Vacations with Debt

[Sagginit]

i think if you are posting you are unsure of how you feel. what is your instinct leading to? i have found my own balance. i tend to save/pay extra towards student loans late winter into spring. i then take one staycation in the summer and a go away one in the fall so i have less to save/pay down loans. sure i could have put an extra 2,000 towards my loans if i had not gone to disney two years in a row, but it was something i wanted to do while my mother was young and had the time off from work/money to do it with me. but just to be clear, i paid for it in cash and had skipped vacations for the previous two years because i could not afford to pay cash for them and did not feel putting it on my CC and struggling to pay it off would make me happy in the long run. if you will be happy without the vacation and can live without one then i would pay the debt. if you will feel deprived, like you are missing a tradition, like you are missing magical moments with your child that will not be there next year, then perhaps you should go. in the end its about balance. some people can achieve this by going bare bones for a few years, paying off debt, and then living it up. others wind up miserable and need to just take it a little slower to maintain sanity.

 

[ccgirl]

This seems to come up a lot. And I see all ends of the spectrums from the Dave Ramsey NO DEBT folks to the Disney even if they do not have a job

So my question is do you think it is ok or would you to Disney or any other vacation if you had any credit card debt.

Assuming:

Great retirement plans for both spouses
Some savings
Debt less then $5000 managable payments
Good rates on all debt and well within families means in secure positions with marketable skills and education.

Vacation would be paid in full from cash and would be less then amount to be fully debt free. Vacation is discounted and while it has lots of perks bugeting will limit finaicial impact.

So would you see this as okay or do you think it is foolish?

Absolutely. Otherwise we would never go. However, we also pay more than the minimum required on the credit card. We are very much a live by the moment. Tomorrow is not a given, it is a gift and that is how my family chooses to live.

Quite honestly, we have debt that would probably shock most posters on this board. Credit card, two car loans, student loans etc. I'm not going to stop enjoying life just because I have debt. However, I realize some people aren't able to do that.

 

[mombrontrent]

Yes I agree, it depends on the intrest rate. We just went to Disney in May. We do have 2 car loans we are paying off at very low intrest rates but we will pay these off well before the term ends. When we extra cash we usually place it on our debt. We have no credit card debt as I pay off my CC EVERY MONTH . I would never pay those high intrest rates. It I didn't have enough to cover it one month, I'd use my line of credit to pay off the CC as that carries a MUCH lower intrest rate. So I will take a trip if I owe no money on CC or line of credit, mortgage and low intrest car loans I will take a trip. I'd rather spend that vacation money paying off the CC if I were you because really it's costing you more and more each month that you are not paying iot down. Why not put that money on your CC and stop throwing your money away to intrest. It's NEVER a good idea to pay the minimum payments on anything, even my mortgage I double up on payments when I can.

 

[nrpofp]

OP, I have learned a few things during my tenure on the DIS....

The DIS population seems to have lots of rich folks with hundreds of thousands of dollars in various types of savings

The DIS population seems to have a lot of wealthy people who never make bad financial choices or splurge

The DIS population seems to be made up primarily of people who never take a vacation if they have any debt

The DIS population seems to be primarily made up of perfect people who never make mistakes, break a rule, or do any wrong

The DIS population seems to consist of many people who feel entitled to everything, including being entitled... to being entitled

Its like everyone who is wealthy, perfect and debt free flocked to the DIS and made their own little community. Therefore....

The DIS population does not represent me or my household.

If you can afford a vacation then YOU know it. Not someone on a message board who may or may not be from the advice giving background they claim. If people waited until they had no debt to take a vacation, travel services and tourist locations would be non-existent because there would be no one to bring in revenue.

Sharing your household finances here will only bring out the Desperate Housewife types who would scold you for going on vacation if you owed $10 on a bill that wasn't even due yet.

Take your vacation and enjoy it while others sit here and bicker back and forth about why you shouldn't.

That is so well said, and sums up these boards perfectly. We have some debt, but our assets our more than our debts. We have good paying jobs, and manage our finances the way we feel works for us. We do always pay cash for vacation, but we don't cancel a vacation everytime some unexpected expense happens. If you feel you can afford a vacation then go.

 

[SaraJayne]

And to answer the OP's question:

I'm sorry, but the $5K CC debt would be a deal-breaker for me. Other debt (mortgages, car loans, student loans) don't get on my nerves as much as CC debt does. I think it's because I've seen a couple of my siblings allow CCs to ruin them financially (more than once for one brother!).

I wouldn't be able to comfortably vacation knowing that I had that hanging over my head. If I had extra cash, it would go towards paying off those CCs before it would go towards a vacation, no matter how good the deal was. I know that there are a lot of people who don't feel the same way (see above posts). But that's the way I feel about the subject.

I agree with you. Put the money you were going to spend on vacation toward the credit card debt. You'll have a zero balance that much sooner.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

This seems to come up a lot. And I see all ends of the spectrums from the Dave Ramsey NO DEBT folks to the Disney even if they do not have a job

So my question is do you think it is ok or would you to Disney or any other vacation if you had any credit card debt.

