How do people afford the countless vacations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why I don't post anything like this on Facebook. If it's not going to make the people who see it feel good about themselves (and it's not), why would I post it?

That's dumb. I don't think about making ppl feel good about themselves re: social media posts.

I agree with the poster above who said she doesn't post her vacations on Facebook. I also intentionally do not post our vacation photos on Facebook because it seems like bragging. I have a few Facebook friends who post constantly about their exotic vacations with their kids. I don't envy them, but I do feel bad because I know several Facebook friends who are struggling with money right now (due to divorce in most cases), and it would probably make them feel worse to know that so many people are out there having wonderful vacations while they must stay home over spring break.

Our HHI is about $350K and we have 3 kids. We are in our mid-40's. Maybe I am on a high from having just returned from a spring break trip (and perhaps it's because I work full time), but we really love vacationing and it is worth it to us to have that wonderful quality time with our kids. We still max out our 401(k)s, and save for college. Our mortgage is $2500, our house is small, and our kitchen and bathrooms are not updated -- from the 1980's.

Our kids are ages 14, 11 and 6, and they are at ages where they are so fun to travel with! (When they were ages 1-5, I would almost rather just stay home.)

I also enjoy "bargain shopping" for travel, and there are a lot of ways to find bargains if you're willing to put in a little time in the planning (which is actually fun for me).

When I read the post above about Alzheimer's disease, I thought the poster was going to say that you should enjoy your life and see the world while your mind is good, rather than that you should save for your care in your elderly years.

Like many posters above, I do know many people (at least in Bethesda where we live) who have parents with a vacation home that they and the grandchildren can go for a vacation. Or the grandparents spring for a vacation rental, while the "kids" buy their own airline tix. We happen to enjoy going on vacation with my parents and in-laws, and do vacation with them (but each family pays its own way -- no grandparent subsidy.)

OP -- if you don't like to fly, how about just traveling by car or train? I haven't entirely loved visiting the Outer Banks, for example, but tons of people in the DC area really recommend it. Renting a beach house for a week at a beach to which you can drive is pretty affordable. Or you could do a city trip to NYC? Or Boston? Or even drive to Florida?

There's a big world out there to explore. At least for me, the change of scenery is very energizing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I look at my friends on Facebook and some of them seem to be constantly on vacation. Every year they might take three trips away. My cousin sends pictures of her family in California, the Caribbean, Florida, always with a beautiful scene in the background.
We might do that every other year or so.
Our HHI is over 400k, but between saving for college and paying the mortgage of about 4k a month, we feel that we just aren't secure enough to take fancy trips. Sadly, the last trip, the most expensive we've done, was a weather flop! Also, I have flight anxiety, so there is some reluctance on my part. But logistically and financially, we don't feel set enough to do that.
We out earn these people that I am comparing myself to, maybe they are good at getting deals?

I think you likely have plenty of money to travel - but you don't "feel" secure enough to spend it. Everyone has their own tolerance level for spending and yours seems low. That's fine - but realize other people may feel more comfortable spending.

I think between your anxiety with flying, your low tolerance for spending, and that travel isn't a priority, you are letting your FB friends making you feel inadequate. It's just not your lifestyle and don't force it. There are other ways to have experiences with your kids thst fit more within your comfort zone. Travel has always been a priority for me way before I even had a spouse and kids. Even with having littke money in college, i found ways to travel. We are probably those people who youd think are aways on vacation. We go about 5 weeks a year but I never post on FB. I have a few select people that I talk to about it. Kids colleges are mostly funded, we have mo car payments and only use an amex card. Mortgage is 2300 a month. We didn't up size because we wanted travel money. Priorities.

[Anonymous]

There is something off about your budget op. We make around 500k and save at least 85k for retirement, 50k for general, 45 k for college and spend 30-35k on vacations. Shrug.

[Anonymous]

all of our flights are free due to CC miles. And we usually stay in AirBnBs or VRBOs...not only for room but also because we save money by having 1-2 meals a day at the condo and aren't spending it at a restaurant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If one of the parents travels for work, they could have miles they can use for trips.

+1
This. Most of the families I know who take multiple vacations a year are using miles and points from their extensive work travel.

