You have to save for a 3 thousand dollar vacation, right?

[brymolmom]

There is some luck involved too though. We struggled with cancer and then infertility and spent thousands there that others didn't have to to have their children. Now, our son is expected to have Down Syndrome and our days of having vacations may be over. I would just feel like I was being irresponsible spending money to go on vacation when some day we aren't going to be around to provide for him. We did everything 'right' financially but in the end it just isn't going to work out the way we planned.

You might change your mind on this...My nephew has DS and he absolutely LOVES Disneyworld and Mickey. No way I consider it irresponsible for my brother and his wife to save to give him memories like that.

 

[Lucky4me]

I've only read the OP so far. I don't really understand the topic or what you are asking, but....

My advice to you is, unless you are executor of said will and have an updated one sitting in front of you, never, EVER, count on an inheritance.
Stuff happens.
More than it doesn't and an inheritance is never a sure thing.

 

[mrsklamc]

You might change your mind on this...My nephew has DS and he absolutely LOVES Disneyworld and Mickey. No way I consider it irresponsible for my brother and his wife to save to give him memories like that.

There are just way too many unknowns right now. I have a friend whose child has DS, but is relatively healthy otherwise. Over the last few years our insurance has gone from a $500 deductible for a family to a $4500 deductible and paying 20% after that. We'll just have to see how life plays out.

My point is just, it's not always how hard you work or how much you scrimp and save (because we always have.) Sometimes life throws you curve balls.

 

[Liberty Belle]

It's all relative. If you can't find $3k to go on vacation at being just north of six figures, I say you're doing something seriously wrong. Try finding the $100 for the electric bill when you are at half the $100k let alone vacation money.

If I suddenly had $100k income starting in 2014, I'd have my house paid off within the first two years (taking taxes into consideration), pay cash for two 2 year old cars the 3rd year (we keep them forever), my kids' colleges funded the next 3 years, and have about $50k just to play with there on out.

Ditto. And I'm not staring down any inheritances, now or in the future.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I dislike the insinuation that if you can't afford to come up with $3000 right now, you aren't working hard enough.

The majority of this country works hard and can't afford to vacation at Disney.

I have to agree. My husband is working two jobs (about 60-75 hours a week) and while I'm unemployed currently (and desperately searching for a job), in my last position I worked between 50 and 60 hours a week. We did manage to have decent Christmases and send DS on his senior trip to NYC, but no money for Disney.

 

[davedmaine]

Word of advice: planning/hoping for a relative's death in the future is not the way to pay for a Disney vacation today,

 

[davedmaine]

Hey all, So years ago we went to Disney on a 7 day junket with the no expiry tickets and stayed in Moderate, then we had enough days left for Spring Break trip the next year in an off site hotel. The first trip with all the expense I conned my Mom into paying for. The second I paid for myself but no park tickets. The first was an easy 5k if I remember right. Fast forward about 5 years to the present, the Mom in question is going to Grand FLdian with some girlfriends for the first time since I was a kid. She'll have a great time, she'll probably bank roll much of it for them and all is well. I am happy to not be going or my kids or anything. I am glad she's spending her money on her. I wish my Dad and her could both agree to go, but they are always at odds even though they're still married. She's alot to take though and that's a different story. Anywho, I priced out Disney at Poly and Pop Century just for giggles in mid Jan. Kids would miss school, but this is just to see prices. From here in Indy depart on Sunday return on Friday it was 4k for Poly and 3k for Pop. That had Flight and 4 park days in it. I don't have 3k laying around and would never charge that kinda coin. But, Disney is fun and it does make a nice set of memories. I got to thinking about life, money and people with this. Our yearly household is just north of six figures. We have a mortgage, two car payments, Camper payment and storage(less than 200 a month) and all the other phones/cable/inet junk bills everyone else does. People with these stats have to live on budgets, right? You have to save for what you want or buy it on credit and pay someone interest to let you have your experience early. But, two things dawn on me. I have an aunt who supposedly I am the heir to in her will. Her estate will be in the 300k range after tax and such, probably. Lets say that money comes to me next year. Next year my net worth is +300k. I'd probably pay off the house with that, I mean I'm paying 4% already for an asset that IS appreciating again finally. So I'd pay that off and then bam there's 13 hundred a month that I'm banking all of a sudden. Second, I have a friend whose a Anesthesiologist. Great dude, started with nothing. All loans through school, got the grades, got the job, paid them back. Dude has 3 kids and house 200K above mine, but same cars and other bills etc. But this fella is probably 1.5 to 2.5 times more in a paycheck than me. But, really his expenses aren't more than 50 percent more than me. He's making money each month because he's got a better ratio. That's translates into the ability to do the things I want to do at often double or better rate. Okay, I'll cut to the question because I am rambling. My point, I don't have 3k and would have to make a savings plan to reach that. My budget isn't going to magically fix itself and in 3 months I'll have 3k. But, the way it works is that the playing fields aren't even. Some people have inherited wealth and some people have busted their *** to make wealth. These people aren't Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, that's something else completely. These people are either lucky or smart or both! That's how people have 3k for a vacation every year. Their financial life looks different than mine. Doesn't mean I can start improving mine today. Find ways to cut out waste, make my dollars go farther so that I can put 3k down without a hiccup. But, sure would be nice to come into a cushion like 300k. That changes lives on the small scale and makes 3k possible. Am I right?

