New Home or Disney

[ceecee]

No they don't....not always. Mine has been gone for 4 years, her daughter is 3, she's been home twice in that time. They don't always come home.

That's sad! I'm sorry for you. I sure hope mine come back!

 

[mhsjax]

my thoughts are not going to be popular with the budget crowd. Putting flame suit on.

I say do Disney. Your oldest is getting old. How many more family vacations will you go on before he/she is out of the house? You have been through a lot lately and I say you deserve a trip!

Save for the house when you come back. Do a totally budget trip. Drive, stay cheap hotel, buy park tickets through the YES program if you can go at a time when they offer classes for your kids to attend. You can do a trip for cheap and still have a great time.


Sarah

I agree with you but for different reasons. I am one of the rare people that feel that home ownership isn't all that it is cracked up to be. When our kids are grown we will sell and never own again.

 

[luvdisney00]

my thoughts are not going to be popular with the budget crowd. Putting flame suit on.

I say do Disney. Your oldest is getting old. How many more family vacations will you go on before he/she is out of the house? You have been through a lot lately and I say you deserve a trip!

Save for the house when you come back. Do a totally budget trip. Drive, stay cheap hotel, buy park tickets through the YES program if you can go at a time when they offer classes for your kids to attend. You can do a trip for cheap and still have a great time.


Sarah

Same opinion here. You sound like you are doing great and are responsible. I believe you have to be financially responsible, but you also don't want to look back on your kids growing up and always wish you could have those years back to do things. Time passes very quickly and then it is gone and can't be gotten back. Do the vacation that you have saved for, stay within your budget and cherish those memories forever! Cut other places to make it work, it can be done. Good Luck!

 

[goodmorningbelle]

Have you checked out Websites like couponingtodisney.com? She teaches how to "find" money to pay for Disney trips. Maybe you can save for your house and go on a trip!

 

[hsmamato2]

Op already said she wanted to own a home...and go to Disney,so apparnetly those are her goals right now,regardless of what the rest of us think....and they're valid goals!
But many pp's have made good points here...yes,kids grow up. But they don;t hit a magic age and disappear,at least not usually- we traveled for years with family to WDW....many fun trips,kids,grandkids,etc.
Many more than we got to do when I was a kid...and it's all good!
Kepp saving OP, make memories on this trip,come home,and focus on that home you want.

 

[Disneynut71]

Have you checked out Websites like couponingtodisney.com? She teaches how to "find" money to pay for Disney trips. Maybe you can save for your house and go on a trip!

I have not. I will check it out!!

From reading....everyone seems to be on the same page as me. I really want my own home...but after 5 years from being at WDW I don't want to wait so long to go again. I really love going on vacation. Just trying to figure out how to have my cake and eat it too

 

[eliza61]

I don't think this is a question anyone can answer for you. It depends on what you want more.
#1- to own a home
or
#2- annual trips to Disney

A lot of people are perfectly happy renting their whole lives.
A lot of people want to be homeowners.
Neither is right or wrong.

If you want #1- skip anything that will take away from saving as much money as possible to make it a reality.
If you want #2-go, have fun and don't feel bad about it.

You know some how the message got out the in order to be happy, EVERYONE had to be a homeowner. Gotta tell you, while dh and I own are house we can't wait to retire, dump this money pit, move back into the city and rent. LOL.

Now also remember home ownership is not only buying the house. Can you afford the upkeep on a house. A few years back in one year, I had to replace my roof, replace my a/c unit and darn near replace every major appliance in my house. I was ready to burn this sucker down to the ground, every time I turned around I was dropping hundreds to thousands of dollars on it.

Next,
Set a specific goal. what type of house do you want? be specific. what is the cost of that house in your area? how much would that down payment be? how long is it going to take to save up that down payment? Property taxes? Insurance.
Now after all that, how do vacations fit into it. When we purchased our first house we did not have kids so we could give up disney for a while. would I do htat now if it meant waiting 4 years to save for a house? don't know.

good luck. no hard fast right or wrong.

 

[eliza61]

I have not. I will check it out!!

