WDW with credit card debt?

[Ginny Favers]

Us, too. Life is SHORT. My dad is only 61 and will most likely not see 62 (damn cancer). I'm not wasting the best years of my life, when I'm healthy, my kids are still little and so on because I value money and finances more. Memories are worth more to me.

Me, too. My parents are not like that. They saved like crazy and I never went anywhere or did anything. They financed my education (as long as I went to the less expensive, nearby state school they wanted). As a result, when I met my husband I was completely sheltered and there was so much about the world I didn't know. It was definitely a re-awakening, and since then I've travelled and lived as much as I can. Those experiences fuel my work (I'm a writer), whereas I don't have very much to write about from the first 17 years of my life.

My children are the perfect age for enjoying Disney right now. I want them to have as many experiences and memories as they can get. Maybe it will fuel THEIR work someday. So if that means going on vacation while having a little bit of credit card debt, as long as I'm making my payments, then so be it.

 

[nunzia]

At this point in my life, it's a different answer than twenty years ago, or ten, or ten years from now. And I think the posters who talked about comfort levels have a good point.

For me, it's how much security do I have a how much do I need. In my world, I need more with kids at home, more as I get closer to retirement, and more if my or my husbands job isn't secure. I need less as retirement and college are better funded, less when the kids leave home, and less when I feel secure in my work. I feel more secure when my assets far outweigh my debts, and when that is the case, a little credit card debt because I'm tied up in the market may be a trade I take...and when my debts are greater than my assets, and growing, less secure.

I agree, as long as your aren't defaulting, or relying on public assistance, it's a personal question.

Agree with this also..As I've said in many posts, people can and should do whatever they want and/or feel comfortable with as long as they aren't infringing on others financially. When the kids were young we did have CC debt and did take vacations and I have not one bit of regret. Time is not on our side..we always lived frugally (my kids still remember eating out was going to McDonalds and getting $1 hamburgers, then stopping by a grocery store that had a 25 cent soda machine out front for the drinks. My daughter was appalled when she married a guy who actually bought an entire meal that wasn't a happy meal at a fast food restaurant). For us, balance is the key..I want as much as I can reasonably put away for future use, but also enough for now to enjoy some things.. Our only debt is the house and just recently we have started going out about once a week for dinner with friends..what an extravagance! If you are doing DR he won't support any big expense until everything is paid off,unless I guess you save a ton in your fun money envelope.

 

[crisi]

My uncle kept waiting for retirement but passed away before he had a chance to do anything.

I have one in his 70s whose wife is in her 70s and they both still NEED to work. They still live beyond their means and simply can't afford to retire - something they'd really looked forward to.

(It doesn't help that he was self employed and under reported his income for his entire career, he doesn't qualify for much social security).

I think the key here is balance, to me, I do need to enjoy today, but I also need to save for tomorrow. If I'm carrying credit card debt consistantly, that makes that second part really tough.

 

[MrsPete]

You're not asking the right question. You can't look at just vacations and ask whether you can/can't afford them with debt. Why? Because you can't look at any one portion of your budget without considering every other portion.

What matters most to you? Do you want a super-nice house? Or car? Buy it, but don't complain when you can't afford to go out to dinner. Do you feel better about yourself if you can have new clothes on a regular basis? Then buy them, but don't whine when you're still working and your friends are retiring. Do you want to be sure you can retire at a reasonable age and live comfortably? Save, but don't complain that others have more luxuries now.

Decide what matters to you. But since your money probably won't allow you to have everything that you want, be prepared to do without whatever you rank as a lower priority.


For my family, we've always placed a premium on financial security, which includes being able to send the kids to college and being able to retire. We do live in "less house" than most of our friends and don't spend as much on consumer items. However, with a child heading to college in the fall, it feels wonderful to know that we can write a check for her entire bill, and it isn't even a sacrafice. Also, I'm not burned out at my job, but I can see it from where I'm standing -- I'm glad to know that I have 10 more years to work, and I can retire comfortably. If I knew I had to work 'til I'm 70 or older, I would be very depressed.