l
Let me speak for everyone - this is the nuttiest thing I've read on here in a long, long time

 

[SamSam]

l
Let me speak for everyone - this is the nuttiest thing I've read on here in a long, long time

Agree!

Dh and I have never made the 6 figures people talk about, and we still manage yearly trips to WDW in addition to other various trips. What do we do without!?! Nothing that we feel isn't worth doing without to travel.
We don't redecorate every few years, we have a very small clothing budget, we don't eat out very often; in other words our day to day extra's are relatively small.

As everyone else we do have fixed expenses...health insurance, home insurance, car insurance, utilities, etc.

For us, traveling is a priority and we plan for it. We certainly don't count on inheritance!

 

[AquaDame]

Right, but aren't there TONs of people out there running around with money they inherited from family?

I mean doesn't it make sense? Or since most people have kids and more than one then the inheritances get broken up a bunch?

No. This is becoming rarer and rarer in the US I think as standards of living march ever onward. No one I know is getting an inheritance from anyone, and many of us did not receive one dime towards homes or any other luxury. Of two sets of living grandparents my husband and I have not a single one of them will have anything to leave, and none of our relatives are rich either (everything typically goes to their kids even if they were).

Our first trip was $800 (Just DH and myself for 2 nights) and that was paid by our tax return, we typically get $6,000 per year. No saving was needed but then again, the trip was planned so late we didn't have time to save even if we wanted to.

Our second trip (the one coming up in May) is being paid for by selling my MILs house. We are using 3% of that money to take our girls to Disney for the first time ever. The rest will be invested and used to pay off bills. However, if we were to save up for this trip, it would have taken us 3-5 years.

We owe taxes every year despite claiming nothing. Married filing screwed, that's us! Houses have been sold to pay the owner's bills and end of life care, nothing to be had there either.

If you make $100k+, that's about $8400/mo. Let's say your withholding is about 25%, you are taking home $6300/mo.

Just FYI - 100K pops you into a higher tax bracket than that. I WISH we saw anywhere close to that a month!

 

[DWGal210]

This is one very odd thread

Agreed.

I confess I was kinda tuned out when the OP talked about conning Mom into paying for a vacation.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Yeah, I should change this into a Camper vs Disney thread! I actually love my camper. It's small and was less than 10k, I'm paying it off over time because the interest is low and I can write it off in taxes. I've sunk a TON of bills into it though. Lots of car stuff plus the gas.

But, we love it. It's easy and cheap to get away. We've been horseback riding, fishing, mountain biking, etc etc with the boys in the 2 years we've had it.

But, it costs 50 bucks to a month to store because we live in the burbs. That's not fun. And the gas in the truck to haul it is pricey.

All that said, I love laying in bed out at a state park with all the windows open.

