Vacation-Frequency & Budget Questions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Can we get through this without insults please?

We go camping in the summer with my church. The kids like it because they are with their peers, but otherwise we don't enjoy camping as a family. I never did it growing up, I get freaked out in the woods and boredom would sit in really quick. Same with parks. On trips to Williamsburg, we do some of the historical stuff in addition to Busch Gardens, but it's usually not a fun experience for anyone. Museums they'll try if it's something quirky, cool about it, but otherwise, they are bored. This is mainly my older children. The younger ones will find fun wherever, but teens are a bit harder to please. And I'd rather do something we all enjoy rather than spending money on a trip that will leave us all miserable and bored.

Finding vacation destinations that will please everyone in my group usually need to involve an amusement park or great city sights (a la New York) to keep everyone engaged. I envy families who travel with children close in age because it's a lot easier to find similar interests!

I see. All of you sound like brats.

Just go to Disney. Again. Everyone will be much happier.

Did you join this thread just to be insulting?

Not everyone likes being outdoors in nature. I don't. I was born and raised in Washington, DC and didn't even go camping until I was 29 or so. Being outdoors scares me (I always think I'm going to be attacked by bears, snakes, etc). Even still, I tough it out when we go on our annual church trip.

And it's not fun because trying to have a good time while teenagers sulk is NOT fun. I'm guessing you're not the parents of teens, otherwise you'd know what I'm talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make about twice what you do but have a lot of extra costs to deal with, so ... one beach week a year, total cost about $2K, and then a couple of long weekends and one trip to grandparents that involves train fare.

If you are rationalizing trips that cost 10% of your gross income and involve bad financial decisions, you have a problem.

What I'm observing is that you ask the question and then don't like the answers -- did you just want someone to validate your choices? Maybe DCUM isn't the best place for that.

What answers don't I like? I like the feedback so far, but not sure how calling me and/or my children brats for our travel preferences is helpful. What would be the benefit in a trip that does not take into consideration the interests of the group?

[Anonymous]

OP, have you considered beach vacations?

[Anonymous]

HHI is the same and we only have 2 people in our house - my child and me.

If you actually live in the DC area, depend solely on income for support and no trust fund, investments, etc. then I find it impossible to believe that you are actually saving and/or funding retirement and college and still taking lavish vacations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here, I think I need to take more vacations - I didn't realize people spent this much money and time on vacations!!

I don't think you need to spend a lot of money to take great vacations. I'm 10:51. On average, we spend between $1000-$2,000 on each vacation, and my kids have been some great places and had fabulous experiences. Europe, Asia, Africa? No. But certainly not Disney or other amusement parks every single time either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered beach vacations?

OP here. I have and we do (that's actually one of the trips I have planned this summer).

My post was not really about vacation ideas, but rather to get an idea of "typical" vacation budgets to see if we were overdoing it. Was curious if folks took vacations every season or just planned one big trip for the year and called it a day.

[Anonymous]

OP - your HHI is $110 AFTER Taxes & 401k deductions? Or Before?

If your answer is before, do you live mortgage/rent-free or something? Because I can't see how you could be spending $10K on vacations a year with that income & 4 kids!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - your HHI is $110 AFTER Taxes & 401k deductions? Or Before?

If your answer is before, do you live mortgage/rent-free or something? Because I can't see how you could be spending $10K on vacations a year with that income & 4 kids!

Before taxes. We rent (not interested in home ownership) and children are past daycare age, so no costs associated with that. No private schools either.

[Anonymous]

OK I will say it. You are way way overspending on vacations. If you are neglecting other savings priorities in order to do this, then no, you certainly can't afford it. You talk almost like this is out of your control -- it's an "addiction" you got from your dad, your kids hate cheap vacations, what's a girl to do? This is just silly rationalization. You are doing your kids NO favors by spending retirement and/or college savings on fancy trips. Grow up and start being responsible about your spending.

[Anonymous]

PP who spends $20k a year on vacations here. I wouldn't even dream of spending that much if I didn't have a solid emergency fund, wasn't maxing out both of our 401ks completely and saving at least 10% additional annually (through liquid investments, college savings or equity).

If I was not increasing net worth at a regular clip to prepare for the future, I would think that I couldn't afford it at all!

[Anonymous]

I think that your budget is high considering your total HHI and your statement in one post that your don't have a lot in savings, retirement. If that is true, I think you should cut it back and start beefing up savings. You didn't mention college savings. Do you have that squared away--I.E. prepaid tuition or substantial amounts in 529s or both? If not, then I say you really need to cut back a lot.

[Anonymous]

We make about 150k and spend about 2-3k on vacations each year, all family trips. We don't have as much savings as I'd like to be comfortable spending more, but I'd love to take a true vacation each year that didn't involve other family.

[Anonymous]

We have a HHI of 250k. We spend less than $5000 a year on vacations for a family of four.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP who spends $20k a year on vacations here. I wouldn't even dream of spending that much if I didn't have a solid emergency fund, wasn't maxing out both of our 401ks completely and saving at least 10% additional annually (through liquid investments, college savings or equity).

If I was not increasing net worth at a regular clip to prepare for the future, I would think that I couldn't afford it at all!

Yes this. Between DH and I, our HHI is just under $500K. We don't spend what you do on vacations every year. 4 kids. One in college, one in private HS, one in private grade school and one in full time daycare.

First and foremost, we fund our retirements fully through work and the additional 10% that the PP mentioned. They we put away enough to cover the 4 kids current schooling. Then comes the younger 3 kids college contributions. Next is a review of the health of the children--who is going to need SAT prep, braces, etc. Next comes a review of the health of the house--what are the capital expenditures for this year. Then we put away money for the emergency fund. Next we review the health of the cars--major repairs? New tires? Is it time to buy a new one?

Then, after all of that is done, we see what is left. If it's been a good year at work and there aren't too many upcoming expenditures, we will go on a nice family vacation in the range of $10K for the 6 of us for the week. If it's going to be a tough year, we all go to Nags Head for under $3K. And some years, we split the family up...big kids go on vacation or little kids go on vacation. This is how we come up with our vacation money. Some years are better then others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, have you considered beach vacations?

OP here. I have and we do (that's actually one of the trips I have planned this summer).

My post was not really about vacation ideas, but rather to get an idea of "typical" vacation budgets to see if we were overdoing it. Was curious if folks took vacations every season or just planned one big trip for the year and called it a day.

Fine then.

We have the same amount of kids as you.
We have a slightly higher income than you.
From the way you portray it, we have much more invested than you.
We spent about 1/5 of what you spend on vacations, on a more varied type/location of trips.