Do you vacation when you have bills?

[Cruise]

OP here - The more I think about the bills and what ya'll have posted I think it would be better if we put off Disney for a year or two and get the bills paid down or better yet paid off! We could always in the meantime, go on day trips like we did this summer. thanks everyone

I think this is not only a good decision for you and your husband, but the best decision for your children. You're setting an example for them that they will remember. Explain to them about money and bills and debt.

I can't imagine any parent wanting their child to grow up living with the stress of having debt over their head. By teaching your children about money now, you ensure that they're practical later in life and don't end up in a bad position.

I just don't personally think it's a good idea to raise children to think they can have everything they want in life when the money just isn't there.

 

[Pigeon]

I'd vacation with a mortgage and a modest car loan. That's about the only debt that I can think of where I'd be OK going on an expensive vacation.

Credit card debt or medical debt would need to be paid off first.

Some kids manage to have perfectly fine childhoods without going to Disney. And you could concentrate on paying off the debt and taking them when you can pay cash.

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

The average person spends most of their life working and paying off living that life. So enjoy it as much as you can. I wouldn't recommend going on a vacation that would sink you further into debt, but definately go on a budget. Here are some of my tips: if you have to fly, check out ebay and craigslist to buy airline credits from people who had to cancel their trip and are stuck with a credit. Only buy from people who accept paypal or else you could get ripped off. I always make my own airline sale by buying unused credits for less than they are worth. Also look for airline gift cards that people are selling on those sites as well as plasticjungle. I have purchased a $300 credit for $250, a $225 gift card for $175, etc. If you can drive to Disney, then look to purchase discount gas gift cards. Split up the driving between you and your husband so that you don't have to stay at a motel. There are plenty of rest stops for quick naps if you both become tired and can't drive. Pack up your own food for the car ride so that you don't have to pay to eat somewhere while on the road. If you drive, you won't have to rent a car and if you fly you won't have to rent a car if you stay on Disney property and take advantage of their complimentary transportation. Also, if you drive you can save on gas by utilizing the complimentary transportation to and from the parks. You are allowed to bring your own food and drinks into the park, so definately do this. And if you stay on Disney property and book a package you can get free dining. The value resorts combined with the free dining are a fantastic deal. And bring your own Disney souvenirs for the kids from a budget store in your area. If they are young, they won't know the difference. And if you have family, tell them that you want to go to Disney and are on a tight budget. Perhaps they can help out by making any upcoming birthday, Christmas or Hannukah presents be contributions to your vacation. My hubby and I have bills too and are saving for a house. We are a one income family too as I am a stay at home mom with a 3 year old daughter and another baby on the way. He works so hard and if he didn't have that yearly vacation, I think he would collapse. Plus it's the only time that we have to spend an entire week together. We don't exchange Christmas or birthday presents with each other, just for our daughter. Instead the vacation is our birthday/Christmas gift. Perhaps you and your husband could agree to not buy each other anything this year. Good luck.

 

[angwill]

We only have a mortgage payment and the monthly bills. When we had bills we did not go on vacations. We choose not to travel if we can not pay cash for it before we go as well. I book almost 12 months out and then pay payments monthly for vacation.

 

[TENIA66]

Yes we do!

 

[scdufek]

We have debt but we haven't had a vacation in almost six years due to schedules and decided to go to WDW this year before our dd9 turns 10 and our ds2 turns three. Our thinking was it will be awhile before we can do this again so might as well do it now before having to pay for a third adult and another child rate. We also have a ds that's 8yrs old. We will have both cars paid off in the next few months but still have cc debt. We will be paying cash for trip as well. We would not consider this trip if we couldn't meet our basic needs or monthly payments though.

 

[Lumiere Lover]

You cannot put a price on memories. We have bills, but I still managed to convince my husband for a trip this past September.

You never know when something unfortunate is going to happen to a family member, and you could never give your children memories.

Going on vacation (especially WDW) should be a rite of passage for all families. You just have to learn to stay within your means.

 

[eliza61]

You cannot put a price on memories. We have bills, but I still managed to convince my husband for a trip this past September.

