Where do lower to middle class families go on vacation for the summer?
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Anonymous
You're amazing! Please start an AMA thread or post more ideas! |
Anonymous
Single mom with one kid and there is no way possible that in one year I could save up and waste that kind of money on a vacation while living here in the DC area on $75K. It's completely unrealistic. After a couple years, I am lucky if my vacation budget is $300. |
Anonymous
| Grew up LMC- the answer is you don’t. Never went on vacation growing up. I survived- had a very happy childhood- but I travel a lot as an adult! |
Anonymous
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CAMPING IS NOT CHEAP
Yes, I am yelling it because I am sick and tired of people saying this. Renting a cabin in any campground area - yes, even state parks - in driving distance from the DMV area - think under 4.5 hrs - costs the same as staying in a lower end hotel. It is by no means a cheap vacation. So stop that nonsense please! Almost all campgrounds impose minimums on cabins. A weekend needs to be at least 2 or 3 nights and during the summer it's usually 5-7 day rental. Even the most bare bones cabins start at $50 a night. And that's just lodging and doesn't cover the cost of everything else. Camping in a tent is somewhat cheaper but that assumes you can borrow a tent and all supplies such as outdoor sleeping bags and sleeping pads. If not, there will be some cost out of pocket to purchase. One cost that I know people will not think of is the additional laundry cost after returning home from camping. Running several extra loads can up bills for some people and when you are a tight budget, yes, even that $5-$10 will matter. And while it's nice to say that one can borrow, or buy used equipment, another issue that us lower middle class families deal with is less time and flexibility to do those things. After working 40-50 hours a week, often commuting 45 -1.5 hrs bc many of us live farther out, taking care of the kids, and doing housework and then running around for errands, there is much less time. Believe it or not, sometimes the delivery fee for grocery delivery is even out of my budget. Yes, that's right even $10 might be too much. So looking for equipment or buying used requires a few emails, coordination to drive over and pick up the items, and so on. Yes, again, this is really taxing when you are already have no breathing room. In addition, to all the above activities, you are constantly stressed and worried about finances and you labor over spending that $10 for a used sleeping bag you might only possibly get to use once. After years and years, the lowest cost vacation we have ever been able to swing for 3 people - 2 adults, one kid - was $700 for a 2 nights/3 days in OC at the very end of the season in the lowest budget motel. This included everything from gas, to grocery store food, to eating out once a day (bc it's vacation and believe it or not I wanted a break from cooking!), and a trip to the boardwalk. |
Anonymous
| We don’t going on vacation every year. When we do, it has been Myrtle Beach. It is cheaper than the Maryland and Virginia beaches. The drive is long, but the savings are worth it. We used to go the third week of August because the prices seemed to drop a little since it was the week school started in SC. Haven’t been able to do that since FCPS started going back to school in August. |
Anonymous
If you commit to camping as vacation it is cheap. You buy a cheap tent $100 or less and waterproof it often. Air mattress $30 and not necessary. Campstove is also a nice luxury. Sleeping bags are also not a necessity. The rest of it (cooking gear, etc) you build up over time from your own house or yard sales. While its true some campsites are expensive theres are also free and low cost state run campgrounds. You use the same grocery budget as you would at home. You go on your regular days off from work. You drink the same cheap beer or whatever. And then you spend literally every moment of vacation at the campground or some free attraction nearby if it exists. The quality of family time is exceptional. I will give you the laundry expense, but that alone probably wont break the bank. However, you do have to be the sort to enjoy the great outdoors. Some people really cannot. |
Anonymous
| When we arrived to DC DH and I made 45k. From then until now we still visit family and do day trips at the beach. I refuse to do camping! |
Anonymous
You should amend this to camping can be cheap or camping can be expensive. It’s all in how you do it. Most camping families I grew up with had hand-me-down equipment and would buy a little here and there over time. They brought things like sandwiches, hot dogs, and chili for food. Very, very cheap. I also know a bunch of families now, including mine, that buy more expensive equipment and not needed, but nice to have extras like fancy tents or sleeping pads, and that adds up. But again, the equipment should last for years, so many consider it a good investment. |
Anonymous
I was going to say the same thing. You can buy a pretty decent tent at Walmart for between $60 and $100. Use you old kitchen pots and pans for cooking. Just coat them with dish soap before you put them over the fire. Or, cook all of your food in the fire in tin foil packets. Or, hit up yard sales and thrift shops. We usually use regular sheets and blankets instead of sleeping bags. But, when my kids were small, they had those kid character sleeping bags that they had gotten for Christmas and we used them. If you want a vacation and you don't have much money, you have to be creative. Like the PP whose done great vacations for $3k, I've done the same. I've even done Disney on less than $2500 for our family of five. |
Anonymous
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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 ) 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
| Growing up, we were lower middle class. I can only think of a few real vacations we took, once to Disney, once to NYC and DC and once to Wisconsin Dells (I’m from the Midwest). Other than that, we took driving trips to visit family or day trips to Chicago or the lake beaches. |
Anonymous
single mom who posted above - do you really think on my income in this area I don't know how to penny pinch? Please just don't start with the penny pinching ideas and think you are suddenly going to have some new one or that penny pinching makes a big dent in low income/HCOL situation. I penny pinch to just get by every day  As do many families in this area with lower incomes.
1. Cut the cable cord. Annual savings = $1,200 - Done a long time ago. Except I still need internet so that's $60 a month - and yes of course I have called around and checked for better deals. I do it all the time. 2. Reduced afterschool time to 3 days per week . Annual savings = $900 -so my kid would do what after school while I work? 3. Use money that would have been spent on camps = 200x2 kids x3 weeks = $1,200 - Where is this $200 summer camp that includes camp + the before or after care I need. Not in the DMV area that's for sure. And no, even rec camp is more expensive then that. And camp isn't some luxury, It's care for my child during the summer so I can work. 4. WiFi share with a neighbor (PayPal a neighbor $25 a month) That's a no go because again see #1. And that assumes some neighbor wants you sharing. 5. Worked very little part time (less than 10 hours a week) making $50-$100 per week driving Uber = $2500 - I can bring my kid along while I drive Uber. And there is no wear and tear on my car and my insurance rate doesn't go up? Really?? 6. Drove a used hybrid (so no car payment ) - Yes, absolutely, I should buy a used hybrid to replace my paid off older car. That will certainly make sense. |
Anonymous
| We're middle class and we go to California for three weeks to see family. |
Anonymous
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Our trips growing up mostly were taken in conjunction with my mom's work conferences, so hotel was paid for. And back then probably some of the family activities also were paid for by the company.
90% of the trips I took were to visit my grandmother in south FL, so I stayed with her. Otherwise we stayed with friends or family, or my mom scouted deals. Occasionally she saved for a splurge trip. We were closer to UMC but lived in a poor area. My lower MC/poor friends, if they took trips, visited family or went camping, went to the closest amusement park (similar to Six Flags), or to Cedar Point in Ohio, combining the lake and the amusement park. |
Anonymous
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PP again to add, we are UMC but spouse does not value vacations or travel so there is no big-budget vacationing for us. Once a year we rent a condo or beach house or get a good hotel deal and go to the beach for 5-6 days. These trips don't exceed $2k, including accommodations, travel (driving), food and entertainment. We occasionally take long weekend trips if I find a good deal.
Some day... |