Can we talk about vacation spending?

[brachysira]

I'm curious where this ranks for you...like, do you say, we NEED vacations or vacations are so educational that we put them ahead of college savings?  Birthday parties?  The clothes you want?

Are water park hotels a thing where you live?  Do you go?
Do you camp?  Do you enjoy it, or is it a way to save$?  What about camping resorts?  Ever tried that?

[ashiscute]

We put money towards vacation ahead of college savings for sure. We also do for birthdays but I'm not a big birthday party person. We usually do small parties with just family and some friends at our house. I usually make the cake/cupcakes myself so the budget is food and a couple small decorations.

We have a Great Wolf Losge here. I've never been but I've heard good things. My brother and SIL go every year and like it.

I do not camp. At all. My SIL's family owns a lake house a couple hours from here and they usually invite us to stay once a year. It's not a bad drive and the cost is only gas and food we bring. That's the closest I get to camping.

We are doing Disney this year with my parents and brother and SIL. We could not afford it if my parents weren't paying for our room/tickets.

[mommabakes]

I am a big fan of vacations. My husband is kind of meh about them, so we have so far only done very low key, semi local ones. Lots of museums, historical sites, zoos, etc. Bonus is that this style of vacation is less expensive. We recently moved, so this year's vacation will be exploring our new area. I've not yet been to an indoor water park, but that is on the plan for next month. My friends with kids enjoy them.

When the kids are older we plan on doing bigger vacations, but for now this is what works for us.

[mrsmuq]

Honestly, just about everything goes ahead of college savings. Do we contribute towards it, sure, but I don't think it's necessarily my job to fully fund my child's second education (::Dons flame suit:.

That being said, we take a "big" or "once in a lifetime trip" probably only once every 7-10 years. Our kids are almost 4 and a newborn. We always do something that is driving distance from home, so never more than 6 hours away. The Lake George (NY) area and Eastern-Central PA are both family favorites. We always stay somewhere that has an indoor pool. On average, we can do a 7-day family trip for under $2000.

Edit: We don't do "big" vacations with kids now because they won't appreciate/remember them. Once the little one hits a certain age, we have plans to take them to the Galapagos Islands, London, Ireland, and Rome, just to name a few (we hope).

[cam]

Apr 11, 2016 12:27:42 GMT -5 brachysira said:

I'm curious where this ranks for you...like, do you say, we NEED vacations or vacations are so educational that we put them ahead of college savings?  Birthday parties?  The clothes you want?

We certainly don't classify vacations as a need. Vacations can be educational, but they aren't all automatically so. We want LO to pay for his own college (and try for scholarships and such). If we can, we may pay off his loans at the end or part of them if he has any, and we would help him financially along the way here and there for various things as little surprises, not as entitlements. It is more complex than that, but we won't pay his way directly, nor will we throw him to the wolves, if that makes sense. We do help him save now in a general fund. We don't really rank vacations against birthday parties or clothing. Birthday parties are only for LO and only for so many years, so it doesn't add up to all that much money. We don't spend a ton on clothing for any of us (though we do have more than bare minimum as in just enough to get by until a load of laundry can be made in any season), so it wouldn't amount to much money compared to a vacation either.

Are water park hotels a thing where you live?  Do you go?
Do you camp?  Do you enjoy it, or is it a way to save$?  What about camping resorts?  Ever tried that?

We have WI Dells not terribly far, so looooots of water parks, some with hotels, some stand-alone. LO hates swimming, so at this point, we haven't because it would be pointless, but we would go at some point if that changes.

We enjoy camping, though we haven't done it as a family yet (we've done cabins at lakes so far since family and friends have them). We have discussed it several times the past few months and want to do some camping this year or next. Camping is more hobby IMO, though it could overlap with a vacation such as to a state or national park or something along those lines.

[tincupchalice]

We're big on vacations. We also prefer to do them cheaply so we can do them more often. College savings has priority, but we'd put vacations ahead of birthday parties and clothes.

