A VERY Nosy Budget Question!!

[jstmee]

I'm not a saver, I just do! Last year we went to Myrtle Beach, SC from Northern Maine and drove 14 days. We had a trip planned for Disney but last year we bought a new home, paved the driveway and bought a new conversion van. Ouch!!! This year, it's Disney or bust. There are 6 people in our family and the kids are 13, 13, 9 and 8. Three of us go free on air because of frequent traveler miles. That left $920.00 to pay for the total of the other three. That's paid. Reserved two rooms at All Star Sports at $49. each, mousesavers. deposit that's paid. Will stay 3 nights at PBH put deposit of $179 each for two rooms, Have to pay balance 1725. 8/8/01, then balance for All Star 9/9 $650. Then of course passes and food and souvies. Hubby earns 82K, last year he was self employed and earned 145K---all gone--taxes, house, etc..........he claims I blew it. Which I did! We will be scrounging for this trip, but the kids aren't getting any younger and basically I'm spoiled and want to go.inkbounc I figure about $7,000 for trip..total we are going for 11 nights 8 at disney and 3 at pbh. Also, two years ago we earned 40K----and we still managed to vacations and scrimp

 

[shamrock30]

DH and I also spend roughly 5% of our income on vacations. Disney is our winter break from the cold, and we make it a budget trip. We don't stay onsite or eat at restaurants very often, but we never feel deprived. We also travel to Canada for about ten days each summer and stay in a cottage on the ocean. With the great exchange rate, Canada is another "bargain" trip. We take a few weekend trips per year, and about every other year, we go to Europe for a week or two or three. I just can't imagine paying $400 a night for a hotel. I could never enjoy myself. I do enjoy hearing about other's experiences though--they have a totally different mindset from mine, and that's what makes life interesting.

 

[VickiVM]

Well, here's my story...

I quit work last December because the stress was taking a toll on my family. At that time we were at roughly $90,000 combined (pinky promise that you won't tell DH that I divulged that. He's sooo funny about that kind of thing). OUCH!!! Now, I'm jobhunting because I got the worst kind of torture in the past few months: 2 "Wish You Were Here" postcards. I can remain a SAHM and we'll probably never go back to WDW again or get new carpeting, for that matter. We just are needing too many things right now...new van, a/c work done on the car, etc. So...I got a promising call from a headhunter today and immediately I started visualizing our WDW trip next spring. I already told my husband that if an offer is made, I will be negotiating one week off next spring even if it's unpaid.

So back to how much of income devoted to vacation. 2001: Zero. 2002: Dangit, as much as it takes!!!

 

[newHere]

Wow....saving money. What a concept!!!!

I'm the opposite. I get an idea in my head, do it, then when the credit card bills come rolling in, I pay them.

Like our last trip to Florida in Feb. I decided (while surfing the DIS ) Sunday night that I wanted to go to Florida. I called the travel agent on Monday and we left on Tuesday!

Now before everyone things that I'm a total crackpot. Let me say that I am EXCELLENT with money.
We take a few vacations a year....but I hunt the bargains down!!!! I probably do a vacation at about 50-75% less than what my friends pay a travel agent.

I'm a single professional mom and I'm guessing that I probably spend about 10% of my income on vacations (that includes the big vacations as well as the weekend getaways)

 

[Poohbear123]

I have a Disney Credit Card! I use it twice a year, Feb. and Nov. and pay it down so I can use it again! Helps with paying for first night! I also go when the Fl. Residents specials are up! They had a LOT this year!

 

[Meagansmom]

I also am a SAHM! We usually go to WDW every other year. When we come back from our trip, we start to set aside so much every month for the next. Our DD is 6 years old and that is where she picks to go for right now. I am sure that will change (maybe) when she gets older. Our off years we hang around home and do one of the other things we love to do, fish. So it doesn't cost much on our off years. One thing in our family we do is find fun ways to save for vacations. 1) hold a garage sale - daughter is always growing out her clothes. 2)Our daughter sells cookies and pop during the garage sale - she makes a bundle. 3) We reward our daughter at times with Disney Dollars. 4) The money I save on coupons at stores, I put into a jar along with spare change. It all really adds up. If there is a will, there is a way. I read alot on the websites on how to save. There alot of ways to accomplish the goals.

 

[andkat]

We only go to Disney about once every two years. My husband and I both work and make about 60K per year. We usually save about 2K per year for vacation but don't know if that is going to happen this year. We just had a newborn and that is cutting into our extra money plus other son goes to a private school and the tuition just went up again. But what we do save goes into an extra fund for Disney.

