How do you pay for it?

[Kim1964]

We save for the trip all year, put it on the Disney Visa for the rewards, and pay it off immediately. This year the rewards are paying for 3 of our 11 nights on site.

About 12 years ago we dug ourselves out of serious credit card debt and we promised ourselves it would never happen again, and so far we've kept that promise. I couldn't enjoy a vacation if I had to go into debt to do it.

 

[patsal]

I treat vacation like any other monthly bill and deposit that amount into savings each month. I do pay using a credit card to rack up more points, but I pay the account off in full with the $$ from the savings account.

We also live below our means--our home is $100,000 while our co workers and neighbors are $250,000+ (we did our research on school districts and purchased when the house was about to go into foreclosure for the amount owed on it), we buy our cars new and drive them until they die (10+ years) and we don't have every new gadget imaginable. Keeping up with our neighbors and co-workers is not something we concern ourselves with. Basic cable--and only because we get no TV reception without it, basic cell phones with the basic plan, and no frills on groceries. I cook. we rarely eat out and I do not indulge every whim my teens have. We will cut down on vacations after next year to help DS with some tuition--afterall it isn't his fault he won't qualify for things becasue of our income--but I'm only giving what I would have had to pay toward a public education if he decides to go private he will take on the loans.

 

[mom2aredhead]

I put the trip on my Disney Visa to get the rewards points to spend at WDW and then pay it off in a couple of months with big payments.

That's kind of what we do too. The package (or room) is interest free for 6 months on the Disney Visa and you get the points. So although it goes against most advice here on the budget board, we charge it and pay it off over a few months, but before we're charged interest. We'll do maybe 2 or 3 big payments. It's not that we don't have the money (in most cases we do), but why give it to them if it's not costing me anything, kwim?

 

[mousetravel]

I haven't seen this posted yet, but TAX TIME for me!!
I mostly live paycheck to paycheck, so when tax time comes around, I take about half of it and use for Disney trips. We also vacation on a budget, which is staying offsite, taking our own food, drinks, and snacks, and don't spend too much money on souvenirs. Mostly, our pictures are our souvenirs.

 

[marcyinPA]

I work part-time (preschool teacher) and save all of my checks in my "vacation" account. We live off of DH's salary alone (believe me, it's not easy! He makes under $40K!). We have no other debt except our mortgage and a car payment, and we live very frugally throughout the year.

Things are changing for us now, and the years of big vacations are going to come to an end. With heating oil at 4.50 a gallon, our vacation account will be used to pay for our heat in the winter. Not fun, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[NewmanFam6]

We use out DVC pts for accomodations. We save our cash for everything else. My DH does not believe in debt

 

[3kidzmom]

I'm with ***********, over the years, I intentionally have not changed my witholding status, so every February we get a nice vacation fund. I know, not the most fiscally responsible route, but in reality....it works for us and the bonus is no credit card debt. We plan months/weeks ahead and prepay for our lodging, making sure we have kitchen facilities, stay off-site, use many tips from the website, plan carefully, don't buy a whole lot of souvenirs, and eat mainly counter service in the parks. We've found excellent places to eat in Orlando! Sure, someday I'd like to stay-on-property, but I'd much rather be able to go more than once every 5 years!!

 

[HelenePA]

Honestly we use our income tax refund. DH still only claims one so we have ALOT of money taken out each week and then we get it back in feb. Probably not the best savings plan but if we dont see it we can't spend it...

 

[Misty89]

we are a little different, we do not get to disney very often ( last time was 2004) but......the $$ for our trips comes from a part-time job. We also live off of DH's income, I work part-time year round at a daycare ( not much $) but it is right behind my house, and right next to DD9's school, plus she never goes to care if i am not there, those things make my income 100% mine. no gas, no buying lunch, etc I do make monthly payments on my auto loan, but that is my only personal bill.
I am looking right now for a super casual job to do in the evening to make a little extra for a vacation fund we are starting. ( our trip is over 6 mths away, so i have time)
I am hoping to save between the 2 jobs about $300 a month so that i can fully fund the trips Did i mention that i have 2 trips planned in the next 18mths LOL
we also have recently become members of the "NO credit cards for us" club, so it will be 100% saved $$, or gifted $$ ( Our Febuary trip is 1/2 funded as a gift from MIL for our 10th Anniversary
We also save change.......we usally gather about $200 in a year.


HTH!

Tina

 

[lovin diz]

We get paid biweekly and receive 2 "Xtra" paychecks per year. That money goes for all vacations for that year.

 

[Chicago526]

We don't "save" exactly. DH and I get paid every other friday. That means that 10 months out of the year, we get two paychecks. So that's what we base our monthly budget on. The other two months we get 3 paychecks. Those "extra" pay checks are what we use to pay for large ticket extras like vacations. Lately they've gone for medical bills and other unplaned for expenses, but usually we set them asside for fun stuff.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I save up, and then pay it off all at once.

