How do you afford your WDW trips??

[drakethib]

It is no more of a leap than your conclusions that people who vacation and stay at just the value resorts are charging it, based on nationwide consumer debt. That is a "leap", too. As I have said (repeatedly), you would have to take a poll to know for sure!

Actually someone did take a poll a while back and the results (for what there worth) was of the poll 45.09% of the people who took the poll were had incomes of 90k- 150K per year. Approximately 67% of the people who took the poll have incomes above 90K per year.

With that being said if you read the thread there were a couple of people who said they purposely choose a incorrect range becusae they disagreed with the topic and poll. Not sure what they were trying to accomplish by doing that though


Here is the link.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=850131

 

[Glendamax]

Thanx for posting the link for the poll. When planning my vacations, I often wonder if I'm being cheap, or not saving enough during the year so I can have the accomodations that I'd like. But after seeing that most people on the poll make 30k + than I do, I feel alot better. It let me know that I AM taking the vacation that I can afford, and need to continue to stay within the limits I've set for myself.

 

[cjb71870]

I'm not going to write my story, but am HAPPY you guys come down to the MOST Magical place on earth!

 

[crisi]

Note that the poll is over on the DVC community board. I would suspect that DVC members (having a $10k+ to plunk down on DVC membership - or having bought in years ago when it was less and therefore probably being a little older) have higher incomes (as a population) than if you posted the same question over on the community board. And that the community board would be different than the people on the restaurant board, the cruise board or here. Each population has different dynamics.

For instance, while cruising isn't necessarily more expensive than a week at WDW, the lower limit you can get to with WDW is cheaper (packing sandwiches, eating off site, staying off site), than with the cruise, where you are paying to eat a multicourse sit down meal each evening and if you stay offsite you aren't cruising!

 

[dvcgirl]

Actually someone did take a poll a while back and the results (for what there worth) was of the poll 45.09% of the people who took the poll were had incomes of 90k- 150K per year. Approximately 67% of the people who took the poll have incomes above 90K per year.

With that being said if you read the thread there were a couple of people who said they purposely choose a incorrect range becusae they disagreed with the topic and poll. Not sure what they were trying to accomplish by doing that though


Here is the link.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=850131

Ah yes, but guess which states are have the largest numbers of DVC members? New York and NJ. 90K a year in NJ or NY, unless you're talking Rochester, is not a whole heck of a lot of money for the average family. It is far from "stinking with money", let's put it that way.

Our household budget here in Orlando Florida for two adults and three dogs is $2,750 a month (33,000 year). We moved here last year from NJ....where our budget was *much* higher. Now keep in mind, we have no mortgage or car payments (didn't have them in NJ either). And we cut our own lawn and take care of our own pool. That budget factors in property taxes, association fees, utilities, auto and home owners insurance, pet food/pet meds/pet grooming, groceries, phone bills (land line and cells), cable and internet access, and security system. Now, the only "extravagances" in those numbers would be that we have a $100 cell phone for the two of us, we use a lot of minutes. And we also have a high end cable package for $120 a month...so you could knock off about $100 to bring those numbers down to "average". It doesn't include gas for our autos, clothing, eating out, spending money for anything, travel, retirement savings/investing. Also keep in mind we are two adults. We have no children and aren't saving for college costs coming down the road. So...33K a year...in after tax dollars, and we haven't done or bought a single thing.

So that average family of four in the northeast....making 90K....with a mortgage, one or two car payments....it's going to be tight. It's going to be *very* tight if they're saving for retirement and college for the kids.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

10k in property taxes. Oh I would cry !!!!

Yep! Property Taxes in Northern NJ are riduculous! My DH's parents had a house in Hawthorne, NJ before they relocated to Houston, TX in 2002. It was a very nice colonial in a cul-de-sac. They sold it for over $500k in 2002. Of course, it is now valued over $900k.

Anyways, the property taxes back in 2002 before they even sold it was around $10k/year. Who knows how much it is now? I think it's calculated around 2% on the value of the house?

They offered to let DH and our family live in their house "rent free." We would just have to pay all the property taxes, water charges, lawn and property maintenance charges, insurance, and all other house expenses, etc. Now kkep in mind my MIL and FIL had beautiful landscaping which they pay a few thousand a year to upkeep.

DH and I discussed it and decided not to touch that "offer" with a 10 foot pole. Especially since we would probably keep our apartment in the city (easier for work & free) and only stay out in the house on the weekends and more permanentlywhen the kids started school 2 years later.

Not only would we have to put in $15 - $20K (or more) a year (more than a rental in the city) in a house that wasn't even ours, we would have someone criticizing our upkeep. They are quite particular on how they want their house to "look" - very keeping up with the Jones, IYKWIM. They also visit the NYC/NJ area at least once every 3 months (their doctors are stil up here), so guess where they will be living while here? Also, if we kept the house, they would probably leave all their furniture and possessions behind rather than paying to move it to TX (where DH's sister lives).

