Vacationing and having debt

[PrincessDaisy96]

I dont see this as an option as far as having a car loan or a mortage, or even student loans... we have all 3.
Every year we use our tax refunds to finance our family Vacations for the year, and we plan to do the same for our Disney World trip.
but with that being said we do not have credit card debt as we pay for everything in cash/debit.

Those people who are in major credit card debt should not be vacationing IMO.. because they should be paying those cards off every month.

 

[worm761]

Thank you all for your thoughts and comments.
Indeed we will not be adding any debt with a vacation and do have a healthy savings (our Honda CRV has over 600,000km on it so we know we need to replace with a truck as we have horses and a horse trailer and want to be able to pay cash for a nice used truck in the new year)

Just found out after I posted this that I am more than likely going in for a 2nd ankle surgery in February, which will be a long recovery, so now pondering throwing together a quick budget trip...was thinking of spring break, but now would have to be that parent that pulls their kid out of school for a trip!

Bolding is mine.

As long as your kid is a good student, I don't see a problem with pulling them out for vacation. I think that traveling is a part of having a nicely rounded life. And you can't always do that on the schools schedule. As long as your school allows it, of course.

 

[NewRVLady]

The thing I can't see if young people starting off in life getting DVC BEFORE buying a house- that is just weird to me

 

[a1tinkfans]

I'd lose exactly 0 minutes of sleep thinking about it if I were you. When do you leave?

Yup! Have a magical!

 

[DVCcurious]

I run my life like the government runs it's finances. My motto is simple:

Sha la la la la la live for today
And don't worry 'bout tomorrow, hey!

If you want to go on vacation then go on vacation. Who cares about debt? You're an American, start acting like one.

 

[ronandannette]

I run my life like the government runs it's finances. My motto is simple:

Sha la la la la la live for today
And don't worry 'bout tomorrow, hey!

If you want to go on vacation then go on vacation. Who cares about debt? You're an American, start acting like one.

OP's a Canadian, but we get where you were going with it!

 

[davedmaine]

I run my life like the government runs it's finances. My motto is simple:

Sha la la la la la live for today
And don't worry 'bout tomorrow, hey!

If you want to go on vacation then go on vacation. Who cares about debt? You're an American, start acting like one.

Amen. It's an entitlement nation.
Here's my take on it. We didn't go on a vacation for the first 10 years of our marriage. I worked my *** off, 7 days a week. Now we're totally debt free, including the house, cars, etc. We are DVC members (paid in cash) and vacation at Disney 4 to 5 times a year, and travel internationally at least once. My point is that a little sacrifice and can go a long way. I scratch my head when I read the comments about people going into debt to go to Disney..

 

[Airship Ariadne]

While taking out loans to afford a vacation is...well, dumb and asking for trouble unless you have no other debt. I don't think you should avoid vacations if you have a mortgage, car payment, student loans, or yes, even some LOC and credit card debit...it is a very plutocratic attitude to believe only those that have no debts and can pay in cash deserve to relax. The middle class family vacation is what Walt built the parks for...they are designed to be the typical american family vacation goal. The way the deck is stacked against the 99%, you will not see the majority of the middle class be able to be debt free, paying cash for homes, cars, college and other large purchases...so as long as you aren't just living paycheck-to paycheck, then don't worry.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I would not let a mortgage or car payment stop us from vacation. Those things are often wiser to finance than pay off or pay in cash because you earn more having the money invested than you are spending on interest. Also, if you aren't paying a mortgage then you are paying rent, so what's the difference?

However, credit card debt would stop me from vacationing, as would not being able to pay for the vacation before taking it.

Aside from those things, I think an 8mth emergency fund, as well as contributing to retirement come before vacations as well.

 

[kjs1976]

throwing together a quick budget trip...was thinking of spring break, but now would have to be that parent that pulls their kid out of school for a trip!

I'm a teacher and I say PULL YOUR KID OUT Of SCHOOL FOR A DISNEY VACATION!!!

Debt situation is under control, pending ankle surgery, meaning you'll be off your feet for a while....JUST DO IT!!!!! I pray that you have a great surgery and a short, easy recovery, but expect the unexpected. Enjoy it now while everyone can and is healthy!!!

 

[frenzy70]

I'm a teacher and I say PULL YOUR KID OUT Of SCHOOL FOR A DISNEY VACATION!!!
Can I have you write my kiddos not to the teacher? Lol

 

[Handbag Lady]

I'd lose exactly 0 minutes of sleep thinking about it if I were you. When do you leave?

Me, too. We've had friends drop dead, my husband had a health scare in his late 20's, and I've had a bad guy put a gun to my head and say that I was going to die.

I don't give a fig about debt and I enjoy my life. I also overpack EVERY.SINGLE.TRIP and pay any and all baggage fees, too.

 

[gardengalB4]

I'd lose exactly 0 minutes of sleep thinking about it if I were you. When do you leave?

Another vote for living for today as my first husband died in our 30's...we never took any large vacations- we were too focused on doing the "right" things....instead of taking magical vacations together and spending time together....we planned on doing those things "later" well, "later" never came.
Life is too short.

 

[FINFAN]

I'd lose exactly 0 minutes of sleep thinking about it if I were you. When do you leave?

reminds of the saying "never saw a hearse pulling a trailer"

 

[Ginny Favers]

I want to thank the people who had the courage to say they follow the "life is too short" principle.

Usually threads like these get choked up by the proud people who have no debt and enough of a nest egg set aside for their grandchildren's children and would never dream of incurring credit card debt. But that's not everyone.