Disney is great, but it's the Luxury version of vacation. Our camper couldn't be luxury if you dipped it in gold and I like that!

It's not really a Camper vs. Disney thread but my answer to your question is that is all about choices. For some with very low income, there is not much choice. Your income is high enough that you do have some choices. And there is no other way to look at it than you are choosing to have a camper. Not a bad choice, especially if you enjoy it so much, but if you didn't have it, you'd have that cash for something else like a Disney vacation every year or so.

Your anesthesiologist friend has a higher income but still makes choices with how to spend his money. I work with people who make close to a million a year (I am NOT one of them!) and they still have to make choices.

 

[Here4mydisneyfix]

So my two cents: we live on one income, and it is nowhere near 6 figures. That is a choice we have made so that I can stay at home to homeschool our kids. There are five of us in our family. That being said, we take at LEAST one trip to Disneyland/world every year, with the most trips we've taken in one year totaling four. Although I wouldn't necessarily say that it is "easy," the way that we afford it is by really only buying mostly necessities on a day to day basis. We do not eat out hardly ever, and I don't buy much of any pre-packed food/snack items (this is really mostly for health reasons however). Our cars are paid off, we have do not have cable (don't want it anyway, too much garbage to subject kids too), our kids do the hand-me-down thing, and could care less since that is how we have raised them, and we don't rush out to buy the latest and greatest expensive gadgets on the market. We don't need any of that stuff. To give the extra push for the money we need for our trips, we use a combination of tax returns, and also profits from my selling on ebay. I was able to fund a last minute trip to Disneyworld and a Longboat key resort last February for my husband and myself just by selling on ebay alone. That's plane tickets for two from seattle, disneyworld onsite stay, disneyworld parkhoppers, a rental car, all of our food, and a week stay at the longboat resort.

I think it really just boils down to what is more important to you and your family? Is it lots of new expensive stuff in everyday life, or is lots of amazing family experiences? Most families (unless they DO make a small fortune) cannot afford to "have it all," you know? For us, stuff gets old, but experiences and the memories from them last forever!

 

[MomToOne]

If you make $100k+, that's about $8400/mo. Let's say your withholding is about 25%, you are taking home $6300/mo.

Let's say your monthly expenses are as follows:

$1300 mortgage
$ 800 two car payments at $400 ea
$ 200 camper and storage
$ 200 auto insurance
$ 200 homeowners insurance
$ 150 cell phones
$ 100 cable/internet
$ 200 gas/electric bills
$ 400 gasoline
$ 500 groceries
$ 200 clothing
$ 300 entertainment (dining/movies, sports)
$ 600 tithe
$ 600 savings
$5750 Total Expenses

$6300 income - $5750 expenses = $550/mo discretionary

You may not be able to save $3k in 3mos, but I think you can save it in 6 months.

And send your Aunt a nice Christmas card, maybe a box of chocolates too.

25% withholding is too low - at 100K, depending on your state taxes, local taxes and what kind of deductions you take, just your overall tax rate will generally be closer to 25%. You then also have to add in SSI (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) - at 100K you will not max those out, they are still withheld. Then, in CA, we have another 1% to State Disability.

For every new dollar I get in raises, I see only 57% of it at this point. And that's been true for quite awhile now - you don't have to get close to six figures for that to start happening.

Also - you seem to randomly throw out expenses. $1300 in the area I live won't get me a decent 1 bedroom apartment to rent, let alone a house with property taxes to be paid. As someone else pointed you, you also don't have any sort of medical insurance in there. And $600 a month in savings is pretty trivial if you don't have a pension on the horizon - if you are a 2 adult family, maxing out a Roth IRA each year alone would take more than that. And then there are 401Ks, emergency funds and college funds to be funded as well.

There is so much more to family finances than just the amount of your salary..........................

 

[lauradis]

Confused I am haha Star Wars humor

Do we have 3k + to go to Disney right this minute heck ya, would I no way.

If we where in line to get 300k from dead relative would I spend it before the check cleared, not a snowball chance!

