, or inherited a lot of money, and can do what they want with it.
2. The person can't afford it, charges it, and is in debt up to their eyeballs.
3. The person values it (vacations, big homes, cars, whatever), so works their budget, and maybe cuts back in other areas, to make it happen.

Everyone here at the DIS is so diplomatic and polite, but I would really love it if someone would respond to one of these posts "I make a crapload of money, so I can go to WDW anytime I want", which likely is the case with some. Anyway, for me, it's #3. I value vacations, so I build them into my budget.

You're funny!!!
Love it!!!

I do have a millionaire friend and I am one of the only people who knows he is a millionaire (he inherited it)...he does have a nice house, but other than that is frugal w/his money, except when it comes to WDW. He takes his family of 4 every year and they stay at FW. He actually is the one who told me about this site. This fella works like 3 jobs because he LOVES them...I don't even think his kids know they are rich, I think they assume because daddy works so many jobs, they go to WDW alot!!!

 

[crisi]

You're funny!!!
Love it!!!

I do have a millionaire friend and I am one of the only people who knows he is a millionaire (he inherited it)...he does have a nice house, but other than that is frugal w/his money, except when it comes to WDW. He takes his family of 4 every year and they stay at FW. He actually is the one who told me about this site. This fella works like 3 jobs because he LOVES them...I don't even think his kids know they are rich, I think they assume because daddy works so many jobs, they go to WDW alot!!!

Warren Buffet's kids found out he was rich when they read about it in the newspaper - they grew up thinking they were a normal middle class family.

 

[Deesknee]

we went 3x this year. ( usually once a year)
family of 6
own dvc
bought an annual pass
when we are there we usually cook meals ourselves
drove once
quit smoking - put that money in the jar.
return bottles - $ in the jar.
don't drink
kids bring there lunches most of the time
If you go alot there is less need for souveniers
when we fly I buy the tix when it is low - even if it's not for many months.

Have a wonderful trip. It sounds like you certainly deserve it.