How much money do you spend a year on vacations?

[DawnM]

Yeah, we stay off site.

We go for 14 nights and spend a fraction of this amount.

If you want to go but can't afford it, you can find alternatives but if you aren't willing to cut any of the amounts, you can't go.

Dawn

Room for 8 nights: 1760
8 day base tix for 5: 1650
Airfare using points:900
Dining plan or OOP foodi: 1500
Spending money, tips, kids clubs, stroller rental, other: 2000

It's the pool, plus the convenience of transportation. Plus we can't fit our family in a moderate.

 

[Colleen27]

OP - I believe you have already answered your own question! $8k is TOO MUCH for the vast majority of young American families to spend on a single, weeklong vacation. I do not know your financial circumstances, but the fact is, you will have MANY expenses in the future with 4 kiddos, and unless you are very financially savvy and have a healthy bank account and a
$100k + income, then it's too much.

Don't fall into the trap of reading these boards and thinking that everyone is having these wonderful, fabulous Disney trips and you're missing out. That's not true. Some on these boards are older adults, with grown kids, who live within driving distance and have had many years of saving. Some splurge and will be back in a couple of months/years to ask about getting out of debt. Some have their trips paid for by parents.

Here's what a future with 4 young kiddos looks like - braces, cell phones, sports or band or academic endeavors, cars and car insurance for several at the same time (given the spacing of your kids). Other family vacations. A larger home? 3 in college at the same time. In a way, it's overwhelming to think about, and I'm not trying to scare you, I'm simply saying that for a huge percentage of the population, spending that much for one vacation is not even on their radar.

Now I absolutely see a Disney vacation as a possibility, if you were willing to compromise (which I believe is a given with 4 active kids - you just can't do everything that each kid wants when they want it). But if you feel that you cannot give up BC and 8 day tickets, then I think you're spending too much.

My advice is just what I would say to my younger sister if she asked the same question - in other words, I'm not intending to judge, but rather to answer from the standpoint of someone with older kids and some experience under her belt.

Good luck with your decision.

I don't think financial decisionmaking is as black-and-white as this post makes it out to be.

I have a teen, a tween, and a kindergartener, so I do understand the costs that come up along the way. And I do think it is important to have a plan for those costs, but I don't think it follows that you need to have a six-figure income to enjoy certain types of travel while the kids are young. If anything, I think it is just the opposite - a case for enjoying the years when the budget is more flexible because you won't be able to take those trips during the years when you're also paying for braces and tuition and band camp and car insurance.

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

OP it doesn't really seem like you want budget suggestions but rather that spending that large of a amount on a 2 week vacation is justifiable. I am not sure your going to hear on this board that you should take these vacations when you have already stated that you can barely afford the Disney vacation. A Disney vacation and dance recital is a want. It is not a need. The deluxe lodging is not the only way to fit a large family onto Disney property or to have a fabulous vacation but really that doesn't matter because BC is what you want. That's fine but then your really cant complain that it is all so expensive.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

This. I agree you are looking for justification and not suggestions on how to do both. Which is fine...but asking what other spend on vacations per year isn't going to give you a clear answer I'm afraid. If someone spends $25k per year on vacations they may be making $500k a year, who knows. Someone who spends $2000 a year on vacations may make $30k. We spend roughly $4-5k per year on 2-3 vacations per year...and that is about 2-3% of our income.

 

[njmom47]

For a long time, we did family vacations with mom and stepdad through their timeshare. Nothing fancy, the Poconos usually, but it was a nice getaway.
DD#2 cheered for 5 years, and she and I were the only ones that went when she had compeitions. Not too far, except for Disney. DS played travel ball, and we made family vacations out of those trips (which was fine with my dds).
So we had virtually "free" vacations, to spending $3500 for the WDW baseball tournament.
On a side note, we did a tournament in Myrtle Beach, and while it was ok to visit, not sure if I would go back (and yes, an 11 hour drive for us too). So I'm not sure how you would keep the younger ones occupied while dd was at practices, etc.
I can understand though, that you've saved and planned for this really nice Disney vacation and you don't want to give that up!

