You are doing your children a huge disservice by not teaching them to enjoy things that do not involve spoonfed entertainment. This will cause them to struggle throughout life.

Anonymous wrote:PP -- our kids enjoy museums and camping because we make it fun. We search for items we've read about and tell stories around the campfire. It is what you make of it.

Unlike Disneyworld, enjoying museums is an acquired taste. It takes certain background knowledge as well as persistent exposure. Sort of like going to a classical concert. Not all parents could be bothered.

We make about $250 HHI and spend about $10K a year on trips. That is our hobby and our largest discretionary expense by far. The $10K gets us one trip abroad (Europe or Asia) in the summer, one beach trip in the winter, and one or two weekend getaways. We always buy plane tickets with frequent flyer miles and watch our expenses very closely, so as to maximize the vacation $$.

We make about 140K. I am lucky in that after 20 years at my job I get 5 weeks of vacation. But vacations are my weak spot in budgeting - I HATE spending a week off at home, so if I don't have money saved, I put it on the credit card. Life is short. I have relatives, co-workers and older siblings who are reminders to live now, because health stuff can strike and you might NEVER get to do all the things you put off until retirement.
Before kids, we used to go on one scuba or European trip a year. Free airfare using frequent flier miles, and try to find a week long hotel-dive package for around 1000 pp. Plus equipment rental and dinners. Then we'd sail on our boat up and down the Bay, or visit friends, or work on the house, the rest of the weeks. Tickets to California were cheap then. So maybe 3500 per year.
Fortunately or unfortunately, my family lives in California. DH's mom is also out West. So now that we have kids and fares are higher we have to budget about 1600 per year just to fly back there, and lately we've been staying at vacation rentals with other family or a hotel because even though there is space, my parents are elderly and need their rest from active noisy kids.
Other trips we try to find affordable rentals and drive, stay with friends part of the time, look for cheap flights etc. For example, you can find condos in Williamsburg, Orlando, Sanibel or a Victorian in Chincoteague for about 1000/week. You can stay ate a friend's in NYC and then get a cabin for a few nights. We plan to use the boat more again when both kids can swim well. The kids do not have passports yet and we don't ski, so that is saving us some money. Last 2 vacations were kind of pricey - airfare, nice resort hotels with waterslide pools in prime season. I did save a little with a hotel Bloomspot offer.
So this year I figure 2600 plus 3 cheap or shorter partial week trips at 500 per, 4100 a year.

PP -- our kids enjoy museums and camping because we make it fun. We search for items we've read about and tell stories around the campfire. It is what you make of it.

Double your income. We spend no more than 6K on a family trip and spend an inexpensive week at OBX with family. We definitely max out retirement savings before considering vacation spending.

OP, I would seriously work on adjusting the attitude you say that your children have. It is inexplicable to me that teenagers and younger kids could not find ways to enjoy a trip other than be entertained by a theme park or a city like New York.

DH and I make $170K and we have an 18 year old and a toddler. We spend less than 3K on vacations, including expenses like tolls for weekend trips to family. Typically, we spend a week in a Virginia State Park, then long weekends to other destinations. My stepdaughter usually brings a friend her age. Teens will complain about anything but we will not allow bad attitudes to dictate our plans. In the state parks we choose, there are typically options for swimming, hiking, mountain biking, rafting, fishing, and tubing. Of course kids can just hang out and read or tan or whatever, too. If you have teens who can't be entertained with a bike and dozens of miles of trails to explore or a lake and two pools, you're raising kids who lack imagination, a sense of adventure, and/or an ability to entertain themselves. And you're perpetuating it with your younger kids.

This is not an attack; it's an observation based on information you provided.

Even with only renting a home, I can't imagine how you can afford 10K on a 110K HHI with four kids.

We earn about what you do OP, and are spending about $7000 this year on vacations. But, one trip is for our 10th anniversary, so a splurge. We only have two kids though. Are you sure you all can't have fun for cheaper? I would much rather go more places on the cheap (er) rather than not go at all.

OP here. Thanks for the constructive feedback. Have decided that I will restrict large trips (+$5k) to every other year rather than every year and for alternate years keep spending under $3k.

So, no cruise this year and will instead focus on making next year the big trip year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of 4, HHI of about 200K and our vacation budget is about 3K a year. That includes a beach week at the OBX where we host extended family, a long weekend away for the parents and one or two long weekend trips to somewhere within driving distance with the kids. Every two years we also take an international trip so those years the budget is a little higher (maybe adding 1-2K depending on the destination).

OP here. How do you manage a week-long beach trip (along with other trips) for under $3k for the year? Do you split the beach house costs with other family members?

PP you quoted here. We usually go in August and do not get a beachfront house (usually 7-8 houses away from the beach). We pay about $1,300 a week for a four-bedroom. There are of course food costs, but we do fair amount of meals at the house, dinner out maybe 2-3 nights and ice cream on the boardwalk and the like a few times. No, we do not split the cost with other family members. Our parents-only trip was in November, we went to a B&B in MD for two nights (roughly $500), took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge for two nights (also around $500 when it was all said and done), plus a few random weekends here and there, like snow tubing or visiting Philly. Totally doable.

I love to travel too. Our household income is more than twice what you make and we try to stick to about $15K annually. I think it would be wise to buckle down on the travel spending and fins ways to stretch your travel dollar.

A couple of suggestions: Reassess your spending priorities. Max out your 401k first, at the very least. Consider doing what my husband and I do - skip presents for birthdays, Xmas, etc and set aside that money for trips. It comes down to priorities. Are you going to enjoy that new pair of shoes more than seeing the Eiffel Tower? Different people will have different answers.

You can also visit high priced destinations but cut costs along the way. Instead of stayin NYC, check out a hotel across the river in Weehawken, NJ. Visit Bethany in Ma instead of August.

We haven't stayed in hotels in years. Instead we stay in rentals we find on VRBO.com. The homes run the gamut from shacks to palatial estates. You can eat breakfast and a couple of dinners at home, saving a great deal of money. I am tempted to try a home swap at some point.

You don't say how old your kids are, but if possible, travel in the off-season. If they are young, you would be surprised how much they can enjoy low-key destinations (quiet beach) versus Disney. Avoid buying souvenirs for yourself or gifts for family members.

I would scrap the plan for the cruise. They nickel and dime you on cruises. And New York is hardly a cheap alternative. Try to think outside the box -- drive to Canada and see Toronto, Montreal and Quebec. Check out places in the south like Savannah and Charleston. National parks can be fantastic if your kids like nature and animals. Kids may grouse about not going to Disney, but once they are at the destination, they will likely find something fun -- esp if you have a great attitude and let them participate in the planning.

Anonymous wrote:Rent a house in western North Carolina. They are reasonable and you can go rafting, gem mining, hiking, rock hopping, go to a storytelling and have a great family adventure. We prefer the houses without phone or tv and love rocking on the front porch listening to Carl Sandburg read his poetry for children. The children will love hiking to the top of a mountain.

Where do you go? That sounds great!

OP, we make about $150k and spend about 5k a year on two week-long vacations and 3-4 long weekends. We've been driving everywhere recently, though at some point will have to save up to fly somewhere.