Do you incur debt to go to Disney?

[blanq]

We do not incur debt to go to WDW, or with any other travel. Our dual incomes allow us enough flexibility that we can pull a vacation together fairly quickly in the financial sense, unless it's a huge vacation. We are planning for Hawaii, and that is one vacation we are setting money aside each month for.

 

[dvcgirl]

No, we'd never go into debt for a vacation...or any other reason for that matter.

We have a household budget. Each year we set out our goals for the year. We're actually sitting down together next week to lay out our yearly plan.

First, we set our savings goal. I don't imagine we'll go up as we already save 60% of our net income. All of our long-term savings is for retirement. We have no other long term plans such as a vacation home or anything like that.

After the savings percentage is set, we look at and revise our monthly budget. These are "the bills". We have no debt at all (not even on the house), and so for us, this is all of our insurance costs (auto, home, life, disability and the amount deducted from DH's employer for health), utilities (gas, electric, water, cable). DH's employer pays for the house phone and internet. Also included in "monthly costs" are groceries, pet expenses for our dog, and "spending money".

Once that amount is totaled up, we deduct that total amount for the remaining 40% of our net income that we don't save.

The remaining percentage is for larger expenditures we'd like to make, such as a big project around the house, giving that we'd like to do and vacations. Usually, we end up budgeting $1,000 per month towards vacations. Some years we use it all, some we don't. This year we didn't use it all so we used the remaining amount to purchase a used car for a relative in need.

So, we budget for vacations.....always have the cash in hand before a single thing is booked.

 

[bwolfe]

We have a vacation fund that we contribute to monthly. We are a debt free/cash only family. We would not go into debt for a vacation. All of our trips are paid in cash.

 

[EKW]

We're a one-income family, and I do not do credit. I even consider booking a year out and making monthly payments unacceptable. I pay cash for our Disney trips. The last one was paid for with tax refund monies. It's just wouldn't be possible for me to enjoy a trip that was paid for with plastic. I know one family who has had financial trouble for the past decade...cumulating in losing their home recently...due to credit debt. A big part of that was that they took one or two Disney trips a year...all on credit.

I'd love to say I budget and save, and I'd love to start doing that, but due to the economy I've changed jobs twice in the past four years and have taken huge paycuts along the way.

For right now, a Disney trip is not in our future.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Nope. In my budget, a vacation is a luxury. If I can't pay for it up front/in advance, I don't go.

 

[indimom]

We've only been to Disney twice as a family.
The first trip we took because we got a surprisingly good tax return (my first year self-employed and I way overestimated) and decided to use it for Disney. We didn't have a regular vacation savings at that time.
Our second trip was this year and it was just part of our regular savings.

I also have to agree with other posters. If I had to come home to thousands in credit card debt, the vacation would not be worth going. Way to stressful.

 

[marie1203]

We include vacations in our budget. I have different accounts for savings: there is the pets savings (we put there the money we will need for all their medications, annuals, etc and a big $$$ in case of emergency), there is the 8 month emergency fund (even though DH is military and he can't lose his job), and then there is our fun account (vacations, small trips and anything we might need for them). We use our tax return to put in these accounts depending on the amount we might need this year we know 2 of our dogs need teeth cleaning so we have to put extra in that account first the rest probably will go to our fun account. Of course all of this things go into our disney visa so we get points extra spending money .

 

[sk!mom]

No, we don't vacation on credit.

We have been debt free except for the house for years and are now completely debt free including the house. We love to travel so a lot of our disposable income is allocated to that, however, in 2010 we decided to finally do a long planned complete home renovation so we sacrificed any big vacation. Instead we took a few shorter trips closer to home and used the vacation dollars to renovate.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

We do go into debt. If we didn't we wouldn't ever go anywhere. I look after the finances and I make payments to the credit cards and line of credit as much as our budget allows. I am not 100% comfortable with this situation but not a lot we can do about it other than stop going away and I will not put that off. Life is too short. In a couple of years our financial situation will be different as our daycare expenses will be a lot smaller. When that day comes I will be able to pay down our debt quicker.
Trust me, this isn't for most people but I a was being honest.

 

[mom2t]

No we have yard sales and budget for out trips but do not go every year - Last trip 3 years ago.

 

[TraceyDisney2008]

Two years ago we were trying to meet my cousins at WDW and the timing just didn't work so we booked for September for DD DH and myself, once my cousin started booking in May I decided I couldn't miss going with her so I put a last minute vacation on my sears card for DD and me to join them. 12 equal interest free payments. $3600. While I dont regret it I hated making those payments every month. Well worth it but never again.