So, who wants to be stuck paying for all expenses for a house that isn't even ours, stuck with someone's furniture and things, and with the actual homeowners' visiting every 3 months? Certainly not me!

So, we declined their "lovely" offer and they sold their house for a very nice price. Of course, now they regret selling it since the price has almost doubled while their house in Houston hasn't moved much at all. I ignore all their sighings and think to myself "Don't look at me because you couldn't find a sucker!"

So while high property taxes here are preventing me from affording to buy a house here in the NYC/NJ area, it also saved me from a potentially difficult In-Law situation!

 

[montblanc]

Most people have one area where they don't mind spending more than unusual whether it be art investments, hobbies or vacations. My income is very modest, I don't own property and I spend extravagantly on my Disney vacations. I figure that DD (age 11) has only one life and vacations are something you never forget. My Dad took us out on wonderful 1 month trips every year, those form the core of my childhood memories.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Hello! we book within 1week of coming from Disney and we usually book about a year out. We only need to put down 100$ per person and we usually get packages with all the bells and whistles we know we will use. Then we pay off monthly whatever we have to send there. Our trip gets paid off and then no worries!

 

[lillygator]

Well - we are a family of 4 now...with two under three. We live in Florida...have Fl AP's DDE card and take advantage of any price breaks on resort rooms. We have never paid rack or even close to it for a room. If we lived out of state I don't know how we would do it. We have no debts other than mortgage and my student loan. I doubt we would ever buy into DVC - I would rather pay a down payment on another property in Fl....

 

[TENIA66]

great tips. how do you and how much is it to become a member of AAA???

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

great tips. how do you and how much is it to become a member of AAA???

Call 'em. DH and I are gold members for the additional towing and we pay about $120/year in Kentucky, but you can get a basic membership for much less (around $40/pp).

 

[BBGraph]

Single disney fan that buys an AP, and makes 3-4 Trips a year I don't Earn alot of money but have always had family that led me in good finance decisions have a mortgage but am very frugel on everything and being solo I don't need to Stay in the largest or most Expensive Rooms at Disney and am Considering DVC or at least renting points and checking out the resorts Beore my AP Expires.

 

[Wendy*Darling]

We are a family of 5 and I am a SAHM. We travel a couple of times a year. When we've had APs, we travel to WDW multiple times per year because it is far more affordable when you get an AP rate room and do not need to buy tickets. DH and I spent quite a while paying off our honeymoon (FIL gave us his credit card and a $ to spend...we assumed it was a gift untill he gave us the cc bill to pay when we got back! Had we know that we would have taken a very different honeymoon with only charging, on our own cards, what we could pay off within 2 - 3 months.). After that exprience we agreed that we would not take a vacation unless it could be paid for in cash entirely. We use a card for things while we are there but we pay it off online as soon as we get home.

How do we end up with the $ to pay for the trips? We're blessed that DH does well in his job. Doing well would be a lot different if I went back to work because "doing well" doesn't go as far when it has to provide for 5 people! We cut corners in places where we can. Both of our vehicles are paid off. DH will be buying a new car this year because he has changed jobs and will be needing to do some travelling and will have clients in his car so it's time to get something a little nicer. We will, however, buy a "new to us" car rather than a new car. My last 2 vehicles (the "family car" and then the minivan we bumped to when our family no longer fit in that car w/ 3 car/booster seats!) have been lease returns with low mileage and in great shape. The van is paid off now and has just over 100,000 miles on it and I'm totally fine with that. I've never been a car person so it is a utilitarian thing to me, not a status thing at all. We have a great interest rate on our home so that helps. We eat out maybe 3 times a month. Our grocery budget is well honed and is less than many families of 3 (ALDI ALDI ALDI!). We don't buy CDs or DVDs etc. The kids get Disney DVDs but they are gifts from grandma most of the time. The last time I bought a CD was about 3 years ago. We don't download music either...it's the radio or the digital music channel on cable! I am the queen of the consignment sale for kids clothes. It's an event for me...be at the door when they open for the "seller presale" (I am almost always selling just enough of my kids stuff to get that presale pass!) to get a jump on the good stuff. The clothes that don't come from consignment sales are bought off season on clearance. I hardly ever buy new clothes for me (the perk of being a SAHM, I almost never have to dress up so the occasional couple of new tops from Target or Old Navy and my old standby jeans are all I need!). DH and I do not buy birthday/anniversary/valentines day gifts for each other. We go out for a nice evening w/o the kids (my parents babysit so free sitter) and we put the $ we would have spent for gifts into the vacation fund...that is our gift to each other.