 

[goof4ever]

I enjoy listening to Dave Ramsey and dream of the day that I will be debt free, BUT it would be years before I could vacation at Disney World if I had to wait for certain financial conditions to be in place. I am a single parent to DD who will be 9 in May. I enjoy our trips to Disney and will continue to go as often as I can. Children grow up too fast and making lifetime memories with her outweighs all other rules.

 

[nunzia]

Your kids are only young once! I would not have denied DD the opportunity of experiencing WDW as a child. Fortunately we don't have CC debt and can still take nice vacations, but not everyone is as fortunate. They need to decide for themselves if it is worth the cost and risk to take a vacation.

On a side note, I don't understand parents' desire to fully pay for their children's education. To me that creates a bigger sense of entitlement than any vacation would. Now if my DD was able to go to college, I'd love to help her out, but she would get loans to pay for the rest.

I agree with this..I have seen far too many kids of my peers go to school on the parents hard earned dimes and just not respect the education or experience. Many weren't even ready to go to college emotionally and just did since it was expected and it was a way to not have to face the grown up world yet..and here are these unuseable degrees in Theater Make-Up and Interior Design sitting around with big struggles from the parents and still no plan from the kids. Things that are a bit of a struggle mean more. I helped out when I could with some things..blown transmission, etc., but for the most part the 2 of my kids who went to college worked, studied hard, applied for scholarships and grants, lived small and went to colleges that didn't charge insane amounts, and both came out with manageable school loans..one is a labor/delivery nurse and the other is a graphic artist..I think they both are stronger more focused people having had to handle how they would get their higher education. The third child is a police officer and he's the type that never had an interest in college and has done fine without us pushing him to attend one just for the sake of having a degree. Not everyone needs to go to college and those who do should maybe focus on not getting degrees in what are essentially hobbies. Just my opinon..back to cc debt and trips

 

[Nayan]

I don't feel travel is something everyone "deserves." I do believe time off and recreation with their family is a need, but there are less expensive ways to do that than travel. I have never been in very much debt, but I have had quite a few times in my life where travel wasn't an option financially. However, we've always taken time for family.

I agree with this. Vacation, time-off, mental health days, etc. doesn't have to be Disney, Hawaii or any other expensive locale. We've had quite a bit of fun and relaxing times locally. I would never, however, go on vacation without money in my emergency fund. I had a leak under the foundation of the house and it cost just under $600 to fix it. Without the emergency fund we would have had to charge it and I hate having to charge anything, let alone paying interest.

 

[Sugar Jones]

I have one in his 70s whose wife is in her 70s and they both still NEED to work. They still live beyond their means and simply can't afford to retire - something they'd really looked forward to.

(It doesn't help that he was self employed and under reported his income for his entire career, he doesn't qualify for much social security).

I think the key here is balance, to me, I do need to enjoy today, but I also need to save for tomorrow. If I'm carrying credit card debt consistantly, that makes that second part really tough.

I agree. It's a balance you need to find. I do have cc debt, but I will also not have to work when I'm 70 because we have a retirement plan in place and our home will be paid for in the next 7 years.

My parents sound like your uncle. They are 66 & 61 and they still have a mortgage on the house they built 38 years ago. My dad is retired, but my mom has to work in order for them to make ends meet. They really RRSP's or anything like that. My dad has a pension through his union and that's it. It's scary.

As for paying for kids schooling. My parents didn't contribute to any of our educations. It worked out fine for us kids. However we do have RESP's and savings for our kids. We probably won't have enough to cover everything they need, but we will have something to help them out.

 

[ilovemk76]

What does Gail say about Tithing 10%? From which pool do you take that from?

Life

 

[DAD21]

We believe in total financial responsibility. It may not be glamorous but it makes life more comfortable. We have never had debt (don't believe in paying interest) except for a 15 yr.mortgage and that will be paid off this June 3 yrs. early. Cars, vacations or any other frivolous things are paid in cash. 401 k maxed out and with college fund maxed out. It"s not for everyone, I understand, but it works for us.

 

[bettymae1121]

dh and I have a long term plan to pay off debt. inexpensive vacations ($1500 or less) are a part of that, usually those vacations also involve visiting family. In '10 we went to my brother's weding and then went to DLR for a few days. Last year we went to WDW for 5 nights on free dining. This year we are driving to PA so my MIL can meet her first grandchild. Due to free airfare and some other travel perks I get, all those trips have been $1500 or less for two adults (the upcomming trip should be less than $500 for two adults and an infant).