Some people work hard all their life and have nothing at all to show for it when they die except a mountain of money. That's great, if that's what floats your boat. My family members are like that, but I grew up completely sheltered and never went on vacation at all, so I decided that I don't want to be. I want to have vacations and experiences while I'm still young enough to enjoy them.

If I ever have to put a vacation on a credit card, I will, and smile the whole time. To each his or her own.

 

[ronandannette]

I want to thank the people who had the courage to say they follow the "life is too short" principle.

Usually threads like these get choked up by the proud people who have no debt and enough of a nest egg set aside for their grandchildren's children and would never dream of incurring credit card debt. But that's not everyone.

Some people work hard all their life and have nothing at all to show for it when they die except a mountain of money. That's great, if that's what floats your boat. My family members are like that, but I grew up completely sheltered and never went on vacation at all, so I decided that I don't want to be. I want to have vacations and experiences while I'm still young enough to enjoy them.

If I ever have to put a vacation on a credit card, I will, and smile the whole time. To each his or her own.

I often wonder what motivates an OP to ask questions like this one - does anybody else's approach really matter? Financially we did a lot of things "right", a few significant things (in hindsight) wrong and at a certain point it all took a turn that NO ONE could have predicted. I have a lot of compassion for people who truly believe they are in control of their own security. One needs to be pretty grounded spiritually and emotionally to endure the difficulties that can arise.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I want to thank the people who had the courage to say they follow the "life is too short" principle.

Usually threads like these get choked up by the proud people who have no debt and enough of a nest egg set aside for their grandchildren's children and would never dream of incurring credit card debt. But that's not everyone.

Some people work hard all their life and have nothing at all to show for it when they die except a mountain of money. That's great, if that's what floats your boat. My family members are like that, but I grew up completely sheltered and never went on vacation at all, so I decided that I don't want to be. I want to have vacations and experiences while I'm still young enough to enjoy them.

If I ever have to put a vacation on a credit card, I will, and smile the whole time. To each his or her own.

 

[DnA2010]

I often wonder what motivates an OP to ask questions like this one - does anybody else's approach really matter? Financially we did a lot of things "right", a few significant things (in hindsight) wrong and at a certain point it all took a turn that NO ONE could have predicted. I have a lot of compassion for people who truly believe they are in control of their own security. One needs to be pretty grounded spiritually and emotionally to endure the difficulties that can arise.

Indeed, ultimately how we spend our money is our own decision, but just curious what others do to be honest- compared to some Dis'ers we haven't visited the Disney resorts that much, but we def want to make it a regular occurrence like many others around here. However as you mention, things can always take a turn, hence my reluctancy/play it safe sort of feeling. I guess it's also nice to be around people who also value vacation time and understand the value in the money spent, as most of our friends/family are fairly conservative right now.

 

[LuvGoofy6]

Our children are 14-16-19 and it is getting more & more difficult to find common time to take family trips. And I know it won't get easier--so I'm not giving this up.

My only regrets in life were trips I didn't take--one in particular was the family went to Martha's Vineyard and for various reasons we talked ourselves out of it. Never have made it there...

I DO NOT believe in digging into debt to pay for vacations. BUT our first Disney trip my mom paid for as $ was a lot tighter for us then--and we paid her back in installments for the next 18 months, I think. WORTH IT.

Making a decision to take a trip, creating a budget & how to pay for it (even if it involves a bit of debt for a bit) isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I agree! Our daughter is a college sophomore living across the state during the school year and we have a 9th grade son who is involved in sports. Finding common time is extremely hard and I don't want to look back and feel bad because I didn't take the trip that we wanted to take, when we could take it.

I'm a teacher and I say PULL YOUR KID OUT Of SCHOOL FOR A DISNEY VACATION!!!

I'm a teacher and have taken my own kids out of school twice for our Disney vacation.

Another vote for living for today as my first husband died in our 30's...we never took any large vacations- we were too focused on doing the "right" things....instead of taking magical vacations together and spending time together....we planned on doing those things "later" well, "later" never came.
Life is too short.

I lost my own mom when she was too young. I personally know two families who have young children and one person in the family is fighting cancer...one just never knows.

I want to thank the people who had the courage to say they follow the "life is too short" principle.

Usually threads like these get choked up by the proud people who have no debt and enough of a nest egg set aside for their grandchildren's children and would never dream of incurring credit card debt. But that's not everyone.

If I ever have to put a vacation on a credit card, I will, and smile the whole time. To each his or her own.

As a child we camped for our vacations because we live in a beautiful area for camping and it was reasonably priced for us to do so. The memories from our camping trips are wonderful! However, one year my parents took us to Disneyland and we drove halfway across the country in a RV and the trip was financed with a loan. We made many stops on our way and had fun in California. Very worth it to them and I am glad they felt it was worth it because I still smile when I think about that trip. When my mom passed away and the four of us with my dad were talking about memories of my mom that trip came up several times.

 

[Colleen27]

I think far too much is made over the debt/no debt, good debt/bad debt question. What matters is your overall position - are you making your payments, reasonably secure in your income/job, doing well financially? It is possible to be in way over your head in "good" debt, with little left over after paying the mortgage, car note, and student loans. And it is possible to be financially comfortable despite not paying the credit card in full every month. Balance is the key IMO.

Like many other posters on this thread (which I have to say is a refreshing change from the way these threads usually go!), I tend to err on the side of making the most of our time over making the very most of our money. If that means the price I pay for vacationing often during these last few years of having all three of my kids under our roof includes some interest charges that could have been avoided, so be it. I'll have 20+ working years left after the kids start leaving the nest, but only 2.5 more before my oldest graduates from high school and takes on college/work responsibilities that will get in the way of traveling with us. I plan to make the most of that time.