You never know when something unfortunate is going to happen to a family member, and you could never give your children memories.

Going on vacation (especially WDW) should be a rite of passage for all families. You just have to learn to stay within your means.

Sorry Becky, I had to laugh just a little at this because it reminded me of some one I know who insisted on have a 100K wedding because "You only get married once". I just had heard her voice in my head while she was trying on a $15K weeding dress.

Isn't credit card debit & living within your means sort of an oxymoron. I mean if people lived with in their means why would they need to accumulate consumer debt?

Let me ask a question, this is not to anyone specific but more of the tone of the budget boards.

Does this make us hypocryites? I remember very recently a lot of threads rallying against people who brought big mcmansion while not being able to afford them. Many of us seem to blame them single handly for the economic meltdown. Yet we actively encourage people who cannot afford disney vacations to take one. How is that any different?

 

[C.Ann]

Would I? No.. But you're not me..

This is a decision that can only be made between you and your DH.. If you were using only your income tax return - and you both felt comfortable with that, then there is your answer.. People are great at telling other people how to spend their money, but the only opinions that really count are yours and your DH's..

Good luck with whatever you decide..

 

[Hannathy]

Isn't credit card debit & living within your means sort of an oxymoron. I mean if people lived with in their means why would they need to accumulate consumer debt?

I agree.

I would never go on vacation especially a big one like Disney if I had credit card debt.

My DH was out of work for a long time and just recently went back to work. We have credit card debt right now and it is killing me. There is no way we would go on vacation.

My nephew got married this summer and we had to go back home for the wedding. We did it as cheap as possible. Drove straight thru, took snacks, stayed at my sisters, and we weren't staying at the hotel after the wedding, were going to drive an hour back to her house even if she stayed, but my sister insisted and payed for the room.

Other than a mortgage and a car payment I wouldn't go on vacation if I owed money.
How do you rationalize adding to the debt for fun? to me that is just irresponsible.

 

[J3nn78]

No-not if we have outside our normal monthly bills.
The only debt I will go on vacation with is my mortgage and my car payment.
If we have any other form of debt or big money items/projects-that comes before vacation.

 

[luvsJack]

The amount of debt has a lot to do with it. And if I have a plan to pay it off, can continue the plan AND pay for a trip--then you betcha I am going!

I believe we should enjoy life while its here to enjoy. If I am 3 months later paying off the car than I could be but I am able to take dd to WDW one more time before she is grown or I can take dgd while she still believes the magic then so, in the grand scheme of things--SO WHAT??

There is a man in my neighborhood who has owned a little country store since I was about 10. For years and years he opened that store 365 days a year, 12-14 hours a day. Even Christmas (sold lots of batteries and dinner ingredients). He made sure that he never had debt. They never went on vacation, never spent entire holidays with family. Always working and paying off business and personal debt. He had his house, land and a nice car. It finally came time to retire. He and his wife would be able to use the money they had saved to travel and do all those things he had missed. 1 week after he shut down the store, he was put in a nursing home. Had several massive strokes.

Very, sad, very true story. Sorry, but having debt (within reason) is not enough to make me not do the things I want the most with my family. Sure, we can go camping and we do. But we can also go to Disney, and we do. Having some managable debt, paying it off can be done along with enjoying your life.

 

[Bribrittmom]

The amount of debt has a lot to do with it. And if I have a plan to pay it off, can continue the plan AND pay for a trip--then you betcha I am going!

I believe we should enjoy life while its here to enjoy. If I am 3 months later paying off the car than I could be but I am able to take dd to WDW one more time before she is grown or I can take dgd while she still believes the magic then so, in the grand scheme of things--SO WHAT??

There is a man in my neighborhood who has owned a little country store since I was about 10. For years and years he opened that store 365 days a year, 12-14 hours a day. Even Christmas (sold lots of batteries and dinner ingredients). He made sure that he never had debt. They never went on vacation, never spent entire holidays with family. Always working and paying off business and personal debt. He had his house, land and a nice car. It finally came time to retire. He and his wife would be able to use the money they had saved to travel and do all those things he had missed. 1 week after he shut down the store, he was put in a nursing home. Had several massive strokes.