Assuming:

Great retirement plans for both spouses
Some savings
Debt less then $5000 managable payments
Good rates on all debt and well within families means in secure positions with marketable skills and education.

Vacation would be paid in full from cash and would be less then amount to be fully debt free. Vacation is discounted and while it has lots of perks bugeting will limit finaicial impact.

So would you see this as okay or do you think it is foolish?

Were you serious or is this just to stir up the "let me tell you how to live your life posters"?

At least we have entertainment today!

 

[Planogirl]

My suggestion is to do what feels right to YOU. What other people believe doesn't really matter one bit. You have to live with yourself and they don't.

In my case, I think that it's fine to take a vacation as long as you don't add debt. Note that I said nothing about already existing debt.

 

[jm-mom]

OP-Very easy answer, pay off the credit card, build up your emergency fund then go on vacation. Disney World is a wonderful experience and a great way to make memories with your kids but it's not the ONLY way. More than anything, kids want their parents time and attention. Special, lifelong memories can be made without doing so on a vacation that you can't afford just now. I guarantee when they are grown and they talk about their childhood, their relationship with mom and dad will come up first before their trip to Disney. My advice, work on the debt this year, plan some special days at home with the kids, and reevaluate next year. For what it's worth, we fall into the category of no credit card debt, paying it off every month, and have a year's worth of expenses banked. If we weren't in that position we would not take a vacation.

 

[puffkin]

Take the vacation! It really sounds like you have everything under control and as long as you aren't adding to the CC debt to do it and are sticking with a good financial plan, you should be fine!

I went to a funeral a few years ago and they read this really great poem about your life being the dash between the birth and death years. It was actually quite powerful...and now one of my favorite sayings is that I am "living my dash". You can have all the money in the world (and no debt) and but what is the point if you aren't actually living your dash?

My parents never had the money to take us on vacations. They were always focused on having no debt, saving for retirement, etc. Now my parents are in an excellent financial position and you know what they regret most? That they didn't do more with us when we were kids. It really came to light when my younger brother died in a car accident at age 17 and they realized he had NEVER been on a real vacation. Life is just too short and my parents won't make that mistake with their grandchildren.

We too have taken vacations at questionable financial times. But we have always been on budget with our bills and had a plan to pay down any type of debt. We have also been working hard to build our savings. We also make so many sacrifices in other areas of our life because vacations are a priority to us. Go on your vacation and enjoy

 

[Zhoen]

Either that is a standard thing at a lot of funerals, or we know each other... the funeral you went to wasn't hear in Maryland, was it?

(I think it's more likely just a great idea that's making the rounds...)

 

[GinnyEmma]

I agree. There is a happy medium. Throwing caution to the wind isn't a healthy kid environment if there are unexpected financial problem, but one wants to make sure to enjoy them too. Not that a vacation is the only way to do so.

 

[Cherinva]

I would say that it's your decision. I do go to Disney with debt...however, as I am overpaying and reducing the debt, I am also saving money for a future trip to Disney...so that when it's time for the trip, everything is paid in full, including airfare and spending funds.

 

[DisneyCrazyMomma]

We are simultaneously paying off our cards now and saving for a Disney trip next year. Whether the cards are paid off or not, and certainly without paying off the cars, or the house we're going. My princesses will only be little once.

Yes! Some of us, if we waited until we were debt free.. and/or didn't use credit cards, we would never get to go on vacation or do anything. I think that when my child is grown and gone, that will be a bigger regret for me than whether or not I had 5 or 10k in credit card debt.

I agree with you. Put the money you were going to spend on vacation toward the credit card debt. You'll have a zero balance that much sooner.

In a perfect world, sure. But for most people... well, see above. I am not directing this at you SaraJayne, but a lot of people who are shocked at the idea of going on vacation with debt have never been in a debt situation. They don't really know what they would do if they actually had to make the choice they are telling you to make.

I'm not saying rack it up and fly off with no regard to money, but it's not the end of the world to carry a reasonable amount of debt. Unfortunately, it's life for a lot of people. And we have to live life, right?

 

[angierae]

If I had credit card debt (which I don't, but I don't think I'm "better than other people", we just made a choice a few years ago when we paid off our cards with my FIL's life insurance that we wouldn't carry a balance again after that) but I had a plan to pay them off (and thus was paying more than minimums), then yes, I would vacation.

If I were struggling to make minimum payments, then I would not.

But that's just me. We all have different goals. I have student loans I'm paying off, I'm sure there are plenty of people who say I shouldn't spend thousands of dollars to go to Disney, I should pay off my loans. However, DD is going to be 17 next year and I'm running out of time for family vacations. (Yes, you can vacation with your adult children, but it's a totally different thing.)

Once we get past that trip I will be throwing money at my loans and saving up for my 40th birthday trip to Hawaii, which will be in 2015, hopefully.

 

[Natalie's Mommy]

We don't carry credit card debt. The card gets paid off every month--period. If taking a vacation meant we carried a credit card balance--we'd stay home.