 

[2TxAgs]

I don't think financial decisionmaking is as black-and-white as this post makes it out to be.

I have a teen, a tween, and a kindergartener, so I do understand the costs that come up along the way. And I do think it is important to have a plan for those costs, but I don't think it follows that you need to have a six-figure income to enjoy certain types of travel while the kids are young. If anything, I think it is just the opposite - a case for enjoying the years when the budget is more flexible because you won't be able to take those trips during the years when you're also paying for braces and tuition and band camp and car insurance.

Colleen - I'm just trying to point out that there are a LOT of future expenses. I'm imagining a young, just getting started couple, and I think that $8k is a lot to put into one vacation. Spend half of that, put the other half away, and the first set of braces are almost paid for. In my frugal mind (and I may be very much in the minority, which is ok) staying at the BEST hotels and paying for the BEST meals/tickets/events as a young family is creating a situation where they're going to run out of $$ quickly. It kind of makes me think of the newspaper articles where kids out of college are expecting top jobs, and not willing to work up from the bottom. I have NO CLUE whether that is the case here, but it does seem that the OP is looking to justify her $8k trip, and is very much about only accepting the TOP accomodations....

 

[ilovemk76]

How much I spend on a vacation has nothing to do with your question.

If I was you, I would do a cheaper WDW vacation and the. Find a person to help your DH with the 4 and 6 year old, in 2014, and take the 8 and 1.5 year old and go by yourself.

I would never just cancel rather than change something to make it work out rather than just not go.

 

[TwistGrl101]

How long is the dance competition?
Do you know what the schedule is like?

I ask because I was discussing with my DH sometime when I'm on a work trip maybe he would like to take a few days off and come along, but we have to pick which ones carefully. For example my last work trip to DC was Monday-Thursday but I was generally out of the hotel by 7 and didn't get back until 8 or later. Meetings would be all day long and run late etc.

If for the dance competition she is going to have to do rehearsals and be at dance and have team dinners that everyone else may or may not be invited to etc. Oh and at most of those they want all teams to watch all the other teams... how much time is there REALLY going to be for you to have a family vacation?

5 days and we won't have a schedule until closer. This year they had a lot of down time, but of course that could be total opposite next year. Most families are excited about going, I am just annoyed that it has now interfered with our plans. We can't go to Disney another time because I am a teacher.

 

[TwistGrl101]

How long is the dance competition? Any way you could go to Disney right after the competition? You could rent a car one way and drive from there to Orlando, which would be around 7 hours. That way you could do one way tickets to MB and then one way tickets back from Orlando.

I know you said you like to stay onsite, but with a family your size, you might be surprised how relaxing an off site pool home can be. We just got back and stayed in a 5 bedroom, bath pool home for less than $800 for the week in Indian Creek, a 7-13 minute drive to Disney parks. We enjoy spreading out in the house, having a fridge and full kitchen and laundry room and the boys LOVED having the private pool

To answer your question, I usually spend $2000-3000 on vacation each year. Even if we fly, we can do Disney for $2000(there are only 2 of us) and then if we go to the beach, we share a house with family and spend $1000 tops.

Unfortunately we have a wedding the day we get back, and dance practice beforehand...I have already thought of this.
As far as renting a house, then I would need to rent a car and bring 3 carseats on the plane...

 

[drcmk]

It just so happened that the year we joined, the parents have been pushing for years for a destination competition, and have gotten their wish. The consensus is that it will not be an every year thing...maybe every other?

I wouldn't count on that---if the girls do well in the competition, they are going to want to do it again. And your oldest is only seven. Your younger children haven't even joined the activities that will offer them travel opportunities in years to come. Traveling for competitive dance, sports, etc is probably going to be a major expense for you for the forsee-able future.

 

[eliza61]

So a couple of thoughts.

I agree with Ilovemk76, other's budgets really is moot. You've got t figure out what you will cut back on and what you won't cut back on.

