How much money do you spend a year on vacations?

[TwistGrl101]

On average, how much does your family spend each year on vacations, whether they are a few overnights plus a big vacation or whether you do one big vacation every other year, etc.?

I am asking because I am stuck in a dilemma. We are all set to book our 8 night Beach Club vacation for 2014. We took a year off of any vacations because we have a newborn. Disney will cost is about $8,000.

Well, we just found out that DD will be competing for dance in Myrtle Beach next summer.

With a family of 6, and an already expensive vacation planned to Disney, we are thinking we may have to cancel our big trip now and just make Myrtle Beach our family vacation.

DH thinks it would be ridiculous to go on 2 vacations one month after the next, plus he may not be able to get the time off from work.

I will not travel with only DD, as I can not leave my 3 younger ones for that long of a time.

We could drive for 11 hours to Myrtle to save airfare money, but 11 hours in the car with my crazy kids will likely cause me to rip all of my hair out. (Kids are 7, 5, 3, 6 months.)

So I know there are families that do multiple trips a year, some families are more fortunate than others, and also everyone has their own thoughts on vacationing. I do believe it is important for families to vacation. But how much $ is too much to spend for something that is gone in a week?

I don't know if I can justify (barely afford for that matter) our Disney trip which we are already anxiously counting down for PLUS our mandatory trip to Myrtle Beach!!

Staying somewhere besides BC is just not an option, btw. We don't want to sacrifice a two years in the making trip by making it any less of an experience that we want.

 

[ktate82]

Have you look at renting DVC points to stay at BC? That could reduce your costs quite a bit if you were planning to go through Disney.

 

[RumpleMom]

As much as our family loves WDW, $8,000 for a week's vacation would have never been in our budget. We stayed at the moderates and values until we could purchase DVC to get us into the deluxe resorts. Could you consider using the $8,000 as a down payment for purchasing DVC?

Have you thought about renting points to stay at BCV for far less money?

My daughters took dance for many years. I specifically chose a dance school that did not participate in competitions. The teacher had excellent credentials and the students performed the "Nutcracker" every other year on a local high school stage. They did have to audition for the main character parts. This school produced many dancers who went on to dancing careers, so there were standards to be met.

IMHO I wanted my daughters to dance for the physical benefits and for the love of doing it. I believe there is enough emphasis(stress) on competition in school. JMHO

 

[TwistGrl101]

I am going to BC on a 40% off CM discount, so renting points would not be cheaper.

We are big eaters and do a lot of character meals, plus 8 day park tickets for my family.

The $8,000 also includes spending money.

We spend a lot of time at the resort, and we absolutely love BC. We just don't want to have to sacrifice. I know you can do Disney on a budget, but for us we treat it as a vacation and we like to splurge when we go.

 

[Happyjen27]

We spend about $10,000 a year on vacations.

 

[kkmcan]

It varies from year to year but I would say anywhere from $3000- $6000 a year. This year we will spend $4000. Last year we spent $2500. The years we cruised it was closer to $5000-$6000. These numbers are not just Disney though they include all vacations for the year- such as Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego etc.

 

[IUTBAM]

I'd say we spend anywhere between $11-13K a year on vacations/travel. But that covers a 2 week out of state vacation in the summer, and a 2 week out of state vacation in the winter, and a few overnight/weekend trips in state (we live in Colorado...so much to do here, lol).

But comparing what one family spends on vacation vs. what you might spend on vacation really has no bearing, since financial situations and vacation time are vastly different for everyone. My DH gets 27 paid vacation days a year, and makes in the low six figures for salary...we have the money to take vacations without incurring debt, and he has plenty of vacation time.

 

[ICF]

We spend probably around $2K - $3K or so a year.

Some years it's one big vacation and other years it might be 3 or 4 weekend trips (w/ or w/out the kids).

For $8K -- we could probably take 3 different week long trips to Disney -- assuming we drove (or flew with SW pts).

 

[bartleby1]

On average, how much does your family spend each year on vacations, whether they are a few overnights plus a big vacation or whether you do one big vacation every other year, etc.?

I am asking because I am stuck in a dilemma. We are all set to book our 8 night Beach Club vacation for 2014. We took a year off of any vacations because we have a newborn. Disney will cost is about $8,000.

Well, we just found out that DD will be competing for dance in Myrtle Beach next summer.

With a family of 6, and an already expensive vacation planned to Disney, we are thinking we may have to cancel our big trip now and just make Myrtle Beach our family vacation.

DH thinks it would be ridiculous to go on 2 vacations one month after the next, plus he may not be able to get the time off from work.

I will not travel with only DD, as I can not leave my 3 younger ones for that long of a time.

We could drive for 11 hours to Myrtle to save airfare money, but 11 hours in the car with my crazy kids will likely cause me to rip all of my hair out. (Kids are 7, 5, 3, 6 months.)

So I know there are families that do multiple trips a year, some families are more fortunate than others, and also everyone has their own thoughts on vacationing. I do believe it is important for families to vacation. But how much $ is too much to spend for something that is gone in a week?

I don't know if I can justify (barely afford for that matter) our Disney trip which we are already anxiously counting down for PLUS our mandatory trip to Myrtle Beach!!

Staying somewhere besides BC is just not an option, btw. We don't want to sacrifice a two years in the making trip by making it any less of an experience that we want.

It really doesn't matter what other people spend or think is too much since everyone has different circumstances, different incomes, different priorities, different expenses, etc. It sounds like you need to make some difficult choices. Keep in mind too, that if your daughter is involved in competition dance, this will most likely not be the last trip you need to make for a competition. And I see that your kids are young. Are any of the others going to go into comp dance? If so, you need to seriously think about what that may do to your family vacations. I kept my daughters out of comp dance and comp gymnastics due to the cost involved. They still did dance and gymnastics but it was once a week and no comp. if comp is really important for you, you may have to sacrifice your Disney trips if you can't swing both.