Any credit card balances get paid off prior to each vacation. Usually, the only thing on the card is vacation prep (flights, hotel, tickets, etc.).

Having credit debt for any other reason means you're living outside your means, in my eyes.

this is me right here! i HATE having credit card debt because it means that you're spending too much, and adding a vacation to that would just be plain dumb! of couse im sure there are extremem exceptions to this, but as a general rule of thumb if you NEED To use credit cards to pay for the stuff you need (or you're buying too many WANTS) you should first get yourself back at 0 and then re-prioritize your spending to include a vacation budget into the mix!

 

[ccgirl]

Take the vacation! It really sounds like you have everything under control and as long as you aren't adding to the CC debt to do it and are sticking with a good financial plan, you should be fine!

I went to a funeral a few years ago and they read this really great poem about your life being the dash between the birth and death years. It was actually quite powerful...and now one of my favorite sayings is that I am "living my dash". You can have all the money in the world (and no debt) and but what is the point if you aren't actually living your dash?

My parents never had the money to take us on vacations. They were always focused on having no debt, saving for retirement, etc. Now my parents are in an excellent financial position and you know what they regret most? That they didn't do more with us when we were kids. It really came to light when my younger brother died in a car accident at age 17 and they realized he had NEVER been on a real vacation. Life is just too short and my parents won't make that mistake with their grandchildren.

We too have taken vacations at questionable financial times. But we have always been on budget with our bills and had a plan to pay down any type of debt. We have also been working hard to build our savings. We also make so many sacrifices in other areas of our life because vacations are a priority to us. Go on your vacation and enjoy

This, exactly. If you are not struggling to put food on the table or pay the bills, I really don't see a problem with going. Unfortunately, life happens sometimes and some of us get into debt a little more than we would like to. As I said, I don't stop living (vacationing) while in debt. I still plug away at it but we still go on vacation.

The way I look at it, debt is debt.

 

[Pakey]

I would not. We've always been fiscally conservative; we did not take extravagant vacations when our children were growing up because we didn't believe we could afford it. We took simple vacations and made our memories that way. My children are adults now, 2 of the 3 have children of their own. They do not carry lifelong scars from having had to forego WDW or other elaborate vacations during their childhood and we have many amazing memories that didn't cost us a lot of money. I'm 55 and my husband and I have never had any type of debt other than our home and that debt, too, has been gone for some time now. It wasn't always easy to stay that course but at my age now, I certainly do not regret that we did it this way.

In the end, if you can go to bed at night and not lay there stressing over your decisions or regretting prior decisions, you have made the right choice for yourself.

 

[furb & dez]

Funny that a response about how judgmental Disers are is the most judgmental response in the thread. It's also funny that people cry "judgmental" when others disagree with their pov.

I never understand these types of responses. This a discussion board about budgeting so, of course, financial questions will come up. It's an active board because people are willing to respond.

This is an interesting observation. One thing I've noticed on this site (DIS) specifically, are lots of people with very thin skin. In the DLR forums, there are people with such poor arguing skills that their method of "persuasion" is to simply repeat themselves, as if it were "oh, we didn't hear you the first four times, now I understand and completely agree you!" Then of course, when it's obvious their "stellar persuasion skills" aren't working, they resort to simply calling whomever disagrees with them a troll. Precious (and immature), no?

Since this particular forum is about money, there will always be vastly different viewpoints presented, and all with intense opinions (it's money!).

If you (I'm referring to the general "you", of course) don't want to hear someone's opinion, don't ask! If you do want to hear others' advice, then be gracious (and mature) enough to listen and consider, even if you ultimately decide to discount it.

If you only want to hear opinions that agree with you... well, stick to bullying your family into agreeing with you (or... grow up).

 

[GinnyEmma]

Lol, my ds17 uses that same argument. Then accuses us of not listening if we don't agree.

 

[Minnesota!]

Yes, I would. I wouldn't do it often enough to get deeper into debt, but I wouldn't put my life off in order to save money. You can scrimp and eat beans and never do anything, but that still doesn't mean you're guaranteed a tomorrow.

After losing many people in my life very suddenly...I no longer "wait for the perfect time". I do things when I want. Go...have fun.

Yes! Some of us, if we waited until we were debt free.. and/or didn't use credit cards, we would never get to go on vacation or do anything. I think that when my child is grown and gone, that will be a bigger regret for me than whether or not I had 5 or 10k in credit card debt.

In a perfect world, sure. But for most people... well, see above. I am not directing this at you SaraJayne, but a lot of people who are shocked at the idea of going on vacation with debt have never been in a debt situation. They don't really know what they would do if they actually had to make the choice they are telling you to make.

I'm not saying rack it up and fly off with no regard to money, but it's not the end of the world to carry a reasonable amount of debt. Unfortunately, it's life for a lot of people. And we have to live life, right?

OP - go! We went once when we literally had 500 to our name. No savings, nothing. WE paid for the trip with our tax return. Sure...that $3000 could have paid off a few bills, but we chose the trip. And we survived....

You only go round once in this world...enjoy it. Those that die with the most money....still die.