We've managed to take our last 3 vacations without taking anything out of the regular family budget. One was paid for selling the baby stuff and kids clothes on ebay, one was paid for b/c a big part of it was a gift from Grandma and Grandpa. Tax refunds, gifts, bonuses, my occasional work from home jobs, the change jar idea, the budget "underages" (I take out cash for grocery shopping, it's like a game "how many mickey bars worth of savings can I rack up this week?" and any cash left over after the shopping goes in the "Mickey Money pig") and we charge everything (other than groceries!) that we can to Disney Visa and pay it off every month so we have a few hundred dollars in rewards.

For us, vacation is when we do the special stuff we don't do all year. We eat at sit down restaurants at least once, usually twice per day. We spend the majority of our trip in deluxe resorts, we do special stuff. It's worth it to us to make sacrifices all year in little things we really don't miss anymore. We started making those sacrifices just for me to be a SAHM but since then DH's income has really gone up but we are so used to the sacrifices that they don't feel like "sacrifices" any more! I had an old college friend who came to visit tell me that she never would have expected me to "live like this" because I was always "a Charlotte" (think Sex and the City) in that I always had "the finer things" and had that put together look but since having 3 kids my expensive handbag and shoes days are gone and I am dressed in jeans and an Old Navy top rather than an "outfit." I think she sees it as that I took a step backwards. I see it as a shift in priorities. I'm in a different place in life now and I'm happy with things the way they are! When they kids are older and I go back to work I'm sure my "Charlotte-ness" will return somewhat but for now I'm fine being that consignment sale crazed Mom!

 

[DisneyAunt]

I realized something this weekend...I spent the weekend at the jersey Shore and I spent more money with the kids than I would have in the same amount of time in Disney.

The boardwalk must have some magnet that just puls money out of your pocket.

So in my opinion......It is more economical for me to go to Disney then spend my money the boardwalk at the Jersey shore.

 

[tinaluis]

DisneyAunt,
Same here -- we took a trip one year to the Grand Canyon/Las Vegas and I kept thinking that we'd have spent less $$ at WDW and enjoyed ourselves more LOL.
Tina

 

[hokiefan33]

DH and I spent quite a while paying off our honeymoon (FIL gave us his credit card and a $ to spend...we assumed it was a gift untill he gave us the cc bill to pay when we got back!

WHAT???!!! Now that is a raw deal. Surely communication must have broken down somewhere...I myself could probably never have spoken to my FIL again had he pulled a stunt like that with me!

 

[drakethib]

I realized something this weekend...I spent the weekend at the jersey Shore and I spent more money with the kids than I would have in the same amount of time in Disney.

The boardwalk must have some magnet that just puls money out of your pocket.

So in my opinion......It is more economical for me to go to Disney then spend my money the boardwalk at the Jersey shore.

You hit a good point.

Going to a local Six Flags here in Houston cost me close to $400 bucks for one day for my wife and 3 nieces.

Sure you get in for about 40 bucks per person but the food is more then Disney (if you can believe that), every things is extra (inner tubes for water park 8 bucks a pop) locker rent 10 bucks, rock wall 10 backs, etc). It added up quick.

I could have done a budget trip for all of us for proably $1500 bucks for a few days and had a much better time.

 

[Wendy*Darling]

WHAT???!!! Now that is a raw deal. Surely communication must have broken down somewhere...I myself could probably never have spoken to my FIL again had he pulled a stunt like that with me!

The only communication breakdown was his failure to tell us we could use the card but would get the bill later. After our first shower (about 6 months before the wedding) he came up to us, handed us the card and said "I wanted to give you this to take care of your honeymoon. Go ahead and spend up to $X,XXX and go someplace nice." We both had a really BIG excited reaction to it awhich I would think would have clued him in that we understood it to mean he was giving us a honeymoon as a gift (particularly since it was given to us at a shower when he had not brought a gift). Nothing was EVER said about it after that. We booked and paid for the honeymoon and DH gave him back the card and said "thank you, we spent $_____..." and he said "sounds good!" Of course a month after we got back he gave us the bill to take over. He paid out deposit but the rest of the trip we paid for...with interest.

Believe me, it's just a drop in the bucket with him. There are many reasons that I am not close with my FIL, this was just the start.

 

[JPN4265]

We never spend $1.00 bills. We have a water jug that we put all of our dollars and change in. this year we saved over $1,200.00. It becomes fun after you get started. If you want a cup of coffee, a coke, or something to eat, remember, you can not spend a dollar or change. The money really adds up.

 

[muffy0110]

that is a really good idea-I have heard of the change jar-infact I do it
every year for my husband-he ends up with about 70 dollars-mabey after
this WDW trip in Nov.-we'll try the dollar jar