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.
Anonymous wrote:Disney. They up for that special occasion.
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 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.
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.
Anonymous wrote:Camping, closest beaches, theme parks (smaller ones like Six Flags, Hershey and Lake Compounce, not Disney)
Anonymous wrote:Myrtle Beach.
camping.