What vacation $$ amount makes you squirm?

[peainapod]

Everyone has different incomes and a different amount they can spend on vacations. That's okay. I doubt many people on the budget board are missing mortgage payments to go on vacation.

I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. Let's be honest... probably 75% of people spending a lot on vacations are putting it on their charge cards. I prefer to pay cash and spend less

 

[JAMIESMITH]

I have spent $3500 on a WDW vacation, but I am much more comfortable with $2000-2500. We seem to only go on vacation once every two years.

 

[wallawallakids]

I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. Let's be honest... probably 75% of people spending a lot on vacations are putting it on their charge cards. I prefer to pay cash and spend less

75% seems high. I am assuming most on the budget boards do not charge their vacations.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

And I want your mortgage. 12K would only be about 7 months for us. And we put 1/2 down on our house, so we're lower than most others in the area. Taxes here make the monthly payment almost double.

But I would not spend 12K on a trip. We seem to average about 4K and anything past 5K would make me nervous.

To be fair, we pay our taxes and insurance separate from our mortgage. Our annual taxes are equivalent to about 3 payments, insurance about 1.5 payments.

 

[littleelf]

75% seems high. I am assuming most on the budget boards do not charge their vacations.

When you say "charge their vacations" I think you are implying charging without paying off right away? Of course I charge my vacations--usually I can get 5% off that way, using hotel rewards, etc. Then I pay the bill when it comes. I imagine a lot of people here do that. That's why anything over 4-5K for a vacation makes me squirm--after that point, I wouldn't be sure I could pay it off right away. But if I stay in that range or less, I can pay it as soon as the credit card comes.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

75% seems high. I am assuming most on the budget boards do not charge their vacations.

I would assume the bulk do charge, but would not assume they always pay interest on the charge.

 

[wallawallakids]

I would assume the bulk do charge, but would not assume they always pay interest on the charge.

I do not think that peainapod's statement was in reference to using a credit card and paying it off immediately. It appeared to be more about those using credit cards to pay for vacations that they can not afford. Of course, JMO and I could be completely misunderstanding their statement.

I agree with you. Most on the budget board probably do put it on a credit card and immediately pay it off. That is what I do as well. I don't consider it "charging it" though. As I pay online prior to my bill even arriving and to me, that is the same as paying "cash".

 

[Marionnette]

I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. Let's be honest... probably 75% of people spending a lot on vacations are putting it on their charge cards. I prefer to pay cash and spend less

Go ahead and believe that if it gets you through the day. I prefer to think that the people who spend very little on their vacations tend to do so because they have other areas in their life where they are more inclined to spend their money.

From a personal standpoint, we have no mortgage or debt of any kind. We don't put anything on a credit card that cannot be paid for at the time we charge the item. And that's why we have the cash available to take spendy vacations. We don't pay interest. We collect it! We also have a well above-average income. But even among our peers, we tend to spend more on travel. It just happens to be where we place our priorities.

 

[mrsklamc]

Rather than having credit cards, I would guess it's that most on the DIS have higher than average incomes.

EDIT: Or live in a higher COL area, or have retired their mortgage.

 

[KaLyn]

$12k would be 22+ mortgage payments for me

It's 21 payments for us!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. Let's be honest... probably 75% of people spending a lot on vacations are putting it on their charge cards. I prefer to pay cash and spend less

No we do not put anything on credit cards. We plan 9-12 months or more out and we pay off what we can in advance (with cash) then I shave off other costs (nonprepaids such as gas and hotels) where I can. Shrug. Seems like these threads always go in this direction. Not sure why, jealousy?

Kind of crazy that people are scoffing other people's vacation budgets without knowing anything else about the person. Informal polls on the dis about income show there is a middle or higher income range on this board. Obviously this is not the down and out how to stretch noodles 17 ways for a weeks meals type of "budget" board.

 

[peainapod]

No we do not put anything on credit cards. We plan 9-12 months or more out and we pay off what we can in advance (with cash) then I shave off other costs (nonprepaids such as gas and hotels) where I can. Shrug. Seems like these threads always go in this direction. Not sure why, jealousy?

Kind of crazy that people are scoffing other people's vacation budgets without knowing anything else about the person. Informal polls on the dis about income show there is a middle or higher income range on this board. Obviously this is not the down and out how to stretch noodles 17 ways for a weeks meals type of "budget" board.

How is saying 12,000 is a lot for a vacation scoffing? That is an opinion...Everyone is entitled to an opinion.

 

[peainapod]

Go ahead and believe that if it gets you through the day. I prefer to think that the people who spend very little on their vacations tend to do so because they have other areas in their life where they are more inclined to spend their money.

From a personal standpoint, we have no mortgage or debt of any kind. We don't put anything on a credit card that cannot be paid for at the time we charge the item. And that's why we have the cash available to take spendy vacations. We don't pay interest. We collect it! We also have a well above-average income. But even among our peers, we tend to spend more on travel. It just happens to be where we place our priorities.

I very rarely see anyone pay cash when they are on vacation. I was talking about the population in America and not necessarily people on this board. I think it is around 50% of Americans are in credit card debt and 10% have 10K or more in CC debt (I could be wrong on these figures). So often you see people charging things and going on big vacations they cannot afford. If you don't have money to pay that trip off right when the bills comes, then I personally don't think you can "afford" that vacation. That is what I was talking about.

 

[Colleen27]

Rather than having credit cards, I would guess it's that most on the DIS have higher than average incomes.

EDIT: Or live in a higher COL area, or have retired their mortgage.

