Where do lower to middle class families go on vacation for the summer?

[Anonymous]

Myrtle Beach.
camping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Myrtle Beach.
camping.

We have friends that go to those Jellystone campgrounds and they look like a lot of fun. There's also a cabin resort in WV -- I want to say near Bruceton Mills -- it looks beautiful.
Also ACE Mtn. Resort in WV. camping and lots of outdoor activities.

[Anonymous]

Beaches.

Most locals have relatives with beach homes from years ago when they were dirt cheap.

[Anonymous]

We rented crappy but waterfront cottages on a Great Lake. I never felt less-than. Swimming, bonfires, grilling out.
Great views and an escape from the every day. Saved money by not eating out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Camping, closest beaches, theme parks (smaller ones like Six Flags, Hershey and Lake Compounce, not Disney)

This.
Plus stay with family or friends.
We are UMC, but come from MC. We invite cousins to stay with use, enjoy our pool, they go to local amusement park that we get discounted tickets for.

[Anonymous]

We’re DC middle income, which I guess is high for a lot. We take pretty good trips. A little bit international, cruise, OBX, New England, parks out West…etc. Nothing extravagant, but nice. There is a trade off, we have a small house, drive older cars and live somewhat modestly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Especially in this area. And I mean middle class not UMC. Not “I make 200k plus but I feel middle class.” Even some of the beaches DCUM sneers at can be pricey. Are people going into debt to afford it?

Our HHI is just above 200k and we go to someone of the places mentioned here that are lower to middle class. I don't understand how so many people can afford vacations to Caribbean, Europe, etc.

We go to Europe or Asia every year. HHI 140k and 4 people.
In the past few years flights have been cheap, we would pay around $2k for all four of us to get to Europe. Then we get the smallest Airbnb that we can fit into, which is another $700 - 2,000 per week depending on the destination. It was certainly cheaper than my friend’s Disney vacations.

I have a SIL who is on the very bottom end of middle class and she somehow saves money and takes her kids to Disney every two or three years.

[Anonymous]

My husband was raised low income-lower middle and he basically never went on vacation unless it was to stay with family. His parents get upset that we don’t spend all our free time with them but there’s very little to do at their home; they are disabled live a sedentary life. A weekend is more than enough time.

Many people who are maybe a little higher income but still lower/middle I’ve heard goto obx or camping in my area but of course this is all generalizations!!

If you are lower-lower middle income where I now live in VA, it’s almost unheard of to travel Much farther than obx or the smoky mountains or wv. A lot of people I’ve met do not connect with the idea of traveling across the country or abroad for fun which was much more the norm growing up in arlington.

[Anonymous]

Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Block Island, Maine,

[Anonymous]

Visit family and then do touristy things from their homes every other day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband was raised low income-lower middle and he basically never went on vacation unless it was to stay with family. His parents get upset that we don’t spend all our free time with them but there’s very little to do at their home; they are disabled live a sedentary life. A weekend is more than enough time.

Many people who are maybe a little higher income but still lower/middle I’ve heard goto obx or camping in my area but of course this is all generalizations!!

If you are lower-lower middle income where I now live in VA, it’s almost unheard of to travel Much farther than obx or the smoky mountains or wv. A lot of people I’ve met do not connect with the idea of traveling across the country or abroad for fun which was much more the norm growing up in arlington.

Much more the norm is you are UMC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the single mom who can’t save and saw our trip as a “waste”. You’re right.

A person with a closed mindset probably would never be able to do this.

I really didn’t talk about my savings plan and how I made it happen, so that plays a lot into it. Also there are many sacrifices that some people would never be able to make that enabled me to save.

Here are a few (but not all):

1. Cut the cable cord. Annual savings = $1,200
2. Reduced afterschool time to 3 days per week . Annual savings = $900
3. Use money that would have been spent on camps = 200x2 kids x3 weeks = $1,200
4. WiFi share with a neighbor (PayPal a neighbor $25 a month)
5. Worked very little part time (less than 10 hours a week) making $50-$100 per week driving Uber = $2500
6. Drove a used hybrid (so no car payment )

Maybe the single mom was rude in her tone, but do we know she is getting cable? Assuming her kid is old enough to be out of daycare, afterschool care is probably not negotiable. Camps???? Childcare while driving Uber? May already have a used car but still car payment. You realize its really expensive to live in this area, even on $75k???

There are many more suggestions but just those four is 3100 bucks.

Most times in life it’s not a matter of can’t do; it’s a matter of wont do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disney. They up for that special occasion.

Disney is way to expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re DC middle income, which I guess is high for a lot. We take pretty good trips. A little bit international, cruise, OBX, New England, parks out West…etc. Nothing extravagant, but nice. There is a trade off, we have a small house, drive older cars and live somewhat modestly.

What is DC middle income?

[Anonymous]

Myrtle Beach