 

[fervour]

What a great thread!---the whole idea of how we prioritize differently ----fascinating!

Anyway, I am SWM. I make $42K (My annual performance review is in Nov. which should bump me to $44k ---which I think is important because I spend now also based on what I project I will be making.)

I spend about $2350 on vacations (5.6%). I have never stayed on-site at Disney, but I go to Orlando about twice a year for a week each time ----always off season. I always split the vacation with a friend which saves some money.

I think Disney definitely has a more "magical" atmosphere, but usually stay at an inexpensive hotel within walking distance to Universal. From my perspective, I get the benefit of access to CityWalk and theme parks at a fraction of the cost of a Disney vacation. Being an adult, I can always go during the off-season. I end up spending 2 to 3 days at Disney and about 4 days at Universal. So my Disney days are "commando" days while Universal days are spent leisurely. Believe it or not, I can see/do most of the Disney attractions within that time period. So now that I've explained my Orlando vacation stategy, I'll give a bit of a breakdown on vacation expenses.

I spend about $600 per each Orlando trip. I have a year pass to Universal and buy 5-day tickets to disney. We usually eat breakfast in the room ---this is more to control calories and content then to save money. Then we'll eat one fastfood meal and one full-service meal each day. So that leaves about $1150 of the $2350 for weekend trips and an additional week road trip which might include some camping, as well as, sightseeing.

Thanks to everyone who included additional budget information. I think it's so interesting to see how we value things differently. I save about 33% of my income ---I want to change careers in about 5 years. One good thing I can say about Alabama is that housing is cheap. I spend about 15.5% of my salary on housing. My car is 5 years old and I am going to keep it until it is no longer dependable (hopefully at least another 3 years). Utilities run about $150/month, or 4.3% of my annual income (that is keeping my thermostat at 80F during the day and 70F at night). ----this is getting long and is probably getting boring ----so I think I'll shut up all ready!

 

[Trekker]

I think this is a wonderful thread - kind of lets you see different ways to make it all happen.

I'm in a very good position right now. My DW and I are both I/S professionals and between us make $120,000+ per year.

About 4 years ago we purchased from my parents, the family cottage in northern Wisconsin. It soon became clear that with this cottage all of our 'fun money' was being used to pay the mortgage, taxes, and to maintain that place.

We were not able to save for WDW or other trips. So the last trip was done on all credit cards. (hated that).

We decided to sell that cottage this year and started planning our Nov WDW trip.

For all our vacations (week-enders, weeks, or longer) is about 10% of our total income.

 

[DreadpiratK]

It's impossible to say what percentage we spend because we are self-employed, and our income varies greatly from month to month. My wife is a stay at home mom, who also homeschools, so the business is our only income BUT my wonderfuly talented wife got a job a few years ago as director of the town day camp in the summer. Our kids go free, and she makes a about $1500 over the summer wich is saved exclusively for vacations. Since we always go in the fall, this works our nicely. The other things we do to make is possible is relentlessly hunt down bargains. This year we got a timeshare week in Sept for $350 on EBAY (we bid on several, but refused to higher than this, and eventually won), and then using info from these boards, booked an additional 5 days at Courtyard by Mariott for $40/night, for 2 rooms. $530 for 13 days in orlando! We will drive down from CT, and impose on freinds and relatives along the way for placed to stay, or break out the tents and air matresses if we need a cheap night on the road. Overall we expect to spend $2500-$3000 for a two week vacation. Roughly 5% of an average years income, but only 1/2 comes out of the budget, so about 2.5% not much for memories that will last a lifetime. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of trips like this with my family.

To all you STAHM's out there--what your'e doing is soo much more important than ANY material things an income could give your children, including going to Disney World! Do not let the stories on this board entice you to abandon your kids to go back to work to pay for a vacation or anything else, it's not worth it!
Besides, with faith and hard work, there is always a way to do it without abandoning your kids.