And are, by virtue of spending their free time on a travel board, probably more likely than the population as a whole to prioritize travel as a spending category. I know that's the case for us. We're not high income, but travel comes immediately after essentials and the kids' schooling on our list of spending priorities, and we spend much less than others in our income bracket on some things (cars, furniture, TVs, dining out, etc) because we'd rather spend those dollars traveling.

 

[Colleen27]

I very rarely see anyone pay cash when they are on vacation. I was talking about the population in America and not necessarily people on this board. I think it is around 50% of Americans are in credit card debt and 10% have 10K or more in CC debt (I could be wrong on these figures). So often you see people charging things and going on big vacations they cannot afford. If you don't have money to pay that trip off right when the bills comes, then I personally don't think you can "afford" that vacation. That is what I was talking about.

Paying with plastic doesn't mean being in debt, though. I think a lot of people shy away from carrying much cash these days, and a lot of travel elements either require or prefer credit over debit (car rentals, some hotels/resorts, etc). So of course you're going to see most people paying with credit. What you don't know is what happens when the bill comes.

The last statistics I saw put the percentage of American households carrying a credit card balance at around 45%, and of those I'll bet many are at the lower end of the income scale and using credit cards for car repairs, higher-than-expected energy bills, and other essentials when income falls short. The average debt amounts are pretty shocking to me, though - we could max out both our cards and still not get to the $15K or so that is the average debt among households that do carry a balance.

 

[married2mm]

I know people who have no money worries whatsoever,and live their lives very miserly.
I also know people who don't have a great income,or savings and spend,spend,spend.

We fall into neither of those extremes.
We choose (as a pp stated) at this time in our lives,to fully enjoy,and spend on our vacations.

Our first trip to wdw,I honestly thought would be our one and only.

However,we've had our dreams come true several times now-and our August trip will be number 12.

We're not middle class,or high earners,or frivolous.
We don't live a lavish lifestyle,we choose to spend on vacations.
The cost of our flights alone are more than most have posted are their total expenditure!

When our children were younger,there were no vacations.

Then there were trips in the UK,progressing to European destinations.
Any time we spend together,whether at home or away is precious,and we're thankful everyday.

 

[AliceandAriel]

For me it's anything over 5K for our family of four. Once we start getting above 6K, I begin to think thoughts like "we could buy a CAR for that amount of money!" (not a great car, but at least something that would run!!). Luckily, we've been able to stay under that thus far, but we do want to do an Alaskan cruise here in a couple of years, and I know that's going to cost us. Even if we can afford it-- over 5K seems like a huge chunk of change to drop in a week or two. Anyone else have a vacation $$ amount that makes them squirm?

Once I see $4,000 I get a little hesitant. To me, that's a ton of money. Most of our WDW trips have come around $2,000-$2,500 or less; including airfare, food, on-site hotels, tickets, and more.

Of course, I did just see what a 7-night stay at the Poly would run me, and nearly felt my heart stop seeing the numbers. Maybe if I hit the lottery, or win a vacation to Disney...

 

[wreckdiva]

On a single trip(me, DH and DD7), around $2500 is my squirmy point. Depending upon where and when. WDW with free dining for a week around $2k is perfect for us(we like the Mod's). But if we added up all the lake trips, weekend getaways, etc....Oh I don't even want to think about it!!!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I'm on the opposite end of things - absolutely shocked at some of the low numbers. It seems like we're at $1000 just to GET anywhere worth going these days! I know part of that is that we seldom if ever have enough time for road trips so anywhere further than a day's drive entails flying, but still... $2K seems so low for a family vacation! I consider myself pretty good at budgeting and bargain hunting but only short and/or close to home vacations have ever made it in that cheaply for our family.

You have to budget every aspect of the trip to make it work.

low cost travel
low cost entertainment
low cost food
low cost lodging
and if necessary, reduced length to the trip

Most people (us included) would blow the budget somewhere if it were up to us, sometimes on every aspect of the trip

One of the cheapest trips we've taken as a family was Wisconsin Dells. That CAN be a very expensive destination, but for us:

*DW found a mid-week sale at Great Wolf Lodge
*We only stayed 3 nights
*We ate in the room every breakfast and most suppers
*Only bought waterpark tickets outside GWL 1 day, did free stuff the others
*8-hour car ride (1 tank of gas each way) with no overnight hotels along the way

Branson is so-so on lodging costs and entertainment is expensive, but for us travel is cheap (4 hours by car), and because it's close we don't feel a need to stay long.

Our favorite beach destination is cheap travel, cheap food, and FREE entertainment. But if we go in Summer, the lodging blows the budget (we had planned to go over New Years and it was going to be $91 a night vs $230 per night in June). Still, while we'd like 5 nights, we can live with 4 to cut costs. Even with 5 nights, that gives us a weekend on each end to drive and still have 9 consecutive days off while using just 5 vacation days.

Disney was tougher because entertainment costs by themselves (tickets) are as high as an entire vacation at some other places we've been. Then you throw in expensive lodging (if you stay on site) and expensive food (if you eat on site) and now you've just blown the budget in 3 categories and you're not even THERE yet. To add insult to injury, Disney makes the end of the ticket cheaper than the beginning, so you're sucked into a longer trip meaning you pay for even more expensive lodging and expensive meals

Our road trip this past Summer was cheap on travel, cheap on entertainment, and pretty cheap on lodging. But, we totally blew the budget on food since we weren't able to do any cooking. And we weren't eating out of a cooler for a week.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Our first trip to wdw,I honestly thought would be our one and only.

However,we've had our dreams come true several times now-and our August trip will be number 12.

Got their hooks into ya, didn't they?