Deciding if you can afford it

[Cakesy]

Curious about how others on limited budgets decide to take a Disney trip.
We would really love to take our kids for a short trip to disney in the next year or two. But I end up feeling so guilty about even considering it.
We would never go into debt over it! But at the same time, money is very tight in our household, and I feel like the money we'd spend on a Disney trip would be better spent on adding to savings or paying car or student loan debt off more quickly.

At what point do you feel like you can responsibly take a trip to Disney (those who have to fly there)? If we wait until we have no other debt (besides our house) and have 6 months salary in savings, our kids will be 20 before we can take them. I'm trying to decide if that means its something we probably should stop hoping for.

 

[Marionnette]

Curious about how others on limited budgets decide to take a Disney trip.
We would really love to take our kids for a short trip to disney in the next year or two. But I end up feeling so guilty about even considering it.
We would never go into debt over it! But at the same time, money is very tight in our household, and I feel like the money we'd spend on a Disney trip would be better spent on adding to savings or paying car or student loan debt off more quickly.

At what point do you feel like you can responsibly take a trip to Disney (those who have to fly there)? If we wait until we have no other debt (besides our house) and have 6 months salary in savings, our kids will be 20 before we can take them. I'm trying to decide if that means its something we probably should stop hoping for.

You could ask this question on the Budget Board but be prepared for some fiery answers.

Here are my thoughts. If you are not in credit card debt, making regular contributions to retirement, have a decent emergency fund set up and are managing to pay your bills without dressing your kids in rags and feeding them gruel, then I see nothing wrong with planning and saving for a Disney vacation.

But if you're already struggling to make ends meet (and I'm not saying that you are), then taking expensive vacations won't make life any easier. The responsible choice is to provide your kids with financial stability.

There will be people who will tell you to go ahead and take that trip now. That the kids will only be this young once. That no one knows what the future is going to bring. And so on. Those can be compelling emotional reasons for taking that trip now. But you asked what the responsible choice is. The responsible choice is to live within your means and take the kind of vacations that fit within your budget.

 

[mommy2_3]

we are using our tax return to take the kids. otherwise we would be able to afford it but it would take about a year to save up. we are driving so thats going to save us alot of money. flying 3 adults and 4 kids wont be cheap! for 3 adults and 4 kids its going to cost right around $5k. we are staying at ASSp. getting 2 rooms and requesting connecting, 6 day park hopper tickets, and the DDP. we will get 1 table service, 1 QS, and 1 snack each. my youngest will be free since he will be 2 when we go. we are bringing snacks water bottles with those flavoring packets with us to the park so we dont have to spend alot of money on snacks and drinks. we are bringing an extra $1400 with us for gas there and back, paying OOP for 1 meal a day, and souvenirs.

 

[geishagirl81]

We go every year and we live on a modest income. My hubby is a RN and works 2 jobs, I was a teacher but now stay at home with our children. We have student loans, mortgage, car payment etc. so I understand where you are coming from.

First off, I save year-round for Disney. I tutor in the evenings and all that money goes to Disney. I try to get creative with finding funds for our trip whether it is a garage sale, listing uneeded things on Craigslist, and such. I don't remove any money from hubby's income to pay for a trip- it is my responsibilty to make a vacation happen without dipping into our budget. Admittedly, we always get a tax return and I use about $500 to $1k of that depending towards the bill. But the point is is that I pay cash, never charge a trip, and never take money from our living expenses. It takes patience, some creativity but it is WORTH it!

I don't sweat it that I am putting the $3k or more that I save on a vacation instead of our loans etc. My thought is this- my hubby works VERY hard to provide. He deserves a little luxury once a year. My kids are only young for such a short time. I would HATE to look back at my life and regret not slowing done and enjoying their childhood-Disney included. I tend to obsess over our budget- saving for Disney helps me "let go" and acknowledge that we are only here for so long- a budget is important but not the indicator of a happy life well spent.

Finally, you need to look at how you want to vacation. Some people ONLY stay at Deluxe hotels with park hopper options. Some people decide that Disney iteself is a splurge (we fall into this category) and are happy with a Value resort- MAYBE a moderate resort if we can get a good discount. Some even decide to save more potentially by staying off Disney property and cooking some of their own meals.