 

[meanoldmom]

I do it like Kermit. I pay for Disney stuff from my monthly budget. WE don't do a savings plan for vacations, we just pay as we go. We are FL residents and seasonal passholders, so I try to time my renewal for the end of August, after the blackout period. Then we make some general decisions about when we want to go, usually long wekks ends like labor day, memorial day, a visit during Christmas season. We also look at the value season and AP rates and usually throw a couple more weekend trips in. Once discounts become available, we book our rooms and I pay the one night deposit out of our monthly budget. At that point I have specific dates I know I need to shoot for, so I adjust our budget accordingly so that when we leave, there is enough in the checking account to cover expenses. Sometimes, we pay for the remaining hotel bill with a CC (I have two with different closing dates, so I try to charge on the one that just closed, lol, to give me a couple months to budget the balance so I can pay when teh bill comes in). Since we live close, I don't have to worry about airfare, etc. THis year, we are up for pass renewal about the time the tax rebate will come, and that will cover our passes for the year.

If I was spending thousands, however, on a single trip, I would probably open a seperate savings acct just for WDW vacations, LOL!

Sue

 

[Desnik]

I am a SAHM and DH makes $110,000 per year. We have been going to Disney since '97 every year and have spent between $2000 to $2500 on our vacation, this was driving there. We don't really save money, o.k. we like to spend, spend, spend!!! Dh lost his father and grand father at very young age(his dad was 42, his grandpa was in his early 60's)anyway, they were always saving for that rainy day and never got to enjoy their money. DH refuses to live that way. We just bought a house, have 2, year 2000 cars(a mercedes and a jeep cherokee) and go away 2 times ayear, once to WDW with our DD and once alone to a B&B either in Cape May or we try some place new. DH loves his "toys"(electronics and cars!!)and I love to vacation and shop so we kinda have the same out look. Don't get me wrong, we do have a mutual fund with $$ going in every month for our DD college and his company has 401k that we put $$ into, so we don't spend everthing!! But, this trip(in Sept) is costing alittle more since we will be flying and staying at the GF for 10 days!! This time we had a garage sale, used that $$ to buy toiletries, film bathing suits and such. We saved some change since our last trip in Nov. and sent that in towards the resort bill. Everyday I set $$ aside for tips for our town car driver, bell services and I already have the mousekeeper envelopes with tips already in them for the housekeepers at the resort. We used the code on mousesavers to get a great deal on the GF. We have some passes left from our previous trip, so that helps alittle on park passes. This time we've had to save more ahead of time because of the house and trip being so close together. We never charge our vacations, we just take some $$ out of DH pay check a couple of weeks before our trip and use that.

 

[VickiVM]

Ooops...I knew I gave out too much information. I certainly didn't mean to imply that I was "abandoning" my children just to take a vacation to WDW. I left my previous company because the level of committment was taking away from my family. We were never sure if financially we would survive. And I guess we could if we just had to...but we don't have enough now for those unexpected crisis. DH's company pays for our health ins., dental and vision. But, we had an a/c scare a few months ago. Thank goodness it was just the capacitator and not the compressor. Sooo, I am carefully looking for a company that fits my family. I have worked all my life until this past year and could never judge women who work to create a better life for their family even if they could stay home. Sorry, but I felt compelled to set the record straight. Next time I'll know not to reveal too much of myself.

 

[mainey-mouse]

We put about 12.5% of our take home pay into a general savings account and thats where we accumulate $$ for expensive things - home renovations, downpayments on cars, Christmas and kids birthday expenses and vacations. In a typical year we will spend 33%-50%f of that on the annual things - birthdays, Christmas and summer vacation (camping). The rest accumulates year to year to fund the occassional really expensive things - home renovations, cars and of course, big vacations. We did our first ever family big vacation this year - to Disney. Probably looking at doing a big vacation every 3 years or so - but definitely not always to Disney.

 

[MouseLover]

The last 3 trips we have taken we have done with some type of bonus. In '96 I taught summer school & used that money for a fall trip. We were able to fly that year, shared a condo with my parents, who had some of the nights for free, split the cost of a rental car, and had unused park hopper days from our previous trip (1986!). In 1999 we used my "raise check" (got in a lump sum for work toward my master's degree) and our tax refund. We got great airfare, an upsell at the Poly, and shared the cost of a rental van with 2 other couples. This was also a pretty short trip. This past March, we were more strapped for cash. We used DH's annual bonus, my this-year's raise which I got in a lump sum at Christmas. We DROVE this time, shared fuel expenses with my parents, shared a suite, ate entirely counter service or outside the parks, skipped the character meal and did the ice cream social instead (great!!). We had free full breakfast at BVS daily and took snacks into the parks, and sandwiches/fruit/etc. in the car. We're trying to figure out a way to go again next March! Driving wasn't as bad as we thought when shared 4-ways. Those darn park hoppers are the biggest expense. The other things can be cut down/shared/etc. Realistically, I'm shooting for March 2003. Then I can use my Christmas & end-of-school raise checks to purchase park hoppers. Although we really want to do Universal/IOA next trip as well.