Very, sad, very true story. Sorry, but having debt (within reason) is not enough to make me not do the things I want the most with my family. Sure, we can go camping and we do. But we can also go to Disney, and we do. Having some managable debt, paying it off can be done along with enjoying your life.

I totally agree.My mother saved everything all her life so she could enjoy retirement.Well as soon as she retired she was diagnosed with a very agressive form of Parkinson's that affected her mentally.Before she got totally incapacitated she said she wished she would have travelled more even if that meant going into debt.All her money went to pay many years of nursing care.

 

[eyor44]

I think if it is possible, a family vacation is important to the family. Do I have a couple bills that my Disney money could go towards? Yes. Would it? Probably not. DH won't touch my Disney money, but he has no problem otherwise.

 

[2busy4life]

I am new to this thread and have read almost all the posts. As you can see in my ticker we have not had a vacation in 21 years. This means going no where other then the overnight trips to people's cottages or chez backyard !!! This was because debt was an unfortunate part of our lives and no matter how we budgeted we could not get ahead. This year we took a step back and realized that this was going to be our life always so we have cut back on everything (including my DH's daily coffee at Tim's), paid what we could off, not charged or bought anything that we did not need (not want). Paid for our trip cash and presently waiting for the dollar to get a bit closer to par before changing our CDN $$ into US$$ (I know it is pretty close already...will probably change $$ tomorrow). We are driving down, using airmiles for hotel stays on our way down and my CAA/Facebook discount for our hotel on the way back. We will cook as much as possible and have rented a house with a pool to try and save some costs. After 21 years of no holiday we have made it work within our family and still being very responsible.

So in a nut shell I think everyone has to make this decision within their own families and lives. What works for me might not work for you. What you are comfortable I might not be and so on. What you think is responsible I might not.

Review your own situation and then ask yourself....Can we afford to do this or not. Do we need this or do we want this? If we need it how can we do it within our means.

Ok I think everyone gets my point by now and sorry for rambling.

 

[disfan07]

It depends. We have massive medical bills every year (I'm talking at least $20,000/year) BUT we never have outstanding bills. We always fully pay ours when we get them. Same with credit card bills (which we very rarely use). So yes, we vacation when we knowingly have medical and credit card bills BUT that is because we always pay them right away and we have never had a problem paying them.

BUT, we also include the medical bills in our budget every year. We've never surpased $20,000/year for those bills but we budget about $25,000/year so the money that we are using for our vacatin this year is money that we have left over AFTER payign off all of those bills

We wouldn't go on a vacation if we had bills like that sitting there that could be taken care of with that money instead. JMO

 

[mrsklamc]

It really scares me for the few people who have implied they will always have debt or debt is just part of their lives. How would you ever retire? What happens if you become disabled? Social Security is certainly not enough to live on.

 

[Michelle and crew]

Family memories do not have to be expensive.

When I was teaching a parenting seminar to parents at our school I asked them to share what special memories they had of their parents and grandparents while they were growing up. Noone mentioned the expensive trips, they all talked about special TIME they spent with their parents and grandparents.

I have no idea what your actual financial situation is, or how much you owe or how much you make and how long it will take to pay off the bills, but taking a year or two off from expensive vacations will NOT land your children in therapy, I promise!

Dawn

The idea that only disney memories will get you by is someone passes is ridiculous.

 

[luvsJack]

It really scares me for the few people who have implied they will always have debt or debt is just part of their lives. How would you ever retire? What happens if you become disabled? Social Security is certainly not enough to live on.

Not sure about any of the others posters, but I don't plan to retire with debt. I just don't plan to stop living until then.

Besides, what does having debt have to do with living on social security??

 

[Michelle and crew]

I totally agree.My mother saved everything all her life so she could enjoy retirement.Well as soon as she retired she was diagnosed with a very agressive form of Parkinson's that affected her mentally.Before she got totally incapacitated she said she wished she would have travelled more even if that meant going into debt.All her money went to pay many years of nursing care.

Ummmm...it is a good thing that she had the savings to care for her health!!! I'd think that was far more important than a trip!