My vacation budgets vary. Some years we are really flush with disposable income, some years we are not.

First we decide on the things that are important to use. We won't stay any where but deluxes, for a variety of reasons. so my budget always has to include that but on the other hand we don't do Character meals, dessert parties and all the other stuff.

I think the money isn't the big issue, you've got a lot of obligations on your plate.
a wedding]
A family vacation
A dance competition
Along with the normal day to day stuff of a 6 member family. travel teams are always EXPENSIVE. It is not going to get better. we did it with one kid for baseball and that was enough for us. So factor that in.

I tell my kids all the time, we can't do every thing. Question (sorry if it's a repeat) what would happen if she simply missed this competition?

 

[writersblock42]

I would simply lower the spending money. We allowed for $75 per person and for the kids $25 of that came from their grandparents. I mean yes we had incidentals and so forth but that still added up to around $500 most of that being tips.

 

[KELLY]

Normal we try to budget 5000.00 for 2 weeks. We stay in a value and have had FD for the past 5 years. We stick with the QSDP is around 3000.00 maybe a bit more. Air is usually around 1000.00 for 4 of us. Then we take 1000.00 with us.

But this year it is more like over 9000.00. Thanks to disney cruise lines. But this is suppose to be a one time deal. Next year we will go back to our regular 14 night disney vacation. This year we are there for 17. And yes 4 nights on the cruise is more expensive then 14 nights in the world.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We spend less than 5% on vacations, which amounts to spending somewhere between $2500-$4500 per year. Our income is down this year, thanks to furloughs, so we don't plan to vacation this summer, but are doing a Disney trip for my 40th birthday around New Years.

We went to a family member's vacation home in North Georgia over Spring Break, which cost almost nothing - just gas, some food, and admission to the gold mine. This weekend we're going to visit my in-laws, so we have hotel, food and gas to pay for, but it's just a couple of days, so I expect the total to be under $500. I had told my husband we could have an adult overnight trip to see a baseball game as a belated 40th birthday getaway for him, but we're having trouble with the team schedule meshing with ours, so that may not happen. We usually keep our Disney trips around $2000, but my birthday trip may run a little more if we decide to get seasonal passes to use all of 2014. Of course that means the rest of our 2014 vacation dollars will be spent at WDW!

OP, I'd try to find a way to leave the 2 middle kids at home. Much cheaper, much easier to handle.

 

[tzolkin]

A better measure of how much people spend is to ask: what percentage of your income do you spend on vacation? If someone makes $200k, then a $10k vacation is only 5%. That's probably a good number. If, however, your yearly income is $70k, then 5% only amounts to $3500 in vacation dollars.

This was exactly my thought.

Just because some have replied that they spend $10k doesn't mean that everyone can. It is likely that these families have higher incomes or possibly go into debt to fund their travel. (DH is a financial adviser and works with families all the time who are hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and would think nothing of taking another vacation)

I would simply lower the spending money. We allowed for $75 per person and for the kids $25 of that came from their grandparents. I mean yes we had incidentals and so forth but that still added up to around $500 most of that being tips.

Honestly, I was pretty shocked at how inexpensive some of the elements of OP's Disney trip are. Around $200/night for BC (about the price of a mod), only $900 for flights for 6 people. I don't think I would pass up that trip. (Personally, we would skip dance in a heartbeat, but I realize activities like that are important to some families)

The $8K total seems like a lot and I agree the spending money is a bit much. We have been going to Disney every year and my kids spend about $25 each during an entire 12 day trip. We don't have a strict budget or deny them anything but they are just always more interested in doing things than buying things

You could also cut other costs-- bring your own stroller, no babysitting, etc-- without sacrificing your resort choice.