From reading....everyone seems to be on the same page as me. I really want my own home...but after 5 years from being at WDW I don't want to wait so long to go again. I really love going on vacation. Just trying to figure out how to have my cake and eat it too

I've been trying to figure that out also for the last 50 years.

 

[crisi]

Yes, kids grow up - but the other side of the deal is that you'll eventually want to retire. IF you can buy a home that you can pay off before retirement, retirement will be MUCH more affordable. You have two time constrained issues - but one involves your long term financial security. Go to Disney with your kids, or become a burden on your kids?

I'd assume that with the financial situation implied in the OP, you aren't looking at having half a mil in a retirement account already. I do believe balance is important in life, you can't always be an ant - sometimes you need to be a grasshopper. But if your financial situation is anything like what I think it may be like - Disney isn't balance - you need to find a cheaper way to indulge the grasshopper.

 

[crisi]

I've been trying to figure that out also for the last 50 years.

Easy - have two cakes. The problem is only about 5% of Americans can afford two cakes.

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

You can still do Disney, just maybe not annually. Also, have you considered staying at Fort Wilderness in the future? You could bring a tent, make your own meals and get the YES tickets.

Good luck with your house search!

 

[ceecee]

Go to Disney with your kids, or become a burden on your kids?

I'd assume that with the financial situation implied in the OP, you aren't looking at having half a mil in a retirement account already. I do believe balance is important in life, you can't always be an ant - sometimes you need to be a grasshopper. But if your financial situation is anything like what I think it may be like - Disney isn't balance - you need to find a cheaper way to indulge the grasshopper.

Good analogy! But I don't think a cheap ($2000-3000) Disney vacation would make her a burden to her kids in retirement. She may have to wait a while longer on the house purchase though.

 

[apartyof5]

My husband and I were in a similiar situation in Jan. 2011. We had a house fall through at the last moment...like, we were packed and everything to move! So, we decided just to stay renters and take our money in savings for disney.

Well, come Jan. 2011 our landlord shows up and says "buy it or get out". He wanted to sell. So, our lease wasn't going to get renewed in May.

We took ALL our savings for Disney and bought a house instead of our trip. I had 2 crying kiddos. It was a good decision because shortly there after I found out we were expecting again.

Long story short-Disney IS always there...my advice would be house first then disney. Good luck!

 

[Lisa71]

Ok, I believe in living life for today AND tomorrow..as long as you can continue to save for your home, go to Disney. Take a small amt from each bonus, start a small home business (like Pampered Chef or Scentsy) and use that money for Disney, and take all the time you need to get there. Go when there is free dining and HAVE FUN!! Planning is so important, but so are memories.

 

[crisi]

Good analogy! But I don't think a cheap ($2000-3000) Disney vacation would make her a burden to her kids in retirement. She may have to wait a while longer on the house purchase though.

If my mother in law had put away $2-3k twenty years ago, I wouldn't currently be supplementing her groceries or buying her the lotion she likes but can't afford or writing checks to cover the brake job her car needs. Because that would be $10k now, and $10k now would cover that stuff.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

A lot of people on DISBoards (not pointing fingers at anyone on this thread, but just saying in general) seem to view annual Disney trips as a right and necessity. You're going on one trip in a few weeks and that is AWESOME, but it might be time to start putting away money for something else, once you get home.

That said, only you can decide what your priorities are and how to spend your money. If taking your kids on nice trips before they leave home is a priority to you, then that's your decision. There's nothing wrong with that.

However, I'm going to go into a cautionary tale about emergency funds, here. We recently had a financial emergency (an unexpected job transfer 2500 miles away..... with an underwater mortgage on our house) and it completely wiped out our savings. We thought that having an emergency fund to cover TWO YEARS of expenses was excessive, and yet it was gone in a couple months. It really put things into perspective for us. We had been doing regular (at least once a year) Disney trips, but they will definitely be put on hold for the next few years. Vacations are great, but being able to come out of a financial emergency without any significant hardship is more important to us.

