How do people afford the countless vacations?

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks to the people who reminded me to make the memorable experiences for the kids now.
We will try to get to the Grand Canyon this year, but on a tight budget. That is easy on these outdoor hike walk vacations since the hotel quality matters less. Neither of us flies enough with work to get miles accumulated.
WRT retirement, we could save more, but I was referring to the tax deferred plans that we do.
Our other expenses are low, since we never eat out (we eat healthy stuff and I am not a fan of restaurants), and clothing is negligible since our jobs do not require nice clothes. Only dd has a way of getting us to spend $1000 a year on her stuff.
The people I am referring to on FB are in the same boat as we are or worse. Older parents with two kids. I suspect they will ask their kids to handle college on their own. It is about priorities, their kids will have more fun now, which counts. I am betting on the future, which is only somewhat predictable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to the people who reminded me to make the memorable experiences for the kids now.
We will try to get to the Grand Canyon this year, but on a tight budget. That is easy on these outdoor hike walk vacations since the hotel quality matters less. Neither of us flies enough with work to get miles accumulated.
WRT retirement, we could save more, but I was referring to the tax deferred plans that we do.
Our other expenses are low, since we never eat out (we eat healthy stuff and I am not a fan of restaurants), and clothing is negligible since our jobs do not require nice clothes. Only dd has a way of getting us to spend $1000 a year on her stuff.
The people I am referring to on FB are in the same boat as we are or worse. Older parents with two kids. I suspect they will ask their kids to handle college on their own. It is about priorities, their kids will have more fun now, which counts. I am betting on the future, which is only somewhat predictable.

you can do both jeez! lighten up a bit!

[Anonymous]

I have a mortgage, max out my retirement accounts, make $130K and go on lots of vacations. Here's how I do it:

- stay at airbnb apartments, usually with several friends who I go vacation with (much cheaper than hotels)
- because I usually stay in an airbnb, it means I often cook 1 meal a day at the airbnb. Or make coffee or drink wine and relax, etc. (rather than going out for every single outing.)
- travel in the off season often
- I'm good at getting airline deals. Also, when you travel in the off season, it's cheaper
- I have friends and family all over the world that I can stay with
- sometimes my job pays for work trips and I just stay a few extra days for fun or go somewhere nearby
- I have friends who enjoy traveling and often travel for work. If work is paying for their hotel, I go for free.

Finally, I don't prioritize materials, so I don't spend much money on clothes/shoes/jewelry/etc.

[Anonymous]

OP if your expenses are low - I'm confused why you aren't able to afford a vacation. I guess you know your budget best - but it seems like you should have enough for at least one trip a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a mortgage, max out my retirement accounts, make $130K and go on lots of vacations. Here's how I do it:

- stay at airbnb apartments, usually with several friends who I go vacation with (much cheaper than hotels)
- because I usually stay in an airbnb, it means I often cook 1 meal a day at the airbnb. Or make coffee or drink wine and relax, etc. (rather than going out for every single outing.)
- travel in the off season often
- I'm good at getting airline deals. Also, when you travel in the off season, it's cheaper
- I have friends and family all over the world that I can stay with
- sometimes my job pays for work trips and I just stay a few extra days for fun or go somewhere nearby
- I have friends who enjoy traveling and often travel for work. If work is paying for their hotel, I go for free.

Finally, I don't prioritize materials, so I don't spend much money on clothes/shoes/jewelry/etc.

Similar here - we went to disney with another family and rented a house nearby for a song and we split the cost. We ate some meals there. Of course disney tickets are expensive and there's no getting around that. Went in the off season to save on airline tickets. This is pretty much how we roll and how we're able to afford to travel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP if your expenses are low - I'm confused why you aren't able to afford a vacation. I guess you know your budget best - but it seems like you should have enough for at least one trip a year.

+1. We make 100k less than you, save a similar amount and can easily afford 3 nice vacations a year, even with such luxeries as a rental car and hotel stay!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are living in debt.

+1

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is less than half of yours and we go on lots of vacations every year. But we have a tiny, paid-off house and no debt. We have kids in public school. We drive to our vacations -- we don't go overseas.

In other words, you prioritize trips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is less than half of yours and we go on lots of vacations every year. But we have a tiny, paid-off house and no debt. We have kids in public school. We drive to our vacations -- we don't go overseas.

In other words, you prioritize trips.

NP, but of course PP prioritizes travel. And OP prioritizes saving.

[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.