Would I like to have an extra 300k right this min yes would it really "change my life" nope.

Everyone uses money differently.

Money is a choice to me, from how much we make to where we use it. We aren't "stuff" people we are "experience" people.

Bil complained to hubby again about "your going on vacation again" hubby answer was " Laura's good with money and we don't have 4 car payments." In all fairness to bil DH got it wrong, 2 loans, 1 lease , other car is paid for.

Bil and DH have every close to same spendable money every month, we make little more but the more goes into long term savings. We live in same hood, we bought HUD house dumped 15k into it even after the crash we are up by about 50k, bil paid full price, but sold his starter home for large down payment. Barely above water. Way down for what he put into house. Our cars are 13 yr old junker we paid for new, mini van about 3 years old 8 more payments to go.

op that's just the big items they are stuff people everything has to be new, I have shoes and couple sweaters older then their kids. Lol we spend our extra money on experiences, movies, day trips, weekend trips, one long 2 wk vacation a year, sometimes couple of days here and there.

I really don't know what your question was?? But I enjoyed your rambling.

 

[Hisgirl]

Okay, I've read through this thread and have a few comments:

First, it is all relative.

A family in Haiti would look at each and every one of you and say you were stinkin' richer than all get out. And you would be, compared to what they have.

The average US worker makes around 50K give or take. If both work, that is just over 100K. A person making 40K looks at that figure and thinks, they would have all their problems solved if only they had that much. But guess what? When you have more money, you shop at nicer clothing stores, you stay in the nicer hotels, buy nicers cars, walk past store brands at the grocery, etc etc etc....

Our consumption is relative to our income.

The more we make, the more we spend. In fact, we tend to always spend JUST over what we make.


Sure, going to Disney is great, but please for the love of all that is good and holy, do so AFTER fully funding a 401k, Roth IRAS, Individual IRA etc etc.

Most folks end up having to stop work much earlier than expected and with an average inflation of 3% per year, the amount of money we'll need to live for the last 30 years of our lives is MUCH more than what we realize.

If you make over six figures and retire with a paid off house, and want to live off about 75% of your current income in tomorrow's dollars, then plan on having at least two million in a retirement account to add to your social security check. That's right, two million and up.

Please folks...live under your means today so you'll be able to eat, buy your meds and health insurance down the road. And expect your social security check to be 25% smaller than what you're counting on...beginning in about 15-20 years. I have a masters in financial planning and have been counseling families about this for twenty + years and I have never seen such overspending. I think we all need a little bit of simple in our lives.

This is a big big deal. Vacations are great but plan for the future. Drive used cars, shop at thrift stores, use coupons, cut down on the toys, the fancy cable stations, the clubs. It all adds up. You'll thank yourself down the road.

 

[lauradis]

Okay, I've read through this thread and have a few comments:

First, it is all relative.

A family in Haiti would look at each and every one of you and say you were stinkin' richer than all get out. And you would be, compared to what they have.

The average US worker makes around 50K give or take. If both work, that is just over 100K. A person making 40K looks at that figure and thinks, they would have all their problems solved if only they had that much. But guess what? When you have more money, you shop at nicer clothing stores, you stay in the nicer hotels, buy nicers cars, walk past store brands at the grocery, etc etc etc....

Our consumption is relative to our income.

The more we make, the more we spend. In fact, we tend to always spend JUST over what we make.

Sure, going to Disney is great, but please for the love of all that is good and holy, do so AFTER fully funding a 401k, Roth IRAS, Individual IRA etc etc.

Most folks end up having to stop work much earlier than expected and with an average inflation of 3% per year, the amount of money we'll need to live for the last 30 years of our lives is MUCH more than what we realize.

If you make over six figures and retire with a paid off house, and want to live off about 75% of your current income in tomorrow's dollars, then plan on having at least two million in a retirement account to add to your social security check. That's right, two million and up.

Please folks...live under your means today so you'll be able to eat, buy your meds and health insurance down the road. And expect your social security check to be 25% smaller than what you're counting on...beginning in about 15-20 years. I have a masters in financial planning and have been counseling families about this for twenty + years and I have never seen such overspending. I think we all need a little bit of simple in our lives.