Water parks and theme parks aren't really our thing. We definitely camp! Both because we love it and because it saves us money. IDK what a camping resort is. I've done everything from backpacking to trailer camping in KOAs with DS. Pretty much anytime DH has a long weekend, we go somewhere. We're fortunate to have lots of outdoor options near where we live.

[younglove316]

Good timing on this, we actually just recently decided that we want to go to Orlando next year so we are working on saving for that.

We also have a few if the Waterpark hotels near us but haven't been with kids yet. We are taking DD1 on Friday but my MIL paid for it as a birthday gift.

We have some money put aside for college or whatever the girls choose to do with it when they turn 18 but no, not all of our savings go towards it and right now extra money is going towards house repairs and vacations/little trips that we want to take.

[brachysira]

Good to hear from you all. I really have no idea how to rank my spending priorities! But vacations usually turn out pretty well for us, and it's a sure way to make sure DH doesn't change his mind and go into work when he has taken the day off.

The Great Wolf Lodge here, during peak vacation time, is nearly $500/night! DH is like, just do it, whatever, let's stop wasting time discussing this. But I can't stand to pay that much. I'm not sure about camping. Sounds fun, but to get a state/federal campground around here, you have to book now (or much earlier) to get a spot through August, and I'm not sure how much we'll want to do. There are private "resort" campgrounds like a KOA but nicer--pools, playgrounds, maybe horses. But they cater mostly to RVs, so I don't know if it would be that cool to go in a tent. The last time DH and I stayed in a campground, a baby screamed the entire night and I didn't sleep at all. Last time we camped with the kids on some private land, my child could not get to sleep until midnight and both kids were very tired, which worked out great because it was a one-day outing, but I'm not sure about multiple days with activities planned.

[younglove316]

brachysira Great Wolf is actually where we are going and I'm 99% sure that my MIL found a deal on Groupon for it. I know they have a couple of the indoor Waterpark by us on there so maybe that is an option?

[ashiscute]

Apr 12, 2016 5:26:10 GMT -5 younglove316 said:

brachysira Great Wolf is actually where we are going and I'm 99% sure that my MIL found a deal on Groupon for it. I know they have a couple of the indoor Waterpark by us on there so maybe that is an option?

+1. There are a ton of great wolf lodge groupons.

[mishy2010]

Our cousins take their kids to great wolf lodge and love it. We haven't been yet. Our vacations are usually family related. GMIL and her H go on a few cruises every year and we will go with them and all the cousins/aunts and uncles. Tons of fun with them but I just don't like cruising much.
We are planning on a long weekend vacation this fall. Debating on somewhere in SC or NOLA, just H and I. We were going to do Disney but can't justify the cost at the moment. We put $25/mo and all their birthday/holiday money in a 529 for each kid. Anything we save on top of that gets split into 1/3. Savings, vacation/fun, and paying off mortgage.

[brachysira]

ashiscute, younglove316, I think it might have to do with where we live. They have groupons but they are only for the off-season and not much better than their regular off-season rates. Around here, in July and August, places charge 2-5x more than they do other times. But if you want to go outside without 3 layers when you visit our state's Great Wolf Lodge, you have to go during peak times. We'll probably try to go in the fall, when things are really inexpensive, if the kids demonstrate a love of water play this summer.

[lo95]

We always sacrifice vacations... I sort of regret this. Ie: Our honeymoon was a year after the fact and we went to an old condo on a super touristy beach. Otherwise, we stay with family who happen to live at the beach.

That said, it has really benefited us to sacrifice in that area because it helped us -tremendously- when we had to pay cash for EXPENSIVE fertility treatments. We also have paid cash for cars. So... Hmm... I know we definitely put savings and retirement over vacations, but maybe in the next five years (sigh) that will ease up a little? I hope.

[lo95]

As for camping... That just so depends on your personality. Personally, I find that miserable. DH would love it and does camp with friends on the weekends because it's free. I have family who wanted to stay on a different beach and they actually put a tent up at a campsite where people park RVs and used the public showers there for a week. Again, that sounds miserable to me. But they were happy.