 

[annsteere]

I'm going into debt in Feb. to go.

I'll be taking money out of our home equity line of credit to go. We've been paying that down, and it will bump us back a few months. (No first mortgage).

 

[Pigeon]

We don't accrue debt for non-essential things like vacations.

We also don't go on expensive vacations annually. WDW is a once every several years thing for us, and we do it when we have saved the money for it.

 

[Swimalie]

We don't really budget. We save. When we have a lot of money saved, we decide what to do with it. Sometimes our savings are directed (I know right now my husband wants a new car in the next two years, so more is sitting in the savings account for that. Sometimes we move the money into longer term savings (kids college funds, investment accounts), sometimes we decide to go on vacation.

.

That is us as well. We don't budget and we save money each month. We are also looking at buying a new car this year so we've been adding more in to savings. When we went to Disney in March we charged the trip on the American Express card and when the bill came, we paid it off in full. They money for it was already sitting in our checking account. Extra money each month goes towards the savings, retirement and our son's college fund.

 

[TMB1203]

Kind of. We have DVC and have a few more months of payment left on our DVC. For the actual trip we don't use credit cards to go. I usually buy disney gift cards through my sons school scripps program. This is a win-win part of the money goes towards my fundraising commitment (private school) and I get them every couple of weeks while we are planning our trip. The $50 here or $25 doesn't seem as bad as paying for everything all at once.

This year after our July trip, I am going to try something a little different. I already have one Christmas Club account (for Christmas) but am going to open another one for vacations.

 

[snowywhite89]

I'm just curious how many people incur debt to visit Disney World or Disneyland?

No. A vacations, even to Disney, is a want and we never occur debt for a want.

And if you don't, how does your Disney trip get prioritized in your budget?

We have a line item for vacation in our budget. Being debt free makes that line item easier to fund.

After your other financial goals are met, or as part of your yearly budget regardless of your other goals?

We make sure to fully fun our 401Ks and save the extra we need to be able to retire in the future. They are allocated in the budget just like the vacation is and are both worked on simultaneously during the year.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

We book early, like a year in advance, and pay it off over that year. The last 2 or 3 months we save spending $$$. It's how we always do vacation, no matter where we go.

 

[Fyrefly]

I couldn't imagine going into debt for something as frivolous as a vacation. On top of that, I can't imagine going into debt (with the exception of a car payment or mortgage) for any reason beyond a major unforeseeable circumstance that puts financial strain beyond what was planned in the emergency fund.

I agree with PP that I save for trips first, not budget them. When I went on my trip, I had enough in my savings that I could do it without making a major dent in my money, so I did and paid it all off the moment I booked. But that's just how I do things. I look at my savings account, decide if something is worth it and if I have enough left over to make me comfortable, and then that's that.

I know as a student my expenses are simplistic, but I mainly just track what I spend. A set amount of my paycheck will go into my rent, utilities, and internet a month. I then do my best to keep my grocery bill and my catch-all "everything else fun" (clothes, eating out, video game purchases, concert or show tickets, whatever) low enough that I can put a good chunk into savings each month. Frankly if I had a 401k right now I'd be throwing money into it, but grad students are weird, I get some benefits of being faculty but not all. So for now I save.

 

[NotUrsula]

Well, technically yes, but not for long. It all goes on a CC, but it's paid off at the end of the month. That way the money we spend partially comes back to us in the form of hotel and airline points. (We earn enough hotel points every two years to do Christmas Week at the S/D, although this year we are going to use them elsewhere over Spring Break.)

 

[FredS]

Unless you are completely, 100% debt free when you vacation you are arguably using credit to vacation. Otherwise, you could use the money you are spending on vacation to pay off debt. Some people who make a big deal about "I would never go into debt to vacation" have huge car loans, etc. You are not financially better off than someone whose car is paid for, and they have little to no revolving credit balances but decide to put part of their vacation on a low-interest charge card and pay it off quickly.

Having said that, I think it would be a really bad idea to wait until you are totally debt free to vacation! People have to use common sense and look at the big picture. As a couple of PPs have mentioned, there are times that I will not pay off a credit card balance because it works better to not shift money from somewhere else that is earning more than the charge. We have worked hard and saved and fortunately have various nest eggs and funds available. There is not anything automatically bad about charging part of a vacation, the problem comes if you incur excess finance charges and/or don't have a sufficient cushion if something unexpected happened.

It's about finding the balance where you enjoy this life but do what you can to provide financial security for your family.