This is how my family traveled when I was growing up and also how we do now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I sometimes wonder the same thing as you. I think it's a combination of taking advantage of work trips (if one parent is traveling to a conference in an interesting location, the whole family goes) and paying less for housing. All our friends who travel a lot live in small apartments. Also, looking at Facebook it may seem like everyone is on vacation all the time because it allows you to keep up with a lot of people. So at any given time several of your friends are probably on vacation, but each individual family may only be taking 1-2 trips a year.

Not OP but I would say the average UMC family in DC that I come across vacations 3-4 times a year and usually includes at least one big international trip.

[Anonymous]

We make about 250k, have a 3500k mortgage, save for retirement and college, and travel twice a year with a budget of about 10k for both. At least one of our annual vacations is a driving vacation and for hotels we use points from our credit card, which we use to pay for everything (and then pay off every month), or we do airbnb. Every other year we fly somewhere grand like California or Europe and I start looking early for deals on plane tickets. There are so many great places you can drive to from here, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We take 2-3 week long trips a year on $300k, but I know the people OP is talking about. It's the types of destinations - Disney Cruise, Beaches, Atlantis, Hawaii, etc. Trips at are $10-12k per week. Our trips are $5-6k/week and we feel like that is a lot and constantly wonder how people spend so much more.

+ 1

I know many people like this. They must spend 30-40k a year on travel. I really wonder how they can afford that on incomes that must be in the 200-400k range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have plenty of friends (grown adults in their 30's) with parents who pay for their many vacations. "Let's all go to Disney!" courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa.

Having free vacations sounds wonderful in theory, but sharing all my time off with my parents? ...*shudder*

LOL. Well I got the short end of that stick. We pay our own way AND vacation with my parents. We enjoy it immensely though! Love spending time with my parents on vacation. What I hate is wasting my annual leave visiting my inlaws in their own house and not doing anything.

My stick is shorter - we took a Disney cruise with my in-laws and we paid their way.

Eeek. Disney cruises are pricey too. We just booked a 4 night one to the Bahamas for 5 people for the week following next Easter. $7k something and that is before the 2 nights at a Disney hotel and 2 days at the MK and airefare. It'll be well over 10k all in. LOL.

That's nothing to laugh at. Absurd actually. Instead of a fake $$$ trip like that, you could go so many other places.

It's one of those laugh so you don't cry scenarios In all honestly I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time. Kids are young and at the perfect age for Disney. It is expensive though. Probably the only the we'll do a Disney cruise. I wanted to try it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make about 250k, have a 3500k mortgage, save for retirement and college, and travel twice a year with a budget of about 10k for both. At least one of our annual vacations is a driving vacation and for hotels we use points from our credit card, which we use to pay for everything (and then pay off every month), or we do airbnb. Every other year we fly somewhere grand like California or Europe and I start looking early for deals on plane tickets. There are so many great places you can drive to from here, though.

How much goes to college and retirement each month?

[Anonymous]

Am I the only one who finds these vacations to be a lot of effort and hassle? I love being with my family, but jeez it's a lot of work.

[Anonymous]

As others have said it's about priorities. Some of the people who do expensive vacations now are going to end up telling their kids they have to take out huge loans for college or attend state school because they don't have enough saved up.

[Anonymous]

1. FB is full of lies, just ignore it. You can't post your investment portfolio on FB (well, you could but I'm not gonna)

I always think it's funny when people set up a dichotomy with in consumer spending (granite counter tops not Disney, travel not new furniture)

But there is a third option. Don't spend it, save it. We try really hard to save as much as we can. People must think we are barely scraping by, but my husband is going to retire by 45. So I guess that's our status symbol?

[Anonymous]

My husband travels every quarter for work and I just got a job where I travel every quarter for work, so the next vacation we take should be free air fair for us and our two kids (airline miles). Maybe even free hotel. Then in the summer we go to my in-laws beach house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are probably not saving for the future the way you are. When it comes time to send the kids to college, they'll be looking for financial aid or upset that they can't afford the schools their kids worked so hard to get in to. And then there's retirement. You can't take out loans for retirement, so if you haven't saved enough, it could be a rocky road.

OP, don't worry about other people. You are the smart one because you are being responsible in preparing for your future. The bonus is that you will be able to sleep at night because you will not have the financial worries that others who have spent freely will have.

I would rather have my kids go to a reasonably priced state school and have vacations with my family than save it all for an overpriced school that charges $65,000 a year.