 

[taaren]

I should mention...I have been back to work for 2 years..so I am not rushing into a trip or anything. I made sure I was back to somewhat normal before I planned this trip. I am more thinking of June 5th when I am back home...how I should save going forward.

I like the coupon thing and we are already using the coin jar..I use my debit card most of the time and my bank is no longer giving me reward points

Going on a trip with your kids at that age is a great idea, and you should continue doing it, especially since they are budget trips. As PPs have said, kids do come home, but the scheduling gets more difficult and its not the same. I still vacation once a year with my mom (in my 30's), sometimes we take my DS5 and DNeph14, but its not like the trips we had when it was just the two of us when I was young, not diminished, but a different kind of wonderful when they are trying to relax from work and have their own budgetary concerns, etc. Not as innocent and filled with wonder.

As for saving for a home, I recommend reading David Bach's Automatic Millionaire Homeowner. He has some great, practical advice. Borrow a copy from your local library. Interest rates are at an all time low, and mortgage debt is some of the best kind of debt you can take on.

One more note about the ages of your children. Keep in mind that how much house you need now is not how much house you will need in a very short 3 years when your oldest goes to college/ventures out on their own. How large of a house you want and how much of an investment you want to make should take that into account since pretty soon it will just be you and the younger, then just you. It may not take as much savings or a smaller down payment if you think in terms of the house you'll need when your older child is 18.

 

[Disneynut71]

I am leaning more towards saving for the home. I know how I am when I get back from a Disney vacation(I think most of us feel this way) the need to plan another vacation.

I am looking at a 3 bedroom condo and here in Naperville are going for about $130k. I am a first time home buyer so I only need 3.5% down.

If I budget, I can save for both. I keep thinking how can I go to Disney when I am either still saving for my home or just moved in.

I just need to win the lottery and solve all my problems...lol

 

[disykat]

A lot of people on DISBoards (not pointing fingers at anyone on this thread, but just saying in general) seem to view annual Disney trips as a right and necessity. You're going on one trip in a few weeks and that is AWESOME, but it might be time to start putting away money for something else, once you get home.

That said, only you can decide what your priorities are and how to spend your money. If taking your kids on nice trips before they leave home is a priority to you, then that's your decision. There's nothing wrong with that.

I agree. For us our own home, college funds, also taking other vacations, etc. were all more important than annual trips. Despite being budget travelers, WDW is every ten years for us. It'd be fun to go every year, but we haven't felt deprived. (We did hit DL one year on another vacation)

I'd enjoy your planned trip and then start saving for a home of your own! Another option you could consider if you don't think home ownership is for you is finding another kind of long term rental situation (a house, a town house, a duplex,etc.) that would feel more like a home. I rented for five years in a condo someone else owned and it felt much more homey than an apartment complex. My sister rents in an oldfashioned four-plex and will probably live there indefinately.

I do think it's hard to read the DIS without a trip planned. We have an every ten year tradition, so technically we do have a trip planned. We'll go in 2020, hopefully with a bigger family if either of our boys is married and has kids by then. We plan on taking everyone for our anniversary every ten years. So far we've done honeymoon, 10th, and 20th.

 

[cornflake]

Good analogy! But I don't think a cheap ($2000-3000) Disney vacation would make her a burden to her kids in retirement. She may have to wait a while longer on the house purchase though.

That's the thing, people say 'oh, it's $2000, that's not going to make a difference...' and no, $2000 won't.

However, if you put $2000 for this year's trip, plus, say, $2500 for each year's trip into an investment vehicle assuming a fairly modest rate of interest, in 25 years, that's over $180,000.

If you just put the $2000 in and never add to it over 25 years, assuming a 7% rate of return, it's over $12,000 in 25 years. If you put in $10,000 and leave it there and never add a penny at that rate (under a historic market return), it's over $60,000. So... yes, that sort of thing (a trip here or there) can make a difference as to someone being a burden in retirement years.

Which doesn't mean anyone is saying any one thing is right or wrong for the OP but just don't dismiss the potential future impact of a few grand here or there if a financial situation isn't particularly well-secured.