[brachysira]

I don't know if camping depends on personality or on ability to sleep outside. It sounds fun to me, but then I think maybe I am insane and I have blocked out how much it isn't fun.

[namastebiotches]

We're pretty big on vacations. It's not a NEED obviously but it's something we enjoy doing & we're all about new experiences for DS (as well as ourselves of course.) TBH, college savings isn't really a priority right now. Birthdays have been very lowkey & I'm not big on fancy clothes so I have no issues there.
We like to utilize airbnb as much as possible to save $ on lodging so we can do other fun things (& also I love not sharing any walls.) Our vacations thus far have not been so bad on the bank.

We have quite a few water park hotels a little less than an hour away. We've never been. I'm not a big fan of waterparks in general but would like to go eventually.

Never been camping. The closest we've been to camping is renting an airstream off airbnb outside of DC. It is an activity we'd like to try when ds gets a little older. I get killed by mosquitoes bites so that's my main gripe about being outdoors overnight.

[vettymama]

We do local vacations (within 4 hours driving). We aren't huge vacation people. The idea always sounds so wonderful bug with building a new house I'd rather use the money towards that. Vacation has it's own budget so nothing else is affected. Vaca money would just be used in another area if we don't go.

Our kids are young so nothing huge planned. We have gone to an indoor water park before DS2 was born. We plan on doing things like that and Mall of America (indoor amusement park), valleyfair, etc and just staying over night in the twin cities. We also do Duluth/North Shore almost every year.

We don't camp. At all. That does not sound fun to me at all. And we're farmers so it's not like I don't like the outdoors.

Overall, no vacations do not get put ahead of other things. Most years.

[cam]

mrsmuq, I will happily be part of that flame suit club.

[mishy2010]

Apr 12, 2016 17:47:33 GMT -5 brachysira said:

I don't know if camping depends on personality or on ability to sleep outside. It sounds fun to me, but then I think maybe I am insane and I have blocked out how much it isn't fun.

I like camping...in a cabin...with ac...and a toilet lol
We are going to KOA in Harpers Ferry this August with H's extended family. Really affordable even with the nice cabins. They had a deal where you get Thursday night free if you stay through the weekend.

[mrsmuq]

Apr 13, 2016 9:46:11 GMT -5 mishy2010 said:

Apr 12, 2016 17:47:33 GMT -5 brachysira said:

I don't know if camping depends on personality or on ability to sleep outside. It sounds fun to me, but then I think maybe I am insane and I have blocked out how much it isn't fun.

I like camping...in a cabin...with ac...and a toilet lol
We are going to KOA in Harpers Ferry this August with H's extended family. Really affordable even with the nice cabins. They had a deal where you get Thursday night free if you stay through the weekend.

We "camped" in a fully functional cabin for our honeymoon in the Grand Tetons. It was glorious.

We do lots of cabins, because I don't do real camping. But we live in a flat region with beaches, so we like the mountains for vacations.

[brachysira]

I would like cabins, but that would limit how much we could go because cabins are usually about the price as other lodging, except maybe resorts. But we could camp all the time if we could be sure we would sleep. That's the main issue for me. That and unpacking.

[icequeen]

We take one big vacation and one smaller, local vacation a year. I definitely make it a priority to at least go for the smaller vacation, though DH isn't a fan of vacations. It's a headache for him, and defeats the purpose of "relaxing". The big vacation is usually Disneyworld, although my mom pays for a portion of it. When we lived in LA we would drive and she only paid for the hotel, but now that we're in IL again, I'm not sure if we will drive or fly. Either way she offered to help us out this year too, and I'm guessing it will be around $5000 like previous years. We usually do a small local vacation once a year for a few days. We've driven to Pensacola and will be going to Galena, IL this year. Cost will be around $1000.

We have the WI Dells close by, and I don't know much about Great Wolf Lodge, or if there is one close to us. Branson, MO is a bit hit for families too around here. Huge no to camping. I just can't deal with even staying in a cabin because of the dirt and lack of proper plumbing. I'm a big dork.