 

[Colleen27]

Colleen - I'm just trying to point out that there are a LOT of future expenses. I'm imagining a young, just getting started couple, and I think that $8k is a lot to put into one vacation. Spend half of that, put the other half away, and the first set of braces are almost paid for. In my frugal mind (and I may be very much in the minority, which is ok) staying at the BEST hotels and paying for the BEST meals/tickets/events as a young family is creating a situation where they're going to run out of $$ quickly. It kind of makes me think of the newspaper articles where kids out of college are expecting top jobs, and not willing to work up from the bottom. I have NO CLUE whether that is the case here, but it does seem that the OP is looking to justify her $8k trip, and is very much about only accepting the TOP accomodations....

I don't think any parent on this board is unaware of the expenses that come along as kids get older. But I don't understand why the default assumption is that most people don't have their financial house in order. Going on the facts that the OP posted, they can afford an $8K Disney vacation and a very expensive childhood activity but a second trip would stretch the budget. That, to me, signals a family that is a bit more established than "young family just starting out". While of course money could be saved now for all those future expenses, if the basics of their financial house are in order (stable income, sustainable budget, planning for retirement) I don't see why stretching a bit to cover a one-time expense without sacrificing other priorities is necessarily a bad thing. Especially given another fact that the OP posted - she is currently a SAHM, and since most women return to work as the children get older, odds are they'll see an increase in household income before cars and college are factoring into the budget.

And as far as staying in the best hotels, the Beach Club is probably not something that will be an option for the OP in the future. Once the baby turns 3 and they can no longer fit in one room, they'd be looking at twice the cost - either for two rooms or a 2 bedroom unit at BCV. The experience that will cost them $220 a night right now will be $500+ in 2.5 years. I can completely understand wanting to hold out for that experience now... I'm very glad I decided to stay there with my kids years ago, because now that the oldest is a teen I can't imagine packing us all into a standard hotel room at any resort and two rooms at the BC is way beyond what I'd spend.

 

[torinsmom]

Unfortunately we have a wedding the day we get back, and dance practice beforehand...I have already thought of this.
As far as renting a house, then I would need to rent a car and bring 3 carseats on the plane...

I'd take someone else to the dance comp with you, if it means you DH can have time off for Disney.

If you want to do a rental home and rental car, car rental agencies also rent car seats. If you're set on staying at BC, I'd say figure out those miscellaneous expenses b/c your budget for that seems like a lot. If you can put a number to those line items, you may find you are "saving" enough to make the trip possible on your terms.

A lot of people will rent a stroller from an offsite place--they are cheaper, more comfortable and you can use them on the way to the bus, etc. As far as souvenir money for the kids, you can give them each a set amount and have them earn more doing chores for the next year. Money means more when you earn it, even when you're 3

 

[Colleen27]

This was exactly my thought.

Just because some have replied that they spend $10k doesn't mean that everyone can. It is likely that these families have higher incomes or possibly go into debt to fund their travel. (DH is a financial adviser and works with families all the time who are hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and would think nothing of taking another vacation)

And even percentages are meaningless without context. One person's housing expense might just be property taxes while another is "house poor". One person might have two car payments and two full coverage insurance payments while another pays cash for vehicles and only carries liabilities. It is all about choices, and that's true for almost every income level.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

$1,000-3,500

 

[sarah4770]

If two trips are too expensive, I would not be afraid to say "no". Thats just reality.

 

[Anne34]

Room for 8 nights: 1760
8 day base tix for 5: 1650
Airfare using points:900
Dining plan or OOP foodi: 1500
Spending money, tips, kids clubs, stroller rental, other: 2000

It's the pool, plus the convenience of transportation. Plus we can't fit our family in a moderate.

I would cut way back on spending money -- maybe $500 for the week. We never got anything for the kids more than $50/each. Also -- is there a need for 8 day tickets? You are only there 9 days. I would cut back and spend a little time at the hotel enjoying the pool and just relaxing. I know cutting back to 6 day tickets only saves about $20/each, but that is $100 right there.

We have traveled many times for sports competitions and it does get expensive. I would just try to take your mom and go as cheaply as possible. Drive, stay at an inexpensive hotel (doesn't have to be the same as the group) and make sandwiches, etc instead of eating out all the time.