I would suggest you price out a couple different "ways" to vacation at Disney, choose the way that makes sense for your family, determine a plan to pay for it, and GO! Have fun, enjoy, and know you have a lifetime to pay your bills. LOL

 

[mommy2_3]

oh and we arent using our whole tax return either. the rest will be used to pay off loans, and put extra money down towards other bills. this way we got some credit. my sister used to live with us along with her kids and bf, and they dug us a nice little hole. supporting 4 adults and 7 kids with 1 paycheck (her bf worked but only gave us money for rent when he thought it would suit him. he had to buy himself things first ) so we had to take out a few loans in order to keep up with bills, buy diapers for 5 kids, keep gas in my car, food, and house hold items. i kicked them out when he quit his job and she got pregnant. as soon as we get these loans paid off, things will be soooooo much better here!!

 

[RMulieri]

You could ask this question on the Budget Board but be prepared for some fiery answers.

Here are my thoughts. If you are not in credit card debt, making regular contributions to retirement, have a decent emergency fund set up and are managing to pay your bills without dressing your kids in rags and feeding them gruel, then I see nothing wrong with planning and saving for a Disney vacation.

But if you're already struggling to make ends meet (and I'm not saying that you are), then taking expensive vacations won't make life any easier. The responsible choice is to provide your kids with financial stability.

There will be people who will tell you to go ahead and take that trip now. That the kids will only be this young once. That no one knows what the future is going to bring. And so on. Those can be compelling emotional reasons for taking that trip now. But you asked what the responsible choice is. The responsible choice is to live within your means and take the kind of vacations that fit within your budget.

agree..

 

[bookgirl]

I vacationed even when I had a lot of debt, I just made sure I saved up and had the money for the vacation and didn't ADD more debt.


But honestly even if you do put it on cards I figure that's your choice and since I don't pay your bills that's your right to make that choice.

 

[dalayney]

Disney is so easy to afford. You just have to be diligent about it.

Can you afford $50/month? $75? Start getting it automatically deducted from your paycheck. After so long, you don't even miss it and are learning to live off of less.

Save all your change. At the end of every month, take it to the bank and stick it in the disney account.

Have a garage sale w/all proceeds going to disney fund.

Every tax return, stick 1/5 of it, in your disney vacation fund.

Sell stuff lying around the house on ebay. Vintage stuff goes well on etsy. Heck, if you're crafty like me, sell your handmade items on etsy. (you would be amazed at how much etsy has paid for our disney vacation)

Let's say you eat out once a week. Ask the family, if they mind "banking" one week. Put that $$ in the disney fund.

When your at target, can you afford to swing an extra $25? $50? Pick up a disney gift card when shopping. We have over $600 now for our upcoming trip by doing this. And we don't do it often.

For the last year of birthdays and christmas, we have asked for disney gift cards. DH's mom have been happy to send them.

By doing all of the above, and being diligent about it, you could easily afford a disney vacation every other year. That's including airfair. (we're flying in from Wisconsin, family of 4)

I just don't think people really understand how much money they "fritter away. Keeping track of every penny you spend, you realize just how much money your blowing on stuff, that well, doesn't really make your life all that much better. (coffee every day, vending machine, magazines, etc)

And then when you DO... do disney. A value resort is good enough. You're in the parks all the time. You're only sleeping there. You don't need a park hopper. You can easily do enough to do one park a day. Plus you can go resort hopping and check out all the cool stuff at the resorts. Hang out at the pool of your value resort. You don't need to do the water parks. Get stuff for breakfast (cereal, milk, muffins, fruit) delivered when you get there and do breakfast in the room. Get snacks also so you're not eating AS MANY of those lovely disney park snacks. (mmmm.... mickey ice cream bar) The disney parks on a budget are just as enjoyable as those who can afford to spend freely.

The sanity and peace and family time you get from a vacation is worth it. Dont ever let anyone tell you it isn't.

And don't ever give up your dream of a disney vacation. it is SO doable. You just have to be diligent in your savings. Good luck!

 

[mm1971]

Curious about how others on limited budgets decide to take a Disney trip.
We would really love to take our kids for a short trip to disney in the next year or two. But I end up feeling so guilty about even considering it.
We would never go into debt over it! But at the same time, money is very tight in our household, and I feel like the money we'd spend on a Disney trip would be better spent on adding to savings or paying car or student loan debt off more quickly.

At what point do you feel like you can responsibly take a trip to Disney (those who have to fly there)? If we wait until we have no other debt (besides our house) and have 6 months salary in savings, our kids will be 20 before we can take them. I'm trying to decide if that means its something we probably should stop hoping for.