This is a big big deal. Vacations are great but plan for the future. Drive used cars, shop at thrift stores, use coupons, cut down on the toys, the fancy cable stations, the clubs. It all adds up. You'll thank yourself down the road.

What if tomorrow never comes?
What if you retire at 60 and die at 67?

Before you go nuts we do all of the above, agree with you, expect "our consumption is relative to our income." the more we make the more we save. except the new car every 10ish years with loan I'm guilty there.

But really what if you save and save for tomorrow, never enjoy some $$$ today.

What's it all for? You have to have some of your wants now.

 

[DVC California]

25% withholding is too low - at 100K, depending on your state taxes, local taxes and what kind of deductions you take, just your overall tax rate will generally be closer to 25%. You then also have to add in SSI (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) - at 100K you will not max those out, they are still withheld. Then, in CA, we have another 1% to State Disability.

For every new dollar I get in raises, I see only 57% of it at this point. And that's been true for quite awhile now - you don't have to get close to six figures for that to start happening.

Also - you seem to randomly throw out expenses. $1300 in the area I live won't get me a decent 1 bedroom apartment to rent, let alone a house with property taxes to be paid. As someone else pointed you, you also don't have any sort of medical insurance in there. And $600 a month in savings is pretty trivial if you don't have a pension on the horizon - if you are a 2 adult family, maxing out a Roth IRA each year alone would take more than that. And then there are 401Ks, emergency funds and college funds to be funded as well.

There is so much more to family finances than just the amount of your salary..........................

I wasn't trying to create a budget for OP but I didn't make up some of these numbers either. OP stated if dear auntie passed on, BAM, $1300/mo would be saved on mortgage.

Yes, $600/mo for savings is low, but it would be approx 10% of their take home, which is sometimes used as a rule of thumb.

*snip*
I got to thinking about life, money and people with this. Our yearly household is just north of six figures. We have a mortgage, two car payments, Camper payment and storage(less than 200 a month) and all the other phones/cable/inet junk bills everyone else does.

*snip*

But, two things dawn on me. I have an aunt who supposedly I am the heir to in her will. Her estate will be in the 300k range after tax and such, probably. Lets say that money comes to me next year. Next year my net worth is +300k. I'd probably pay off the house with that, I mean I'm paying 4% already for an asset that IS appreciating again finally. So I'd pay that off and then bam there's 13 hundred a month that I'm banking all of a sudden.

*snip

 

[DVC California]

What if tomorrow never comes?

Groundhog Day

 

[mrgame101]

What if tomorrow never comes?
What if you retire at 60 and die at 67?

Before you go nuts we do all of the above, agree with you, expect "our consumption is relative to our income." the more we make the more we save. except the new car every 10ish years with loan I'm guilty there.

But really what if you save and save for tomorrow, never enjoy some $$$ today.

What's it all for? You have to have some of your wants now.

That is very well put! Yes saving for the future is important. But you have to live for the moment as well! We do save for the future, but also spend now for experiences. We have a lot crossed off our bucket list by 30. Worked overtime, and did without in other areas to have been able to go to Europe this past summer. Great to say we did it, rather then say I wish we would have!

 

[crisi]

What if tomorrow never comes?
What if you retire at 60 and die at 67?

Before you go nuts we do all of the above, agree with you, expect "our consumption is relative to our income." the more we make the more we save. except the new car every 10ish years with loan I'm guilty there.

But really what if you save and save for tomorrow, never enjoy some $$$ today.

What's it all for? You have to have some of your wants now.

Balance is important - but if you reach 60 to retire and die at 67, you'll probably want more than your social security check - just getting from 60 to 67 will be expensive (specifically since you can't get benefits until 62, and if you take them then they are significantly reduced.)

You could get hit by a truck and die tomorrow, but even if that were to happen, you'd probably want to make sure your spouse and kids (assuming you had them) had something financial left behind - in addition to memories - and most of us live our lives assuming we won't die tomorrow.