 

[Joycemarie]

I guess for Disney we usually spend 4000 to 5000 a vacation which is about 5 % of our income. We're both teachers on top step. Our usual boost is our income tax refund which goes into the Disney Account. It's like found money since we don't see it but once a year. We also save regularly to the Disney account. This year we are staying 11 days(leaving in 3) ,purchased PAP and will go again next year before they run out. Perhaps even two more times if we can swing it. Air fare is under $1000 usually and we get good discounts with the AP's so the second trip is not as bad as the first.That will probably be our last trip for a while as the kids are getting older.

 

[Katie]

Well, this year we spend about 10,000 in vacations(4000 Cruise in the Southern Carbibeen, 6000 Disney Trip(10 days at Disney, 4 days at the beach).

This was an extreme year. This would be a little less than 10% of our annual income. DH is a IT professional, and I WAS CT technologist. However, 8 months ago, I quit to become a SAHM. So we went from 135,000 to 85,000 in one fateful morning( when I got mad at work and quit).

Dh says this is the last year of spending that much on vacations. Well...we will see about that..because what he doesn't know..is I have a week in Aruba planned for next March!!! LOL!!!

When I worked, I just had 200.00 taken out of every paycheck just for vacations( another 200.00 was for long-term savings). So, I had built a nice nestegg up...so, he didn't complain this year..but since I am not working..I am not sure where the money will come from..maybe HE will have to pay for the vacation this year..or I wil start charging him babysitting fees, taxi-driver fees, chef fees, cleaning fees...you get the idea!

 

[MommaluvsDis]

At first, I wasn't going to reply to this thread but after reading some of the replies, I felt like I wanted to share my stategy for going to WDW.

We always get a tax refund because of DH's occupation and this along with a little I take out of our budget each month funds our trip. We really don't blow a lot on Souvineers since the Dss are teens now but I give them $50.00 each before we go to spend on whatever they want. It helps to stay in a hotel that offers free breakfast. The hotels on Disney property are pretty pricey and you have to pay for breakfast.

I WOULD NOT go and charge everything on the CC because that can make it hard to enjoy the trip knowing that next month a hugh bill will be waiting.

There are plenty of ways to do WDW on a budget. I just wish I had known about these boards before I went the first time. There are a lot of helpful people here.

My hat is off to them ALL!

 

[becca33]

I have read all your post and I have to say I am very impressed with your dedication.
We are in a different situation all together. Dh and Myself are both Disabled and are on a fixed income, about 25K We have all the payments that any family might have...
House
Car
Insurance...yada, yada
By the time bills are payed there isn't much left. for the last 2 years we have paid for our vacations doing freebies online. Took our first WDW trip last year and had a blast. This year a Dis. cruise. The cruise took a little more budgeting, but Its paid for and we have till November to save for the extras. We are doing so well we are going to go down a week before the cruise just to have some fun.
We have 2 sons and they are incredable with thier money. 7 YO saves allowace, tooth fairy, B-day gifts and such. Almost $100 to spend as he likes on vacation. My 14 YO, whom I could not be more proud of, Mows lawns with a friend and has earned over $400 dollars so far this summer.
Allready have my budget set up for next year.......lol
My family thinks I am a nut.

Just wait till we get ready to leave and I wake them up at 2 am........lol I am a very early riser......Since I do the driving when I say its time...ITS TIME!!!!!

 

[wheatenwalker]

I am a single mother of two teenage boys so half my income goes for groceries . I cant really say the exact percentage of my income I spend for our trips to WDW. I save during the year and plan on what I am spending by what I've saved. We stay where we can afford, sometimes thats been All Stars last year BWI, this year YC BUT only with the discouts I have been lucky enough to get. I check the airfares alot as it gets closer and this year was really happy with the fares I found. I dont spend much on souvenirs while we are there, the boys bring their own money for that. Food while we are there is a big expense but we dont do an expensive dinner every night, maybe 3 out of 5 nights. This year, I have saved all my receipts for my flexible spending account at work for unreimbursed medical expenses (othodontics for two) and will send them in before we go, that will be about 1.500$. I also figure my Disney days with my kids will be ending soon so I want to enjoy them while I can.