My suggestion would be to go onto the Disney website and plan a trip to find out how much money you would need to take a modest trip. Once you have an estimate of what it will cost, add it to your budget moving forward. Cut elsewhere if possible or find alternate forms of saving, maybe a part time job or selling old things you don't need via yard sale or ebay. If you can save specifically for a vacation, you don't need to feel guilty about using it for such. estimate how long it may take to save what you need and plan for any increases that may happen before you get a chance to go.

We save for two vacations per year and have it direct deposited from my payroll directly into a specific vacation account (that way it is not a constant decision on whether to put the money there or not). If we have an emergency and need the money it is there. If not, we travel guilt free. We feel vacation time away is critical for our family so really try to take time away. It allows us to decompress and everyone can relax and spend time together.

Good luck. Disney is expensive, but well worth the money you spend in our opinion. My wife never went as a kid because they were struggling to make ends meet. My family went two times with 3 years in between when we were kids.

If it helps, I have 2 credits cards. One is a Disney Visa, the other I just got and is a SW Airlines card. The SW incentive was 50K points for signing up. We just have to spend a certain amount in the first few months. As a result, our flights will be all on points without any money out of pocket. I have also saved up enough points to pay for the hotel and park tickets on my Disney VISA card. If we can get free dining, we will be able to go for just spending money. Look for things like this that will help you get there for less. We use our cards for most purchases during the month and pay it off completely each month. This allows us to rack up the points without paying interest.

There is also a Disney Sweepstakes going on right now. The link is:

http://disneytimesweeps.com

It runs for a couple more days and they have done it in January for the last couple of years. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky.

 

[livsmom04]

We are using our tax return again this year on our trip to Disney World. Next year we probably won't be able to swing it since we are going to be trying to add to the family and we will be using that money towards bills and other things. But this year we wanted to add a bang and bring my mom with us. We are on a limited budget but if we knew we couldn't afford it we wouldn't have already booked it.

 

[Cakesy]

I've already priced it and figured what we would spend on a very modest vacation. I'm not worried about saving the money FOR the trip. Its more that I'm concerned about saving all that money, then spending it on a trip. I feel guilty about it. If it we were more comfortable financially, I wouldn't worry at all. But we really have to watch our budget, and dont have as much saved as we "should."

 

[dalayney]

Well, you have to put the deposit down, and then every month... whatever you end up saving, make a payment on that trip. (all trips through disney have to be paid 45 days before actual date of trip) So really, ... that money is already in disney's hand, if you make the payments, so you can't really be overthinking money you have already spent. (just not used yet )

Or w/all that money saved... go halfsys. 1/2 goes into savings... 1/2 you make a payment on your trip. Or do the dave ramsey way. Get $1,000 saved up, as most emergencies fall into that $1,000. once that $1,000 is saved up, it all goes on the trip.

You need to change your mindset though. You can always second guess yourself and over analize every penny. But really, isn't your sanity worth something? isn't the kids getting that one awesome vacation... worth something too? As long as your bills are getting paid, and nothing is getting neglected, or behind .... it will be fine. Don't be one of those people that looks back in life, and "wishes" she would have done this, or that. You only have one life and no one knows how long that life lasts. You need to enjoy it, embrace it. If you're always waiting till the "perfect time"... you'll whittle your whole life away ... waiting.

 

[scoutie]

If you are not in credit card debt, making regular contributions to retirement, have a decent emergency fund set up and are managing to pay your bills without dressing your kids in rags and feeding them gruel, then I see nothing wrong with planning and saving for a Disney vacation

I agree 100% with this.

For me, having credit card debt causes me anxiety. If I have to put something on a credit card and I'm not able to pay it off in a reasonable amount of time, that means I can't afford it.

I enjoy vacationing so much more when it's all paid for, and I don't have to face a bill in the future.

I think the advice from the previous posters about putting a bit away each month is a good one.

I'm not worried about saving the money FOR the trip. Its more that I'm concerned about saving all that money, then spending it on a trip.

In that case, you have to decide if it's a good financial decision for your family. I think travel memories are very valuable. If you have the money and know that your family would benefit from it, I think it's worth going.

 

[Cakesy]

Thanks so much everyone for your input!

 

[Happyjen27]

You could ask this question on the Budget Board but be prepared for some fiery answers.

Here are my thoughts. If you are not in credit card debt, making regular contributions to retirement, have a decent emergency fund set up and are managing to pay your bills without dressing your kids in rags and feeding them gruel, then I see nothing wrong with planning and saving for a Disney vacation.