To answer your question, we try to keep our vacations to between $5000-$6000 a year for a two week trip. That is for a family of 5 (kids are 13, 11, and 8 yrs old). The only time we went over budget was last summer when we drove across country (nj to California) for a three week trip. That ran us around $6500 and was our trip of a lIfetime though.

 

[mrssmith06]

If you have the time and the money, doing both would be awesome lol.

We take 1 vacation a year and that vacation depends on the budget for that year. And we may do some day trips here and there as well to nearby places.

For a beach vacation, we usually spend about $1,200 total. (2 adults/2 kids)
For a vacation in the mountains... about $1,000.
For our Disney trips, we might spend about $2,800 total.

So for every year it varies, we might spend $1,000, or we might spend $3,000. But we've never spent any more than that. Maybe one day we will though.

 

[drcmk]

I wouldn't spend my vacation money on the Myrtle Beach trip that benefits only one child. That doesn't seem fair to the other kids. I also wouldn't let a dance teacher/organization decide how I spend my limited vacation money/time. If I had multiple children and each was involved in activities that could easily require an expensive trip for a competition every year, I would decide now how much money and time I was able to spend on that and expect the money to come from the budget for kids lessons and educational activities, not the vacation budget.

 

[Tanzanite]

I just got a no balance fee card with chase have a big balance on another card been making big payments to get it paid before zero percent expires if I do balance transfer from one card to another do I lose my points on one I transfer from never done balance transfer is it worth it no fee for doing it .

 

[Tanzanite]

I just got a no balance fee card with chase have a big balance on another card been making big payments to get it paid before zero percent expires if I do balance transfer from one card to another do I lose my points on one I transfer from never done balance transfer is it worth it no fee for doing it .

Sorry I didn't put this in right place

 

[Hoof Hearted]

Could easily spend 20/25k a year on vacations and that's without trying to spend money

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Our Disney vacations average 5000. We also pay 2600 for a seasonal camping site (6 months). We do have a additional 2700.00 for the actual camper and insurance so I guess we are about the 10000 mark for vacations as well. Hmmmm didn't seem so much paying in little bits.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[mrsklamc]

Do all parents travel with the dance team? Could she just go by herself?

Edit: Missed that she's 7. Kinda shocked they have competitions that big/far away for 7 year olds.

 

[sk!mom]

I wouldn't spend my vacation money on the Myrtle Beach trip that benefits only one child. That doesn't seem fair to the other kids. I also wouldn't let a dance teacher/organization decide how I spend my limited vacation money/time. If I had multiple children and each was involved in activities that could easily require an expensive trip for a competition every year, I would decide now how much money and time I was able to spend on that and expect the money to come from the budget for kids lessons and educational activities, not the vacation budget.

This! If the whole family is counting on the Disney trip then I would let the dance team know now that we aren't going. If this dilemma is coming up while your DD is so young and you have several more children you really do need to figure it out. Will kids activities dictate your vacations? How will you decide whose activity gets the vacation budget? Honestly the more I think about it the more I would not go to the dance competition with a 7 year old if it meant that was our vacation.

My DD17 has studied ballet. She has gone away in the Summer for Intensives but they are not her or our vacations.

 

[TwistGrl101]

I wouldn't spend my vacation money on the Myrtle Beach trip that benefits only one child. That doesn't seem fair to the other kids. I also wouldn't let a dance teacher/organization decide how I spend my limited vacation money/time. If I had multiple children and each was involved in activities that could easily require an expensive trip for a competition every year, I would decide now how much money and time I was able to spend on that and expect the money to come from the budget for kids lessons and educational activities, not the vacation budget.

I like this idea. I think you're right about not associating the dance trip money with the vacation money. It has to be separate. I think it's the airfare that's killing me.
I would say that eventually, if DD continues to do dance, I will just make a trip with the 2 of us as other families do. My other children are just too young right now for that option.

I may ask my mom to come in place of DH if he can't take off work...

 

[Colleen27]

To answer your original question, our travel budget is usually $10-12K/year. That usually includes one big trip with the whole family, a family weekend or two, a couple-few trips with just one or two of the kids, and any number of spur-of-the-moment overnight or day trips as well as the kids' summer camps.

As far as your situation goes, have you really looked into the practicality of going to Myrtle Beach without a car? It has been years since I was there but I don't remember that being a place that is particularly easy to get around without wheels.

My husband often can't get off work for all of our trips, and when the kids were younger I dealt with that by finding another willing adult (usually my mom) to come along to be an extra pair of adult hands and eyes for dealing with the kids (I have 3). Do you have someone you might be able to invite along to Myrtle Beach so that your DH doesn't have to try to get time off for vacations two months in a row?

Finally, would you be able to reschedule your intended BC trip to space the two out a bit better in terms of both the budget and your DH's schedule? Two trips 4 or 6 months apart might be easier to manage than two trips in consecutive months.

 

[2TxAgs]

On average, how much does your family spend each year on vacations, whether they are a few overnights plus a big vacation or whether you do one big vacation every other year, etc.?

how much $ is too much to spend for something that is gone in a week?

I don't know if I can justify (barely afford for that matter) our Disney trip which we are already anxiously counting down for PLUS our mandatory trip to Myrtle Beach!!

Staying somewhere besides BC is just not an option, btw. We don't want to sacrifice a two years in the making trip by making it any less of an experience that we want.

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.