Yes, the vacation money would pay off the debt a bit faster, but we are looking for balance in our lives.

 

[hsmamato2]

well, due to mine and Dh's differing opinions on money..we would NEVER go on a vacation if we had cc debt. Or,according to DH,if we don't have a comfortable savings for emergency,etc funds in place. He has a constant worry about losing his job,so I have to respect that worry. I wanted to do an inexpensive 'night in the city,2 days of fun' sort of getaway last month,it would have cost us 25.00 for a room in NYC. He said "NO!" flat out. We were paying something we owed,he had to take a forced week off work (no jobs available) and our emergency fund wasn''t full. I was annoyed,but he was right.
Instead, we just plugged along,as usual,I budgeted carefully,and we managed a couple of 'family fun days' closer to home this past month.
So,no trips for us till we get our 'stuff' in proper order.....

 

[SaraJayne]

dh and I have a long term plan to pay off debt. inexpensive vacations ($1500 or less) are a part of that, usually those vacations also involve visiting family. In '10 we went to my brother's weding and then went to DLR for a few days. Last year we went to WDW for 5 nights on free dining. This year we are driving to PA so my MIL can meet her first grandchild. Due to free airfare and some other travel perks I get, all those trips have been $1500 or less for two adults (the upcomming trip should be less than $500 for two adults and an infant).

Yes, the vacation money would pay off the debt a bit faster, but we are looking for balance in our lives.

I agree with you. Balance is the key.

I heard this song yesterday and thought of this thread. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12SOiGWJiwc

Unfortunately for DH, he didn't learn the lesson until after his father passed away.

 

[descovy]

Everything in moderation...

I think if you are on the right path and working towards getting out of debt, a moderate vacation may be fine. I know for my dh, he works damn hard, and needs time to unwind.

Disney may not fit the bill for that, but a $100 hotel a day's drive away, may do the job. And it won't ruin your progress.

What defines vacation? We live 2500 miles away from extended family. For a family of 5, that costs a minimum of $3000, just to visit the grandparents. (airfare, cheap car rental, sleeping on couches, pay our way without really splurging on anything)

We go back every 2 years. One year we do a "regular vacation" the next we go back and visit family. I can't imagine if my kids NEVER saw a set of g'parents because I have some cc debt.

For us, we manage our cc debt, everything is on 0% cards. We set aside $300/mo in an ING account for vacation. And we do something once a year. Maybe it's back home to visit. Maybe it's a roadtrip to the beach. We've only done Disney once, (kids were 4, 6, 8) and it was the perfect time... not too young, not too old for a once in a lifetime vacation. We want to do DC when the kids are 11, 13, 15. We will do it debt or no debt because that's a perfect age to take them. In the meantime, it's state trips & church camp balanced with trips to see extended family.

Everything in moderation...

 

[sukhakuli]

I have one in his 70s whose wife is in her 70s and they both still NEED to work. They still live beyond their means and simply can't afford to retire - something they'd really looked forward to.

(It doesn't help that he was self employed and under reported his income for his entire career, he doesn't qualify for much social security).

I think the key here is balance, to me, I do need to enjoy today, but I also need to save for tomorrow. If I'm carrying credit card debt consistantly, that makes that second part really tough.

I agree with balance. But you also can't tell the future. My dad had a large retirement fund, a home paid off, and land that he was going to build on, a successful business, but then he got cancer in his mid 50's, and had to stop working due to chemo treatments and surgery. His health insurance costs him a lot, and doesn't pay as much as he needs on his medical expenses, so all of the money he saved for has gone to medical expenses. He's now living on disability and has tons of debt. Every penny that he gets goes to medical bills. He had to cash out the last of his mutual fund last month. If he'd had better health insurance, then he would be doing fine. But cancer is very expensive. We're very lucky to have health insurance through the military that pays for everything, and even after dh retires our medical costs will be very low. Maybe instead of saving for retirement, people need to put more in to better health insurance. I don't see any financial gurus talking about that. Chemo treatments are almost 100,000 per treatment, and dad goes every other week. Plus he has had multiple surgeries, and is on a ton of medication.

