What percentage of income do you spend on vacation?

[Minnesota!]

just did the math and we save 6.6% of our gross income in a vacation account.

 

[WIDisneyFan]

for us it is right around 4% to 5% depending on the year

 

[ccgirl]

Great question. I have never figured out the actual % (until now) but I seem to be right around 4%. That usually includes 3 vacations, 1 of them being to WDW. We have timeshares so that helps keep the price down.

 

[Mom2Ben02]

5.46%

That is in actual numbers - but we have saved for the trip for several years, to in actuality, it is prob abt 1 - 2% annually.

 

[Leshaface]

We're probably in the 3-4% range..

Pakey, I think that's awesome! One day me and my hubby will do the same thing!

 

[starry_solo]

5-10% of the net. I try to save between that from each paycheck so that at the end of the year, I can plan a vacation for the following year

WDW - May 2012!

 

[Katy Belle]

Our 2011 budget has us spending about 3.5% on vacation. That is a 8 day trip to CA and a 4 day trip to Dallas.

We just moved back to the usa, so our vacations, and our income have dropped! I dont know what % we were spending then, but im guessing it was higher.

 

[disneyofcourse]

Under 4% with after tax money.

 

[elbodans]

so...i just did the math for last year, and we were at 15%. that's of our take-home, after-everything-is-deducted pay. we went a little crazy last year--multiple long weekend trips to local cities, a week in vegas, a month in europe, and a disney convention trip...we did all of these things VERY cheaply given what they were, but it all adds up. our budget for this year works out to be more around 6%, though i could see it going up as high as 8-10%.

but then again, vacations are practically sacred to us, and aren't you supposed to tithe 10%?

 

[fakereadhed]

Around 2%, including smaller local trips. Never thought of %, just know the $ amt. May be higher for our next trip since airfare has gone up.

 

[disneyfreakk]

We average about 6% net.

 

[SunnieRN]

Gross: around 2.25%

Net: Around 3.4%

Interesting, as I have always been a dollar and cents figurer.

 

[homedad]

about 5 percent, we go up north every year, disney every other year, a ski trip every year and a dive trip without the kids the last 3 years

 

[Kat&Dom]

Typically, it is about 5% although, 2010 was a big vacation year and was 9% (we did 2 WDW trips - one 8 day, one 6 day, 10 days in Hawaii and 1 week at Fairmont Hot Springs) so 4 awesome vacations!

I think in the future that our vacation budget will take a huge hit to it from my son playing hockey and all the costs of travel associated with it.

 

[Colleen27]

We spend quite a big chunk of our total income - 15-25% depending on the year - but we've structured our lives around being able to do so. But remember that percentages are all subjective; our 25% as a one income blue collar family is probably less than some posters' 5%.

 

[lisaross]

on average about 4% BUT some years might be 2% others 6% or so..

we always have the money saved b4 we go!

 

[lisaross]

BUT, when my kids were young we never did big vacations - perhaps a few weekend getaways a couple of times a year!

We started doing bigger/longer vacations when my younger son was 4 1/2! i think we keep spending more and more as the kids get older and can really remember enjoy them!

on average about 4% BUT some years might be 2% others 6% or so..

we always have the money saved b4 we go!

 

[dvcgirl]

We spend quite a big chunk of our total income - 15-25% depending on the year - but we've structured our lives around being able to do so. But remember that percentages are all subjective; our 25% as a one income blue collar family is probably less than some posters' 5%.

But I think I remember you saying in other posts that your home is paid for....right? I only want to point that out to others because spending 25% on vacations isn't possible (and it shouldn't be...lol), for most people.

A good way to look at overall percentages for your financial life is laid out in "All Your Worth" by Elizabeth Warren.

She lays out these percentages and says that if you're falling outside of these parameters for too long that you'll find it tough to find financial success.

50% of your income should go to "Must Haves". "Must Haves" are housing, food, clothing, transportation, insurance.

30% to "wants"....which includes all discretionary spending, and that would include eating out and vacations.

20% to savings......15% of which should go to retirement savings and 5% to other long term savings goals like college or something similar.

Anyway, I like to bring this up from time to time when someone brings up appropriate percentages.

 

[Ava]

We're not in a place financially to do yearly vacations. Sure, we COULD, but it would mean putting it on a credit card & for "unnecessary" stuff like a vacation, we'd prefer to pay in cash.

So I've been saving up for 2 years for our mediocre little trip coming up in October. It's kind of sad, but it is what it is at this point in our lives.

Speaking numbers, it's about 6% of DH's yearly salary. But I've been saving for 2 years for it, so I suppose that works out to be 3%.

We're in the same position. Our trip coming up in May will be our first vacation (aside from visiting family, which I don't count since it's almost free) since 2008. The total trip cost is about 8% of my yearly salary, but we've been saving for it for 2 years.

Although, so far I haven't spent any of my regular income on the trip; it's all extra money from things like selling on eBay, focus groups, gifts, rewards sites, etc. I've also got my tax refund as "back up" in case I'm short when the trip rolls around.

 

[Colleen27]

But I think I remember you saying in other posts that your home is paid for....right? I only want to point that out to others because spending 25% on vacations isn't possible (and it shouldn't be...lol), for most people.

A good way to look at overall percentages for your financial life is laid out in "All Your Worth" by Elizabeth Warren.

She lays out these percentages and says that if you're falling outside of these parameters for too long that you'll find it tough to find financial success.

50% of your income should go to "Must Haves". "Must Haves" are housing, food, clothing, transportation, insurance.

30% to "wants"....which includes all discretionary spending, and that would include eating out and vacations.

20% to savings......15% of which should go to retirement savings and 5% to other long term savings goals like college or something similar.

Anyway, I like to bring this up from time to time when someone brings up appropriate percentages.

Yep, that's a big part of what I had in mind when I was talking about structuring our lives to be able to travel the way we do. Our home is paid off and we live very modestly day-to-day. We devote 30-40% of our income (depending on the year - with DH self-employed our income varies) to living expenses, including the discretionary comforts like cable, cell phones, and such as well as expected purchases like replacing worn out/outgrown clothing and routing home/appliance issues.

Also, because of where we live our travel category includes things that are just day trips for most suburban families. We take a lot of weekend trips over the course of a year because the "local" zoo, science center, art museum, pro sports teams, Renaissance Festival, concert venues, etc. are all 1.5-2+ hours away. So instead of just going for a day that is spent half in the car we get a room in the city for a night or two and make a mini-trip out of it.