 

[dvcgirl]

We save and pay cash. Well, we actually use credit cards in most situations but we pay the balance at the end of that month with the cash saved for the trip.

"Vacation" is a line item in our budget. But vacation is at the bottom of our budget because everything else is more important. Before vacation comes retirement savings, taxable savings, all monthly bills (we have no debt, so this would be utilities, cable, phone and insurance payments), groceries, money for nephew's college tuition (ends in two years), dog fund (for food, grooming, vet visits and dog medication), monthly discretionary spending and "mini-emergency fund" (for all that little stuff that pops up throughout the year. We have a larger emergency fund that is only touched for a big emergency, like a job loss. We also used to have a "future car fund" in our budget, but that is fully funded now.

Those savings goals and other line items are worked out first, what is left over is our vacation fund. This year there's enough for two weeks in Italy, so a pricey vacation. Next year we'd like to do some things around the house and so we'll probably stay in the states and do something cheaper for vacation and use the remainder of that money for the work around the house.

The whole key is living beneath your means. But remember, no matter what, you need that emergency fund. And retirement savings has to come before vacation savings!

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I book the vacation well in advance (like ten months or a year), pay the deposit, then pay it off over time, so that it's all paid by the deadline.

I'm a writer, and I write for both Canadian and US publications and organizations. I have a separate US account, and I put any money I receive in US dollars into that account. That money is withdrawn in cash when we go on the trip and used for gas (if we drive), food, souvenirs, etc.

Teresa

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

We only go to WDW every other year (it used to be every year) and we book it about a year in advance. We budget for vacations like we budget for everything else. Then each payday we have money transferred to our vacation savings account at ING. When we get to WDW our package and airfare have been paid for from savings. We also
take some of the savings for meals & spending money.

 

[Simba22]

Oy....lol!! We save up to pay for the trip itself in cash (or rather, save the cash, put it in the bank and use the check card to pay for it so it gets debited right from the checking account) but I have a bad habit of charging everything else while we're there...food, souvenirs, etc. I charged the vacation package itself ONCE (plus all the spending money on the same card) and believe it or not, I'm still paying for it a year and half later (thanks to 28% interest). When we went this past March, I only charged about $1700 worth of food/souvenirs, but since I had so much debt from previous trips, I've pretty much dug myself a nice little hole. Which is why our next trip isn't until 2009 and that is provided I paid everything off and have enough CASH saved. All in all, I have about $8000 worth of Disney Debt from the past 3 trips. And that doesn't include what I've paid off. Hence the reason I'm hanging out on the Budget Boards!

 

[bigbabyblues]

We come up with a realistic budget and that's the trip we have. Most of the time, we stay in the value resorts, which is fine with us. We bought AP's this year, that will do our tickets for this year (10 days in November) and next year (looking at 8-10 days in August, but may change to May).

We do not charge or go into debt for a vacation. I will charge the trip on the cc for safety and to get the reward dollars (Disney Visa) but I send the $$ to the cc when the bill comes. The same with what we spend at WDW; we know how much is in the vacation account, and we don't spend any more than that. I mail the check when we get that bill also.

 

[Kaia119]

Wow! Thank for all the replys you guys!

It seems to me that most of you have the same thing in common - no debt+live on a budget. You guys sound like you've listened to a word or two from Mr. Dave Ramsey. ;-)

John and I are currently in the works of taking his FPU class at a church, and are doing our best to get out of [his] debt. It's about $16,000. Our goal is to have it taken care of, and the trip paid and accounted for in cash by Dec. 2009. Wish us luck!

 

[pednurse]

I'm still amazed at how often some of you are able to go (and jealous too! LOL). We were finally able to take our kids for the first time last year (we saved up and paid it up front). We live within our means.....but with only one income (I'm a SAHM for a multitude of reasons) and DH working on his master's degree, there's just not much extra cash. So we saved until we had the money....and then what do you know, as soon as I paid off the trip and we were ready to go, the fridge died. Well, we went to WDW and were able to buy a new fridge. THEN spent the entire next calendar year replacing every single other major appliance in this house as they died one-by-one. Go figure! So this year we take a small driving vacation to visit friends & family (only required 2 nights in a hotel & our food & gas costs). Now due to a snowball effect of occurrences, I have a HUGE hole in my dining room floor, have to replace my patio door, and replace 75% of my downstairs flooring...and tear off and rebuild the deck off the back of the house. I think I just need to stop taking vacations.....they're costing me and arm and a leg in home improvement costs! LOL

 

[Pigeon]

We pay cash. We are also pretty frugal. We don't take a vacation every year--we often just stay home and do a few day trips and work around the house. If we don't have the cash for Disney, we certainly don't go into debt for it.