S/O: average family vacation: 3% of your HHI?

[Anonymous]

Apparently the average family vacation costs approximately 3% of a family's yearly income. I don't know if that is one vacation per year, or the aggregate...or if that holds true in this area. But it did make me start thinking. We take 3 vacations as a family annualy (yeah, we like our vacations), and it comes out to more than the 3% of our HHI ($15k).

So, does this hold true for you? Or are you way over/under?

[Anonymous]

that is WAY WAY WAY over what we spend, but as I get older I wished that I had actually spent 5% annually on our vacations instead of slaving away at a job I hate.

[Anonymous]

Our HHI is $170K and we spend about $4K a year on vacations.

[Anonymous]

We haven't gone on a family vacation since 2008. DC and I have gone on vacation together twice in the last two years and spent about $1,000 each time. We are going as a family for a week next month and spending $1,500.

I am hoping to do a 3% vacation in 2013 but that money may go to a new a/c.

[Anonymous]

I guess it depends on your math. Our family vacations add up to about 14 days per year, which represents about 4% of the year. We're probably right around 3%-5% since we're driving to relatives' homes and going to the supermarket, which isn't so different from the other 96% of the year.

[Anonymous]

I think that's about right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess it depends on your math. Our family vacations add up to about 14 days per year, which represents about 4% of the year. We're probably right around 3%-5% since we're driving to relatives' homes and going to the supermarket, which isn't so different from the other 96% of the year.

3% of your annual Household income. The actual days don't figure into the calculation, just the dollars. So it could be one very expensive weekend, or lots of cheap vacations at friends/relatives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $170K and we spend about $4K a year on vacations.

So you're spending less. How many people, and where? I'm curious, airfare alone would kill that amount for us.

[Anonymous]

Yes...we spend approx. 3% of our annual income on vacations...that is all vacations total. Most years we will take one "big vacation" plus two or three "long weekend" types...the total cost for all of them would equal about 3%

[Anonymous]

is the 3% pre or post tax?

[Anonymous]

Makes sense, I suppose. our HHI is around 300K, this year it looks like we will spend around $5500 on vacations, but our figure is a bit low since my parents have a beach house in Bethany and we often go there for long weekends for free.

[Anonymous]

Wow, we should be taking more vacations. A lot more.

[Anonymous]

That sounds about right for us. We make about $150,000 and take two $1500 vacations plus probably another $1000 in long weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $170K and we spend about $4K a year on vacations.

So you're spending less. How many people, and where? I'm curious, airfare alone would kill that amount for us.

Four people.

In the summer we do one week at a family camp - $2K. Sometimes we do five days at the beach as well, another ~$1K (condo rental). I then added another $1K for weekends here and there. Some years it might be $5K, but really, never more than that (and sometimes less if all we do in a given summer is family camp).

We do driving vacations. Our kids are getting older, though, and we plan to use some savings to do bigger-ticket-type vacations in the next several years - I want one trip abroad (possibly two), and one to the West Coast or Hawaii.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess it depends on your math. Our family vacations add up to about 14 days per year, which represents about 4% of the year. We're probably right around 3%-5% since we're driving to relatives' homes and going to the supermarket, which isn't so different from the other 96% of the year.

Yeah, but you forgot a few things. (1) taxes, (2) savings, and (3) school. You spend way less than that on an average day, because of these three things.