So, you can do everything right, and still end up destitute in the end. You just don't know. I do know, though, that the memories that my dad has of better days are keeping him going every day.

But I do believe that if you are drowning in debt, then you should not add to it by taking a vacation you don't need. But for people who are able to pay all their bills, and have a small cc balance, maybe a car payment and so on, a reasonable vacation is not the end all be all.

 

[ValpoCory]

dh and I have a long term plan to pay off debt. inexpensive vacations ($1500 or less) are a part of that, usually those vacations also involve visiting family. In '10 we went to my brother's weding and then went to DLR for a few days. Last year we went to WDW for 5 nights on free dining. This year we are driving to PA so my MIL can meet her first grandchild. Due to free airfare and some other travel perks I get, all those trips have been $1500 or less for two adults (the upcomming trip should be less than $500 for two adults and an infant).

Yes, the vacation money would pay off the debt a bit faster, but we are looking for balance in our lives.

Nice to have free airfare and no kids to pay for. That would sure make Disney vacations cheaper.

 

[Colleen27]

Maybe instead of saving for retirement, people need to put more in to better health insurance. I don't see any financial gurus talking about that. C

They aren't talking about that because it isn't the relatively easy fix that avoiding/paying down consumer debt is. It isn't as simple as a behavior change and often times people don't know that they're underinsured until they are facing a major medical issue, at which point it is too late to shop for better coverage (assuming that was even an option to begin with - for many people it is the employer's plan or nothing because individual coverage is so expensive).

 

[ValpoCory]

I agree with you. Balance is the key.

I heard this song yesterday and thought of this thread. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12SOiGWJiwc

Unfortunately for DH, he didn't learn the lesson until after his father passed away.

Thanks for the song. When I got married and later had kids, I gave up a lot of things I used to spend my time on. Sometimes I long to be able to consistently play 18 holes again or regularly sign up for adult sports leagues. But songs like that reinforce that the priorities I now have, spending time with my family every night, are where they need to be.

And a bonus, my kids are just getting to that age where they are getting interested in things in which I used to regularly partake. I have started taking my daughter golfing. It's fun for us and I have no guilt, and get no grief from my wife, for abandoning my family for 6 hours.

 

[SaraJayne]

Thanks for the song. When I got married and later had kids, I gave up a lot of things I used to spend my time on. Sometimes I long to be able to consistently play 18 holes again or regularly sign up for adult sports leagues. But songs like that reinforce that the priorities I now have, spending time with my family every night, are where they need to be.

And a bonus, my kids are just getting to that age where they are getting interested in things in which I used to regularly partake. I have started taking my daughter golfing. It's fun for us and I have no guilt, and get no grief from my wife, for abandoning my family for 6 hours.

I don't want to give the impression that I believe giving up *everything* for your family is a good thing, either. Balance.

Time enjoying hobbies and friends (for both Mom and Dad) is a great thing and makes us better partners and parents. Personal time is important for everyone.

 

[disykat]

And I don't get people who don't. To me, if you value vacations over paying for your kids college education, why shouldn't they value vacations and other luxuries more than getting one. Kids pick up more from your behavior on priorities than from what you say.

Now, I think you should save for your retirement first. And feed your family. But for me, I'd skip every vacation we've ever had if I couldn't save for four years worth of state school at the same time. My parents did and raised three kids without entitlement issues.

Me too! My parents lived "below their means" so they could put three kids through college, we're doing the same for our two kids. Actually I think we are living within our means rather than below it by staying out of debt - whether it be consumer or school debt.

I realize there are many people who can't afford to help their children with school. However, I'm continually amazed at how many people I meet with nicer homes, more vacations, better cars, etc. and what seems to be a similar or higher income than ours say they can't afford to help their kids.

My kids started working summers as soon as they could so they have some skin in the game. They may have to take out some small loans. But DH and I plan on doing our darndest to help them get through as easily as possible. We've told them what we can afford, we've discussed what any loans they take will look like after school. They know that our help is contingent upon their good judgement, it's not a "free" ride. (For example they know that using their money to go on a Spring Break while we're skipping vacations for their tuition money wouldn't fly! They also know we expect passing grades, no dropping out of classes,etc.)