How much do you spend on trips?

[Raya]

Hi there! We're planning a *big* Disney trip this summer. We also gave into temptation and did a long weekend with airline miles last month. I'm now daydreaming about a fall or Christmas trip. I feel like I'm spending too much money on travel, but I have no idea what I should be spending.

So....

How much money do you spend on travel each year, relative to the rest of your budget? Is it something like 10% of your take home pay or 25% of your unobligated funds? How did you do the math - did you decided on X number of trips per year or X number of dollars each year or what?

I want to follow a budget and make smart choices, but I also want to go every where and do everything.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Hi there! We're planning a *big* Disney trip this summer. We also gave into temptation and did a long weekend with airline miles last month. I'm now daydreaming about a fall or Christmas trip. I feel like I'm spending too much money on travel, but I have no idea what I should be spending.

So....

How much money do you spend on travel each year, relative to the rest of your budget? Is it something like 10% of your take home pay or 25% of your unobligated funds? How did you do the math - did you decided on X number of trips per year or X number of dollars each year or what?

I want to follow a budget and make smart choices, but I also want to go every where and do everything.

I spend $1K person for travel (we have 6) + our annual timeshare dues ($750), plus $250 for family weekend visits (gas money and fast food lunch money - we stay with my mom) so $7000 is my full number. This year, that's paying for 2 trips (and 3 family weekends)...

A 6 day, 5 night summer trip to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg TN (driving) that I have budgeted at $1500 OOP (will use 80% of our timeshare points, so hotel cost is covered - the rest of the points will be banked to use next year). I have posted my plan somewhere on the TN thread for the budget. It was made with "best bang for the buck" and "family choice" in mind (as in, each member picked their top activity)...

A 7 night summer cruise to Grand Turk and the Bahamas that I have budgeted at $4500 OOP ($3150 in cruise fare for 2 bad view french door cabins, $500 tips, $250 prepaid Freeport excursion for 6, $400 alcohol for husband's package, $150 for parking at and travel to/from the port, and $200 miscellaneous on board expenses offset by $150 On Board Credit for $4500 total.) My mom has booked us a private island house/cabana thing for the private island beach day that I was planning on being free, so that will be a nice perk. In Grand Turk, we will do another free day at Maragaritaville's pool (since no excursion spoke to us).

I dropped Disney a few years ago when tickets/food got outrageous (we went every year from 2001-2012 save one), but we still visit Florida a lot b/c we have 2 family members there...but this year, they are visiting us, so I have different vacation plans...

 

[AquaDame]

The only thing we have a strict budget on is the amount of vacation time we get - 2 weeks/year plus the week between xmas and new years. Depending on what we decide to do with those weeks we take 2-3 "big" trips a year and then a couple weekend trips as well using holidays like 4th of July and Thanksgiving since we each get a couple extra days off.

With travel there is no "should" for spending. Its entirely up to you and what you are comfortable with. We spend a LOT more on travel than most people because we don't have kids or car payments and have a relatively cheap mortgage by buying less house than we can "afford" - thus our discretionary funds are plentiful. As long as we meet all our obligations - including funding our retirement accounts - we figure we are golden.

 

[Marionnette]

Hi there! We're planning a *big* Disney trip this summer. We also gave into temptation and did a long weekend with airline miles last month. I'm now daydreaming about a fall or Christmas trip. I feel like I'm spending too much money on travel, but I have no idea what I should be spending.

So....

How much money do you spend on travel each year, relative to the rest of your budget? Is it something like 10% of your take home pay or 25% of your unobligated funds? How did you do the math - did you decided on X number of trips per year or X number of dollars each year or what?

I want to follow a budget and make smart choices, but I also want to go every where and do everything.

There's no magic formula. Discretionary spending, like travel, is highly subjective.

Someone might say that they spend 2% of their take-home pay on vacations but if they take home $250K, that's still $5K spent on travel. Someone netting $40K and spending $5K on travel would be spending 12.5% of their income.

And as PPs have pointed out, having fewer travelers and less in the way of financial obligations (mortgage, college tuitions, etc.) makes it possible to spend more per person on travel.

Finally, there's the matter of priorities. For some, a new car every other year is more important than vacations. Some people don't mind vacationing on a shoestring if that means that they can travel more often. Some people put it all on a credit card and worry about paying for it later.

In the end, your concern shouldn't be about how others budget for their travel but how you can comfortably pay for your own vacationing style and frequency.

 

[Princess Minnie321]

Last year we spent $6500 on our Disney trip. This year we booked a trip to stay local and the cost for 5 days will be around $1500. Even though we can easily afford another big trip, I just want to be frugal and not spend that money again. We also like to do lots of day trips all summer, which can sometimes cost up to $100 depending on the admission cost to where we go.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

We have always taken at least one big trip each year since DH and I started dating. The cost varied and I didn't have a set amount of money in mind to spend, we just decided on something that interested us. That has included WDW x2, Disneyland, Chicago, Toronto, Washington, D.C., Quebec City, Central American cruise and a 3 week Western U.S. road trip honeymoon. Some were cheaper because we drove, had free lodging or did free activities. Some were more expensive because we splurged on deluxe dining or expensive shore excursions.