But if you're already struggling to make ends meet (and I'm not saying that you are), then taking expensive vacations won't make life any easier. The responsible choice is to provide your kids with financial stability.

There will be people who will tell you to go ahead and take that trip now. That the kids will only be this young once. That no one knows what the future is going to bring. And so on. Those can be compelling emotional reasons for taking that trip now. But you asked what the responsible choice is. The responsible choice is to live within your means and take the kind of vacations that fit within your budget.

Agree.

While there is almost always a more responsible place to put your money, it's okay to spend some of it on vacation.

I've already priced it and figured what we would spend on a very modest vacation. I'm not worried about saving the money FOR the trip. Its more that I'm concerned about saving all that money, then spending it on a trip. I feel guilty about it. If it we were more comfortable financially, I wouldn't worry at all. But we really have to watch our budget, and dont have as much saved as we "should."

I suppose you need to soul search a little and see what would feel better to you. Would it feel better to ease the day-to-day financial stress and have more in savings for a cushion? Would it feel better to go on vacation? Only you can answer that. What would you regret more? Missing out on a Disney Vacation when your little ones are still little, or would you regret spending some money now on a vacation that you could have used in an emergency down the line?

 

[scoutie]

I think it's also important to look at where you will likely be five, ten, fifteen years from now. Right now, I'm paying $1800 a month in childcare costs. Once all of my kids are school-aged, that number will drop significantly, allowing me to put that money toward college savings and retirement. This makes me feel better about putting $5000 toward a vacation, rather than putting an extra $5000 in a college fund this year. I know that I will be able to put away extra in the future.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

You could ask this question on the Budget Board but be prepared for some fiery answers.

Here are my thoughts. If you are not in credit card debt, making regular contributions to retirement, have a decent emergency fund set up and are managing to pay your bills without dressing your kids in rags and feeding them gruel, then I see nothing wrong with planning and saving for a Disney vacation.

But if you're already struggling to make ends meet (and I'm not saying that you are), then taking expensive vacations won't make life any easier. The responsible choice is to provide your kids with financial stability.

There will be people who will tell you to go ahead and take that trip now. That the kids will only be this young once. That no one knows what the future is going to bring. And so on. Those can be compelling emotional reasons for taking that trip now. But you asked what the responsible choice is. The responsible choice is to live within your means and take the kind of vacations that fit within your budget.

Agree

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Marionnette]

I've already priced it and figured what we would spend on a very modest vacation. I'm not worried about saving the money FOR the trip. Its more that I'm concerned about saving all that money, then spending it on a trip. I feel guilty about it. If it we were more comfortable financially, I wouldn't worry at all. But we really have to watch our budget, and dont have as much saved as we "should."

That's a decision that only you can make. Some people are comfortable with debt and others are not. There are people who feel that 6 month's of living expenses is a big enough emergency fund while others want 8-12 months socked away before they feel like they can breathe.

I think that you need to set some short-term and long-term financial goals. Long term as in paying off the mortgage in 18 years, having a certain amount in retirement by age 68 or in college funds by the time each child graduates from high school. But you need short-term goals too - like building a new deck, buying another car or taking a Disney vacation. You can be working on the long-term goals while you meet the short-term ones. As long as you know that you're taking care of the long-term goals, you can give yourself permission to enjoy the short-term ones as well.

 

[Southern Bell]

Only you can answer if a Disney vacation is worth it to you! I would never put it ahead of paying my bills or draw money out of my retirement fund, etc., paying for my childs education. But our vacation (no matter where we go)is somehting we save & set aside for all year and we don't feel guilty going and spending the money we have saved for it, when we do. Some yrs have been slimmer than others LOL! We don't go to Walt Disney every year and have been on different budgets when we went. You can cut alot of extras like, park hopper(go to one theme park a day), water park(enjoy the pool), making character dining reservations(go to the meet and greets for free) Stay at a value resort , stay when rates are cheapest, & carry a soft cooler or back pack into disney to save money on food & water. You don't have to do or be able to afford everything to enjoy the magic of Walt Disney. You don't have to go to Walt Disney to enjoy or show your children some great times either!

 

[WIDisneyFan]

Everything in life is a balance and I agree it is important to live within your means and to have appropriate savings for your future. I also believe that it is important to enjoy your children when they are young, you will never get a second chance to do that.

From your post it sounds like you are careful with your spending, have a reasonable level of savings and love your family. To me the question now is 20 years from now what will matter more - and extra couple thousand dollars in savings or the vacation with your family? Only you can answer that question