We have a 1 week RC Norwegian Fjords cruise in a balcony stateroom planned in 2 months and it will cost us about $2500 total because we used credit card rewards to buy our airline tickets, cover $750 of the cruise fare and cover pre- and post-cruise tours in Denmark. I used hotel rewards to cover the cost of hotel the night before and the night after the cruise. We also saved on shore excursions using am Amex offer. I could have booked a cheaper room (we don't book balconies on Caribbean cruises generally), but I liked the idea of having a balcony as we sailed North along the Norwegian shore.

Since we started budgeting with YNAB, we have started putting aside $500 each month towards our vacation fund. Some years we will have much left over and others we might use it all. We have some more expensive dream trips on our wish list, so I figure that it will all even out in the end. And in a few years when certain expenses disappear (car loans, child care, mortgage), we will definitely put more money towards travel. It is what we love to do and so we make it a priority for our money.

 

[Darcy03231]

This year - a lot. Currently in the works:

May 2017 - 7 day cruise NY to Bermuda for 2 people
August 2017 - 7 day Caribbean cruise for 10 people
August 2017 - 4 days/3 nights post cruise at WDW for 2 people
October 2017 - 2 weeks in Grenada (1 week in a condo and 1 week at Sandals) for two people
February/March 2018 - 2 weeks in Costa Rica (son is getting married there) for 6-8 people
Fall 2018 - Canary Islands???

 

[KarenAylwood]

Things have changed so much for us over the years since we've been married (5 years ago last Sept). We spent a bunch on our honeymoon but we could afford it and knew it was a vacation of a lifetime (no regrets and I saved a ton of money to make it more affordable). Since having our son things changed a little, and then I decided to switch careers which meant our income took a huge hit and we drained our emergency fund while I was unemployed.

We are lucky enough to have my parents who foot the bill for a nice Disney trip just before DS turned 3, and DH's parents have some vacation homes we can stay at for free (but have to pay to get to- sometimes fly). We're relying on that mostly until we can get back to a better place income-wise and beef up our emergency fund. We also have some house projects we want to fund once we have more discretionary spending, oh and the kiddo I'm currently baking up should arrive in May so that will be another budget buster ($1700/mo for childcare? What??).

In the future, once we've got older kids and have a safe emergency fund, I'm planning on two vacations per year. We can do an inexpensive trip to one of the IL's places and then something nicer somewhere else. We utilize credit card rewards which are building now even though we aren't using them. Vacations are absolutely a priority to us no matter where we are financially. If we have to drive 4 hours and stay a week at the IL's lake house for the cost of food- that's what we'll do. We won't cut them out entirely.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

Like others have said, it can be highly subjective. We live within driving distance of WDW and the cruise ports, so we need significantly less for a lot of our traveling than, say, a family living in Kansas who would likely fly to WDW/DLR or to a cruise port. Since we usually only have airfare costs every 3 years when we do Disneyland, we typically contribute $100-$200 a month to our vacation fund, depending on how soon we plan to go and what type of trip we are planning. So we save somewhere between $1200-$2400 a year outright (no kids yet by the way) and then we usually take any extra money we get from Ebates, Ibotta, Checkout 51 etc. and put it in that account as well. In addition to all of this, we use credit card rewards to help cover a lot of our costs. I'd say a typical trip to WDW for us might cost $3000 for 7 nights. (We usually stay value or moderate sine we don't have kids yet and don't feel we need much space, but this will likely change when we have kids).

We LOVE to travel, especially with Disney, so we prioritize it over other things. I buy a lot of things used, and when I DO need to spend money I try to always shop through a portal like Ebates to get a percentage of what I spend back. It's just what we love! : )

 

[hsmamato2]

We have a general 'no more than 10% of take home pay' rule around here..... but I like to keep it much less than that (annual calculation) why? b/c my DH picked that number out of the air after I explained my travel 'needs' to him I think he thought we were spending much more (he doesn't ask much about details) and was shocked to discover that after our conversation, I could add more than previous under those guidelines! this goes without saying that the 10% comes after all our other obligations...and if we fall short elsewhere, it comes out of that amount.....

 

[Vijoge]

In a 12 month period we will have spent $6500 on a trip to WDW, $1000 on a weekend in Vegas, and another $2000 on a cruise to Aruba. However, we haven't vacationed in the last four years and don't plan on any more major trips until 2020.

 

[Judique]

This year - a lot. Currently in the works:

May 2017 - 7 day cruise NY to Bermuda for 2 people
August 2017 - 7 day Caribbean cruise for 10 people
August 2017 - 4 days/3 nights post cruise at WDW for 2 people
October 2017 - 2 weeks in Grenada (1 week in a condo and 1 week at Sandals) for two people
February/March 2018 - 2 weeks in Costa Rica (son is getting married there) for 6-8 people
Fall 2018 - Canary Islands???

I would LOVE to go back to the Canary Islands!

I was there many years ago so I have no tips for you but I can say I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

 

[klbrow11]

We spend a lot on vacations (probably more than we should and I may have a problem lol). Typically about 8000 a year which includes everything from food, transportation, dvc payment. We also take at least 2 vacations a year and sometimes a 3rd since my husband is required to take 3 weeks off. For birthdays and Christmas I always ask for giftcards which covers spending money. We did spend way less on a house than we could afford so it balances it out a little. Do contribute to our retirement but if I am honest we should be adding more in our savings. I work in a hospital so see death all the time so its hard for me to not want to spend all extra money making memories.

 

[pigletto]

I try to keep it around 5K but will go up to 6K. This year that will cover 10 days at Disney, and several long weekends at the cottage. Our exchange is horrible right now so 5k is only $3621 usd with today's exchange rate. it's just not covering what it used to . I am hoping for free dining this year, and we had enough credit for free flights. If no free dining, I earned 5 day tickets for free through a rewards program and we will stay offsite to offset costs, or maybe use a room only discount.
We went over budget last year with two Orlando trips, a cottage week and several cottage weekends. My parents treated the whole family to Lake Placid at Thanksgiving and a Caribbean cruise at Christmas which was wonderful. We still went into the travel budget for shopping and excursions and extras though. So this year it's one big trip, and lots of lazy lovely weekends at the cottage. 2018 will be Canadian Rocky Mountains, where our budget goes waaayyyyy further.

 

[wendow]

We have typically only done one big vacation a year. Mostly to WDW. For 2017, we are going to visit family instead and throwing in a few 'extra' fun items but the trip overall will be pretty inexpensive. Due to medical bills, we cannot afford a big vacation this year. That is life and it is ok IN the years we do have a big vacation, we typically spend about 4-5k. I just do not think I can personally justify anymore for a week's worth of fun. We are a family of 6.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

We try to travel inexpensively without it feeling cheap. That means we use/trade our timeshare, drive vs fly whenever possible, search for travel deals, do Disney gift card churning at 4x Kroger fuel points, use local dining and excursion coupons, etc.

Our travel budget is usually about 2-3% of our income. We've had 2 splurge years is the past 5 years - Disneyland/Kauai/Oahu/WDW and WDW & Ireland/Caribbean cruise/Mexico/Punta Cana. There were special events that caused the extra trips (school trips, family reunion, graduation, 25th anniversary). Those 2 years we spent about 10% of our budget on travel. That is outside our comfort zone and requires saving for a couple years in advance. We won't see a travel year like that again until both my kids are out of college.

 

[janicept]

I should start by saying we don't and do not ever plan on having kids so there is more discretionary income around here. For years I would go to Disney or Universal/SeaWorld 5 weeks a year. At Disney I would stay at POP. The first year at Universal I stayed onsite at RPR which ended up being around $1800 a week, 7 nights for just a hotel room. The unlimited express was great but you can only ride things so much when you go for 5 weeks. After that I would rent my Mom's timeshare at WBC for $500 a week(which she considered a Xmas gift for the discount since I'm impossible to shop for). Again it was 7 nights. We drive from Charlotte so that saves money on flying and having to rent a car. Then about two years ago I decided that since I go so much I should just buy a condo in Orlando. I found a 3 BR, 3 bath condo in Kissimmee (6 miles from Disney's Maingate) that costs between $800 and $900 a month for management fees, insurance, utilities, HOA dues, and taxes. Now we stay anywhere from 10 to 7 nights each week we go since it only cost $75 cleaning fee no matter how many days we stay. I also rent it out as a vacation rental since I usually go at off times it works out great. It's not a money maker by any stretch but if you compare to spending money on one room hotels it's worth it for us. We buy groceries at Walmart on our way in and eat some meals at the condo. Otherwise we use gift cards from Xmas or go to Ichiban buffet or other inexpensive meals. I bought the SeaWorld AP dining plan this year so one free meal (entree, dessert, and drink) any day I go. I've never calculated exactly how much we spend but as little as possible but still to do what we want. I have a Premier Universal AP and Platinum SeaWorld/Busch Gardens AP this year. My husband has a power AP at Universal and funcard at SeaWorld since he doesn't always come with me and most of my perks work for both of us. It's easy to justify upgrades like this since I go down so many days. If I only went one week a year it would be a different story.

 

[Darcy03231]

While I posted up-thread, I realized that I didn't truly answer the question. I would estimate this year we're spending about 25-30% of our income on travel, and will probably do so from now on. Prior to that I would say we spent 10-15%. Having said that, however, DH is retired and I'm still working. We have no children left at home. We also have no debt, just our monthly bills. I'm also fully funding my retirement account. DH recently had a heart attack, and while he's expected to make a full recovery, it's changed our way of thinking a bit. We're not going to wait until I retire to travel to the destinations we want to go to.

 

[Beer Me]

A typical year would be about 10%. Every few years we splurge on something a bit more exotic and it may be 15%.

We are a family of four with two teens.

 

[AquaDame]

While I posted up-thread, I realized that I didn't truly answer the question.

Good point... I didn't either. This year we are spending about 15% of our post tax salaries too - usually its at or just under 10%.